Gone Fission Nuclear Report

At Waste Management 2022 in Phoenix, DOE Environmental Management Chief of Staff Mike Nartker announced that the EM cleanup map had shrunk to 15 sites with the completion of cleanup at Brookhaven National Laboratory. That's down dramatically from the original 107 sites when EM was formed in 1989.  How much do we know about the 15 sites remaining to be cleaned up?  Some like Hanford, Oak Ridge...

March is Women's History Month. In this week's episode, we highlight THE WOMEN OF EM-1 . Six of the 17  EM-1s (or equivalent) who have led the Department of Energy's Environmental Management office since 1991 have been women. Can you name them? The first was Carolyn Leach Huntoon, who also distinguished herself as the first woman to head the Johnson Space Center in Houston.  Hers is...

DOE, UCOR, Regulators and Community Leaders discuss the final steps involved in post clean-up closing  of the East Tennessee Technology Park (Heritage Center), once home to the historic Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant.  As federal land is transferred to the community, the Park is proving to be an economic boon to the region. Yet another company, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, announced plans la...

Imagine a training exercise where you have to follow clues, complete a series of specialized tasks, and escape from an enclosed room before your air supply runs out. It’s just one of many real-life scenarios students confront at the Volpentest Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response – HAMMER, for short – training center at the Department of Energy’s Hanford nuclear site in Washington...

In this week's Spotlight Interview, Teresa Frady, new president of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, talks about the importance of cleanup in attracting new private-sector tenants at the East Tennessee Technology Park, former home of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. With COVID restrictions relaxing, the Secretary of Energy is making her first in-person visits to DOE si...

This week's Gone Fission Nuclear Report celebrates Black History Month. Hear vignettes about Black scientists who participated in the early history of atomic energy, learn more about a DOE connection to a leading candidate to become the first Black Justice on the Supreme Court, and meet Dr. Harold Conner, the first African-American chemical engineering graduate of the University of Tennessee...

This week the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast features an All-Hanford episode.  You'll hear from DOE and Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) officials and some of Washington State's top elected officials as WRPS begins operation of the Tank Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) system, a milestone in the Hanford site's tqnk waste cleanup program. Our Spotlight Interview features D...

Energy Communities Alliance in Washington, DC, is a national organization that represents local communities surrounding Department of Energy facilities nationwide. It is the voice of these communities with DOE and Congress in communicating issues and concerns associated with environmental cleanup. Today's Spotlight Interview on the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast features Seth Kirschenber...

Our Spotlight Guest this week is Rick McLeod, President  & CEO of the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO). Rick and his Board of Directors advocate for new missions for DOE's Savannah River Site and serve as a unified voice for a two-state, five-county region around SRS while supporting cleanup of the former plutonium production site. Plus get all the latest news fro...

Our Spotlight Interview this week features Kristen Ellis, Acting Director of Regulatory, Intergovernmental and Stakeholder Engagement for the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management.  We'll talk to Kristen about DOE's STEM programs and what her office is doing to help ensure an adequate environmental cleanup workforce for the future. And you'll get all the lat...

DOE's Request for Proposals for a new cleanup contract at Portsmouth, Ohio, and a look ahead at future episodes lead this week's podcast.  Get all the latest Department of Energy Environmental Management news in the Gone Fission Nuclear Report. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of  episodes since November 7, 2022.

In this week's episode, we review the Department of Energy's Report Card on its Environmental Management accomplishments during 2021.  We also bring you the latest news in environmental cleanup from DOE sites around the country.  We invite you to share this podcast with others who may have an interest in this topic. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a video...

Next to safety and cleanup itself, development of the future workforce is a top priority with companies involved in remediation of Department of Energy facilities nationwide.  A large portion of the current workforce is nearing retirement age, but decades of environmental cleanup work remains to be completed.   Where will the future workforce come from?  One place is the University of Tennessee -...

In this week's Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast, we talk to Oak Ridge historian Ray Smith about why it is important for EM to continue preserving the history of former DOE facilities.  South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster weighs in on how $525 million in DOE plutonium settlement funds should be allocated.  We'll review highlights from last week's Nuclear Cleanup Workshop.  And...

In this week's Environmental Management news, a BWXT-led team has received Notice to Proceed from DOE to start transition on the Savannah River Liquid Waste contract.  Government and contractor officials are gathering in Alexandria, VA, for the 2021 Nuclear Cleanup Workshop.  Washington River Protection Solutions is recognized as a top employer in Washington state.  And we recognize the 79th...

In this week's report, Savannah River Site officials say a "very, very small" portion of the workforce elected not to get the COVID vaccine, resulting in some retirements, resignations or terminations.  A change in the way the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) counts waste volume shifts the repository from being half full to only a third full.  At Hanford, the Tank Side Cesium Remo...

One state senator has a piece of advice for South Carolina counties wanting to share in a $600 million DOE plutonium settlement:  Bring a couple of trucks to Barnwell County, load them with some plutonium, and take them back home.  Then he'll talk about your share of the money!   Hear this lively interview  with State Senator Brad Hutto and get all the latest DOE environmental management news...

In this episode, Gone Fission Nuclear Report discusses new Department of Energy environmental cleanup contracts valued at nearly $30 billion, new tenants creating jobs at the East Tennessee Technology Park, negotiations to distribute $600 million in settlement funds related to storage of plutonium at the Savannah River Site and a new water treatment plant at the Hanford site.  Plus people news.  R...