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Assessments of the harm done by nuclear weapons plants to both workers and neighbors have generally relied on the radiation data provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors. Detailed studies of the DOE's uranium processing plant near Fernald, Ohio, (commonly called the Fernald plant), show that DOE and contractor assessments are fundamentally flawed in numerous ways and that harm to both neighbors and workers was far greater than the DOE acknowledged. Further, preliminary indications are that the conditions that gave rise to the DOE's false reassurances of safety and environmental compliance are also likely to be present at a number of other nuclear weapons plants.

The government has issued a $123,750 fine against B&W Technical Services, the contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, for safety violations related to a uranium chip fire in 2007. More than 100 workers received radiation doses due to inhalation of airborne radioactive material created by the fire, according to the report released today.

OAK RIDGE - The government has levied a $123,750 fine against B&W Technical Services, the contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, for safety violations related to a uranium chip fire in 2007.

RICHLAND, Wash.- The U.S. Department of Energy and its contractor are being hit again for a radioactive spill in Hanford's S-Farm in July 2007. DOE and contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group have agreed on a proposed $30,000 settlement with the EPA.

David Brockman's recent In Focus column lauding Fluor Hanford's 13-years' worth of accomplishments at the nuclear reservation was a puzzler. The praise heaped on the outgoing contractor by the Hanford operations manager was certainly justified. Indeed, Fluor's record -- as an environmental cleanup contractor and a generous corporate neighbor -- is commendable. But the list of accomplishments outlined in Brockman's column leads to an inescapable question.

Faced with a paper trail of minor maintenance problems and mounting pressure from regulators, Southern California Edison has changed maintenance contractors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, the plant's majority owner and operator, said Friday that the company has hired Louisiana-based Shaw Industries to conduct all maintenance operations at the seaside plant. Since 1994 that work had been done by multinational Bechtel Inc., which also helped build the plant's atom splitters in the late 1980s. Shaw also performs maintenance activities at 36 of the nation's 104 operating nuclear power plants. A division of Bechtel has been working for years on an $800 million project to replace steam generators inside both of San Onofre's concrete containment domes. Alexander said the company will continue to work on that project.

The Department of Energy has picked a new contractor to administer its workers' compensation program for employees of Hanford nuclear reservation contractors. Penser North America Inc., a small business in Lacey, has been awarded a two-year contract worth about $1.5 million. Three one-year extensions could increase the value to about $3.4 million over five years. Penser will replace Contract Claims Services Inc., or CCSI, which has a contract that expires Sept. 30. The transition is expected to begin in August or September, with Penser taking over as third-party administrator on Oct. 1. Penser will be paid per claim processed plus an award fee to provide an incentive for good customer service, innovation and overall excellence.

The Department of Energy has given a team led by Lockheed Martin notice to proceed as the Hanford mission support contractor. The notice to proceed indicates that no protest will be filed on the contract award made late in April to the Lockheed team, Mission Support Alliance. The losing bidder for the contract, Computer Sciences Corp., or CSC, has reached an agreement with the Mission Support Alliance to become a major subcontractor on the team and will not protest the award. "We're still working the details out," said Joe Wagovich, spokesman for Lockheed Martin. The transition from outgoing contractor Fluor Hanford to Mission Support Alliance is expected to begin before the end of the month, although the start date has not been set. The transition will last 90 days and then Mission Support Alliance, led by Frank Figueroa, will take charge of support services at Hanford. Mission Support Alliance was first awarded the contract valued at $3 billion over 10 years in September, but CSC, which had teamed with Battelle, protested the award to the Government Accountability Office.

Three structural components were procured and installed by the prime contractor at the MOX Facility that did not meet the technical specifications for items relied on for safety. * In six instances, items used in the construction of TEF failed to satisfy quality standards. In one instance, operating procedures had to be modified to ensure that the problem item did not compromise safety; and, * At ISP, one component that did not meet quality standards was procured. The failure of the item could have resulted in a spill of up to 15,000 gallons of high-level radioactive waste. We concluded that these failures were attributable to inadequate attention to quality assurance at Savannah River. Departmental controls were not adequate to prevent and/or detect quality problems. Additionally, management did not effectively communicate quality assurance concerns between the several Departmental program elements operating at Savannah River. The procurement and installation of these nonconforming components resulted in cost increases. The internal control weaknesses we discovered could have permitted, without detection, the procurement and installation of safety critical components that did not meet quality assurance standards. In a worst case scenario, undetected, nonconforming components could fail and injure workers or the public. In certain instances, the Department took steps to ensure that the prime contractors at Savannah River began action to remediate nonconforming components and to strengthen policies and procedures. Accordingly, we made several recommendations designed to strengthen quality assurance at Savannah River. Finally, the matters discussed in this report provide valuable lessons learned as the Department implements the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Department will use Recovery Act stimulus funds to initiate new and to accelerate ongoing projects throughout its complex. The Department must maintain a focus on quality assurance issues to ensur

