Gone Fission Nuclear Report

Thousands of workers show up each day to advance the environmental cleanup mission at DOE sites around the country. They are talented and dedicated but for the most part their work goes unheralded without awards or accolades. In this week’s Gone Fission Nuclear Report host Michael Butler talks with a DOE official who has been singled out by the Secretary of Energy for a major performance award. Jud Lilly, a DOE executive at the Portsmouth OH site, has been named Federal Project Director of the Year by the Secretary of Energy. Meet Jud and hear his story, including the tremendous respect he has for the Portsmouth team who get the job done very day. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

The Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories conduct research and development on some of the world’s most vexing challenges—from climate change to the origins of the universe. Most recently, six labs have turned their attention to speeding cleanup of underground tank waste at DOE’s Hanford site in Washington State. The labs are using $27 million in DOE funding to research everything from tank integrity and the impact of corrosion to robotic handling of tank waste. Estimates show this and other work could save $150 billion in cleanup costs and shave up to two decades off a 60-year timeline. This week, Gone Fission host Michael Butler talks with Connie Herman, Associate Director, Savannah River National Laboratory, and Delmar Noyes, DOE Tank Farms Manager at Hanford. NOTE: The work Network of National Laboratories for Environmental Management and Stewardship (NNLEMS) performs is overseen by the EM Laboratory Policy Office with the support of the EM Technology Operations Office, Hanford Site Office as well as the Office of Science, and ARPA-E.” Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

The Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup program is boosting a resurgence in the growth of nuclear energy. Cleaning up formerly contaminated land has created a new home for advanced reactor concepts that have become the centerpiece of the nuclear renaissance. In this week’s episode, the Gone Fission Nuclear Report examines how environmental cleanup is helping to position the nation for a clean energy future. Guests are Ashley Saunders of UCOR, Dr. Wes Hines, Head of the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee, and Jim Little, E-4 Carolinas board member. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

This month, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico celebrates its 25th Anniversary. Located in Southeast New Mexico about 26 miles east of Carlsbad, WIPP was constructed for disposal of defense-generated transuranic--or TRU-- waste. WIPP is the nation’s only repository for the permanent disposal of TRU waste. In this week’s episode, Host Michael Butler talks with DOE Carlsbad Field Office Manager Mark Bollinger, Senior WIPP offiicial Tammy Hobbes, and Brandon Jones, Project Manager for the facility’s new underground venting system. They join us in looking back on WIPP’s history, starting with receipt of the first shipment of TRU waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory in March 1999. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

As we near the end of Black History Month, in this week’s podcast host Michael Butler features the story of the Scarboro 85. In August 1955, 85 young African American students entered all-white classrooms in the Oak Ridge High School and the Robertsville Junior High School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This desegregation stands as an important milestone in American civil rights history. Oak Ridge City Historian Ray Smith is our guest. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

Consistent, reliable Congressional funding is an essential element of success in the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup program. In this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast, host Michael Butler interviews two former members of Congress who were instrumental in creation of the Nuclear Cleanup Caucus in the mid-1990s. Our guests are former Washington State Congressman Doc Hastings, whose district included the Hanford site, and former Tennessee Congressman Zach Wamp who represented Oak Ridge. Over the past 30 years, the Caucus has worked diligently to educate fellow members about the importance of cleanup and to keep funding flowing to meet site cleanup priorities across the country. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

The Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup program is now focused on 15 remaining sites around the country, down from 107 at the start of the program three decades ago. It is a multi-million dollar, multi-decade effort that depends on qualified contractors to get the job done. DOE is the largest civilian contracting agency in the federal government. In this week’s episode, the Gone Fission Nuclear Report examines the procurement process that results in contract awards and looks at the agency’s new contracting model, the role of small business and the impact of protests on cleanup schedules and progress. Guests are Angela Watmore, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Project Management and Aaron Deckard, Procurement Director, EM Consolidated Business Center. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

Every DOE community has local leaders who step up to advocate for funding and new missions and to hold the Department of Energy accountable for its cleanup obligations. These leaders take the time to educate themselves on site issues, get to know DOE leaders and members of Congress, and use their voices and influence to represent their communities. In this week’s episode, the Gone Fission Nuclear Report remembers one such leader--Gary Petersen, a long-time passionate advocate for the Hanford site in Washington State, who passed away last October, leaving an impressive legacy of advocacy and support. Paying tribute to Gary are former Congressman Doc Hastings, Duane Schmoker, President, Sterling Engineering, David Reeploeg, Vice President, TRIDEC, Seth Kirshenberg, Executive Director, Energy Communities Alliance, and Carl Adrian, past president, TRIDEC. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

