Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

A newly released JASON study says plutonium in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile is aging slowly and that observed degradation does not currently threaten weapons performance. The March 25 study, Plutonium Aging: Executive Summary, was conducted by JASON – a scientific advisory board for the U.S. military – at the request of Congress to assess […]

Ken Langdon has been named president and program manager of Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C), where he will lead the company’s work under the Department of Energy’s Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract. H2C is a BWX Technologies-led joint venture including Amentum and Fluor that serves as DOE’s prime contractor managing radioactive liquid waste […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has extended Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ contract to manage and operate the Savannah River Site through Sept. 30, 2027, as the agency evaluates proposals for the next contract. NNSA exercised the remaining option period on the Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ (SRNS) prime contract, an action with an estimated value […]

The Senate’s approval of a stopgap funding bill could give lawmakers time to resolve major differences over Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration fiscal 2027 budget requests, including a proposed 35% increase for nuclear weapons activities. The Senate voted 90-6 Aug. 8 to approve a continuing resolution (CR) funding the government through Dec. […]

X-energy and Centrus Energy have signed a definitive agreement for Centrus to supply low-enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for X-Energy’s advanced reactor fuel on Aug. 6. The Rockville, Md.-based advanced small modular reactor (SMR) said in a press release that the agreement would help de-risk its Xe-100 SMR projects and supply HALEU […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  August: 10: NRC Webinar: On NRC proposed changes to radiation protection rules, start at 1 p.m. E.T.  12: Meeting: The Hanford Advisory Board holds a hybrid meeting starting at 8 a.m. Pacific Time, originating from 2420 Stevens Center Place, Conference Room 153, […]

South Carolina Republicans can vote in a special primary Tuesday Aug. 11 to select the party’s nominee to fill the void created by the unexpected death of incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham last month at age 71. The winner of the Aug. 11 primary, or if necessary, Aug. 25 runoff, will be the Republican Party’s nominee […]

A Republican member of the Yakima County Commission and a Democrat who is a retired Air Force major who once worked at the Hanford Site were the top two finishers in Washington state’s open primary for the 4th congressional district. As a result, Amanda McKinney (R) and John Duresky (D) will go head-to-head in the […]

The Department of Energy said this week its nuclear cleanup branch has now removed radioactive waste from 24 of its single-shell tanks at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. It has only taken about seven months for DOE’s BWXT-led contractor, Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure (H2C), to move 79,000 gallons of waste from Single-Shell […]

California-based microreactor developer Valar Atomics raised $1 billion in a Series B financing round led by Sequoia Capital, the company said Tuesday. Additionally, the nuclear startup secured a $200 million credit facility and added Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire to its board of directors, according to Valar’s press release. Valar is developing the Ward 250, a […]

OMAHA, Neb. – Elbridge Colby, undersecretary of defense for policy, said here Wednesday the United States must pursue arms control while maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent, arguing future agreements must account for China’s rise and evolving proliferation pressures. Speaking at the U.S. Strategic Command’s (STRATCOM) annual Deterrence Symposium, Colby said the administration’s priority is preventing […]

Exchange Monitor is entering its annual August break that occurs while Congress is in recess. As a result, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published on Monday Aug. 10. It will only be published on Tuesdays and Thursdays between now and Aug. 21, at which time the schedule returns to normal. You can also […]

OMAHA, Neb. — U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) Commander Adm. Richard Correll expressed confidence here the United States will smoothly transition from the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system to the Sentinel program, despite ongoing modernization challenges. “So, Minuteman III was designed for a decade. It’s been operating for nearly six decades,” Correll said […]

A nuclear watchdog group in New Mexico has filed suit against the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) seeking to force disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of a study concerning costs of plutonium pit production. The complaint was filed July 23 by Nuclear Watch New Mexico in U.S. […]

The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC) commended the Department of Energy’s initial selections for its Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative, but still wants the agency to do more to ensure that a permanent repository can be secured.  On July 28, DOE announced that Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah were on a shortlist of states […]

OMAHA, Neb. — U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) Commander Adm. Richard Correll said the United States is navigating a “once-in-every-other-generation” modernization effort as emerging technologies and a complex threat environment place greater urgency on decisions shaping the future nuclear deterrent. Giving opening remarks at STRATCOM’s annual Deterrence Symposium, Correll said the Pentagon is simultaneously recapitalizing all […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management plans to keep on Amentum-led Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership as the remediation contractor at the Paducah Site in Kentucky through September 2030. In an online notice of intent posted this week, DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office said it plans to modify the existing Deactivation and Remediation contract to […]

Smoke from regional wildfires has the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., facing an air quality alert until further notice. The National Weather Service forecast for the region says an air quality alert remains in effect “until further notices” for Kennewick, Pasco and Richland as well as the counties that surround the DOE […]

In figures that sound like something out of a TV commercial for insurance, there are an average of 135 automobile wrecks annually at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina that involve either deer or wild pigs, according to the Department of Energy. Research by the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory found in […]

Westinghouse and Amentum signed a series of agreements aimed at advancing fleet-scale deployment of Westinghouse’s reactor technologies, the companies said Tuesday. According to Westinghouse’s press release, the agreements enable the two companies to work together to develop Westinghouse’s large-scale reactor, AP1000, and small modular reactor (SMR), AP300. Westinghouse’s APX strategy will focus on near-term global […]

Holtec International, Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC) and Entergy have agreed to jointly  explore building Holtec’s SMR-300 small modular reactors along the Gulf Coast of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The three companies look to establish a framework to analyze customer demand and potential sites for the SMR-300 reactor, according to Holtec’s Tuesday press […]

Earnings rose at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Knoxville, Tenn., in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 which the federal utility attributed to “higher fuel cost recovery rates and higher sales volume,” according to a Tuesday press release. The net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 ended June 30 was $307 million, up from […]

Pacific Fusion and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California have demonstrated the long-term operation of a next-generation pulsed-power technology, with a prototype system surpassing 3,000 electrical pulses, or “shots,” under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). The achievement advances the laboratory’s prototype, named Sirius, beyond proof-of-concept and toward Technology Readiness Level 5 by […]

The Australian government July 29 announced Australia’s Bisalloy Steel received a $2 million purchase order from U.S. submarine shipbuilder General Dynamics Electric Boat, the first time an Australian company received such an order under the tripartite AUKUS agreement.  The agreement covers an order for HY80 steel plate to support production and construction of Virginia-class submarines […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies (BWXT), Lynchburg, Va., in the 2nd quarter, which the government contractor attributed to growing interest in the nuclear industry. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $89.1 million, or $0.97 a share, up from $78.5 million, or $0.85 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according to the […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee is working on a framework for a stopgap funding resolution to keep the federal government through Dec. 11. The government’s fiscal year is scheduled to end on Sept. 30. Unless a bill codifies that funding is rolled over into the next fiscal year up to a certain date, the government will […]