For the first time in the protracted Hanford downwinders lawsuit, the lead lawyer for government contractors said Tuesday his companies are ready to offer cash settlements to a few of the thousands of people who believe their illnesses were caused by radiation releases. U.S. District Judge William F. Nielsen hosted more than a dozen attorneys in Spokane for a status conference on the 18-year-old downwinders lawsuit, which has cost taxpayers more than $57 million to defend.

A federal grand jury in Amarillo indicted a contractor Tuesday on charges alleging he defrauded the federal government out of nearly $170,000 by submitting falsified timecards and expense claims for contract work at the Pantex Plant. The grand jury indicted Roy David Williams, 57, on 29 separate counts, including wire fraud and false claims. The wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Federal prosecutors allege Williams engaged in unauthorized bid preparations and other management activities for his technical services company, WAATTS Inc., while he was at Pantex and then billed the plant for those unauthorized hours.

Greenpeace and France's Sortir du Nucleaire are seeking to implicate Electricite de France Chairman Pierre Gadonneix in alleged spying by the utility on the anti-nuclear organizations. In a press statement, Greenpeace said it had asked the French government to suspend Gadonneix. It said it had learned through court documents that EDF contractors had been spying on its operations in France, the UK, Spain and Belgium since 2004. Greenpeace said that it asked French environment and energy minister Jean-Louis Borloo to name an "independent commission to evaluate the nuclear industry." Separately, Sortir du Nucleaire said it and its spokesman Stephane Lhomme had simultaneously filed for intervener status in the county court in Nanterre, outside Paris, where an investigative judge is examining evidence in the alleged spying case. SdN said it wants the judge to file charges against Gadonneix and not just against lower-level managers and contractors. EDF said last week that it had suspended two security managers who were implicated in the ongoing investigation.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today issued Preliminary Notices of Violation (PNOVs) to three contractors - Stanford University, Pacific Underground Construction, Inc., and Western Allied Mechanical, Inc. - for violations in September 2007 of the Department's worker safety and health regulations. Stanford University is the managing and operating contractor for DOE's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), located in Menlo Park, California. At the time the violations occurred, Pacific Underground Construction was performing work at SLAC under subcontract to Stanford University, and Western Allied Mechanical was a subcontractor to Pacific Underground Construction.

"The biennial shutdown of Davis-Besse nuclear power plant is bringing hundreds of contractors -- and their money -- to Ottawa County. "Every two years we shut down the plant to refuel the reactor," said Todd Schneider, spokesman for First Energy. "We're going to have about 1,200 contractors in the area during that period of time, plus about 100 additional First Energy employees in the area from our other two nuclear plants. They come and assist.""

The state of Oregon has fined URS, the contractor operating the incinerator at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, $111,000. Most of the fine is for violations of the facility's hazardous waste and air contaminant discharge permits as it began to burn mustard weapons agent and the agent containers. The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility has not incinerated any chemical weapons agent or containers for 40 days while it addresses the issue. "They are delaying operations to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Rich Duval of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's Chemical Demilitarization Program in Hermiston. URS's Washington Demilitarization Co. reported the problems to the state, including eight occasions when the plant exceeded its emissions limit for carbon monoxide as it began incinerating mustard agent.

The state of Oregon has fined URS, the contractor operating the incinerator at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, $111,000. Most of the fine is for violations of the facility's hazardous waste and air contaminant discharge permits as it began to burn mustard weapons agent and the agent containers. The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility has not incinerated any chemical weapons agent or containers for 40 days while it addresses the issue. "They are delaying operations to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Rich Duval of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's Chemical Demilitarization Program in Hermiston. URS's Washington Demilitarization Co. reported the problems to the state, including eight occasions when the plant exceeded its emissions limit for carbon monoxide as it began incinerating mustard agent.