In 2015, the United States welcomed its 409th National Park. Known as the Manhattan Project National Historic Park, it tells the story of the men and women who developed the atomic bomb that ended World War II. The Park features three key locations across the U.S.—Oak Ridge TN, Los Alamos NM, and Hanford WA. National Park Service Superintendent Wendy Behrman is our guest in this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

In our last episode, the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast examined the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee’s decision to close in two years. This week, Department of Energy officials at Headquarters and two sites discuss the continuing need for CROs and the importance of community support in the success of DOE’s cleanup mission. Hear our interview with Kristen Ellis, DOE-EM Headquarters, Yvette Cantrell, DOE-Portsmouth/Paducah, and Paradio Maith, DOE-Savannah River Site. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

The Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee (CROET) recently announced its plans to close after three decades of successfully representing the Oak Ridge community with the Department of Energy. Why now? And what does this decision mean for the CROs that continue to operate in other DOE communities? Learn the answers in this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast featuring interviews with David Bradshaw of CROET and Seth Kirshenberg, Energy Communities Alliance. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

If you want job security and the feeling of doing something meaningful, the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management program is the place to be. That was the message of top government and industry leaders—and young professionals themselves—at the 2023 National Cleanup Workshop in Washington, DC. EM Senior Advisor Ike White says about half the federal EM workforce is eligible to retire now. And UCOR President and CEO Ken Rueter describes a novel program called Rising Senior Leaders that is preparing young professionals for executive positions. It’s all featured in this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report. #environment #workforce #podcast Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

Cleanup is essential. Budgets are tight. Partnership is imperative. That was the message delivered by two members of Congress at the National Cleanup Workshop in Washington, DC, last week. Hear Congressmen Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) assess the current status of the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup program in this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

This week's episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast features an in-depth interview with Stuart MacVean, recently retired President and CEO of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, DOE's lead environmental cleanup contractor at the Savannah River Site. MacVean looks back on his four decades in the nuclear industry and discusses the challenges that remain in the DOE environmental cleanup program and his plans for the future. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

The Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast celebrates the American worker on Labor Day 2023. Our skilled crafts work daily in hazardous environments and all kinds of weather to carry out the EM cleanup mission. Sean McGarvey, president and CEO of North America’s Building Trades Unions, joins us on this week’s episode to thank these workers for all they do. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

The Department of Energy's Environmental Management office spends a lot of time remediating the problems of the past. But that doesn't mean they don't have an eye on the future. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in EM's current push to electrify it's gasoline-powered vehicle fleet. In this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report, Rob Seifert, DOE EM Headquarters, and Stuart MacVean, President and CEO of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, discuss the status of progress in meeting federal mandates to electrify the fleet. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

Environmental cleanup at Department of Energy sites is a family affair. Each day, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, uncles and nephews show up together to perform the hazardous tasks and myriad support services necessary to carry out one of the world’s largest environmental cleanup missions. In this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast, we introduce you to some of these families and learn what it’s like to work together in this challenging setting. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

A controversial figure to this day, J. Robert Oppenheimer led the development and construction of the world's first atomic bomb. After World War II, his past communist leanings came to a head when his government security clearance was revoked after several contentious hearings at the height of the "Red Scare". In this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report, we look ahead to Friday’s premiere of “Oppenheimer” in theaters. Our guest is Dr. Thom Mason, Oppenheimer’s modern-day successor as Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Dr. Mason joined former lab directors in successfully advocating last year that the 1954 revocation of Dr. Oppenheimer’s security clearance be nullified. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

The Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup program is complex, expensive and long-term. It requires federal oversight, experienced contractor management, a skilled workforce, continual funding from Congress, negotiations with regulators, buy-in and support from communities and stakeholders, and lots of careful planing. That planning is conveyed in DOE Environmental Management’s Strategic Vision. In this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report, we examine the latest EM Strategic Vision and talk with two Headquarters officials about the cleanup priorities and challenges that lie ahead. See this insightful interview with Erik Olds, EM Communications Director, and Lee Tucker, EM External Relations. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.

Officials have taken another step forward in preserving the history of the K-25 site in Oak Ridge, breaking ground for a new viewing platform that will provide a bird’s eye view of the former gaseous diffusion plant’s footprint. A nearby K-25 History Center focuses on the men and women who built and operated the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant during the Manhattan Project and Cold War. In this week’s episode, we learn how the new viewing platform and associated exhibits--part of the Manhattan Project National Park--will help visitors understand the scope and magnitude of K-25 while they learn about the personal stories of the workforce. Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.