CPS Energy has received the contractually mandated cost estimate for proposed South Texas Project (STP) Units 3 and 4 from contractor Toshiba, however the utility will make no decisions on the project until rigorous analysis of price and methodology is completed. The cost estimate is structured in a range, and it will take CPS Energy staff several days to analyze the methodology behind the numbers and perform the necessary due diligence, said Jelynne LeBlanc-Burley, CPS Energy's acting general manager. "We are well aware of the confidentiality provision contained in our contract with Toshiba and NINA (Nuclear Innovation North America, a limited liability company comprised of Toshiba and NRG Energy)," said LeBlanc-Burley. "If the cost estimate is disclosed prematurely, it places our customers at risk. Our staff will evaluate the information from Toshiba, put it into context and brief our Board of Trustees as soon as possible. In turn, we will properly notify other key stakeholders including the San Antonio City Council."

CPS Energy has received the contractually mandated cost estimate for proposed South Texas Project (STP) Units 3 and 4 from contractor Toshiba, however the utility will make no decisions on the project until rigorous analysis of price and methodology is completed. The cost estimate is structured in a range, and it will take CPS Energy staff several days to analyze the methodology behind the numbers and perform the necessary due diligence, said Jelynne LeBlanc-Burley, CPS Energy's acting general manager. "We are well aware of the confidentiality provision contained in our contract with Toshiba and NINA (Nuclear Innovation North America, a limited liability company comprised of Toshiba and NRG Energy)," said LeBlanc-Burley. "If the cost estimate is disclosed prematurely, it places our customers at risk. Our staff will evaluate the information from Toshiba, put it into context and brief our Board of Trustees as soon as possible. In turn, we will properly notify other key stakeholders including the San Antonio City Council."

"A spokesman with EnergySolutions today confirmed the management changes at the Oak Ridge-based isotek Systems, the Dept. of Energy contractor heading the project to downblend and disposition the stockpile of Uranium-233 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. EnergySolutions is lead partner in Isotek, joined by Nuclear Fuel Services and Burns and Roe. "We can confirm and are very pleased that Jim Bolon will lead the Isotek project," EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker said by e-mail. Bolon is replacing Ron Shaffer as president of the Oak Ridge contractor organization."

"The Dept. of Energy didn't have any immediate comment on the City of Oak Ridge's request that the next cleanup contract include a provision that requires the top managers with the contractor and major subcontractors live in Oak Ridge. The request was made in the city's comments submitted for the draft Request for Proposals. "I can't talk to anything related to the procurement at this point," John Shewairy, DOE's chief spokesman in Oak Ridge, said via e-mail. If the issue is addressed at the end of the comment period, Shewairy said he might comment then. Meanwhile, Bechtel Jacobs Co. DOE's cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge since 1998, didn't care to comment on where its executives live."

A former Aiken resident who worked at the Savannah River Site as a subcontractor on the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility has been indicted for fraud. Joseph Ralph Lohre Jr., 46, was charged in a three-count indictment with theft of government funds and two counts of making false statements. The indictment alleges that between March 2006 and May 2008, Lohre falsely claimed eligibility for housing benefits through a program administered by the National Nuclear Security Administration, the federal agency overseeing the MOX project, and that as part of his fraud, he submitted falsified documentation to support a claim that he owned a permanent residence in Fort Mitchell, Ky. At the time, Lohre was working as an engineer contractor at SRS.

A former Aiken resident who worked at the Savannah River Site as a subcontractor on the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility has been indicted for fraud. Joseph Ralph Lohre Jr., 46, was charged in a three-count indictment with theft of government funds and two counts of making false statements. The indictment alleges that between March 2006 and May 2008, Lohre falsely claimed eligibility for housing benefits through a program administered by the National Nuclear Security Administration, the federal agency overseeing the MOX project, and that as part of his fraud, he submitted falsified documentation to support a claim that he owned a permanent residence in Fort Mitchell, Ky. At the time, Lohre was working as an engineer contractor at SRS.

Gerald Boyd, the Dept. of Energy's Oak Ridge manager, spoke at a safety meeting a couple of months ago, and he made a comment that Oak Ridge likely has a bigger base of contractors and subcontractors than other other DOE site in the country. I don't know whether that's the case, and Boyd acknowledged that he didn't know it for sure. But it makes sense, given the diversity of operations in Oak Ridge and the scale of the work taking place.