Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Here are some events related to defense nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. 13: Conference: The U.S. Strategic Command Deterrence Symposium kicks off its two-day event at 8 a.m. Central Time at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, NE. 14: Hybrid meeting: The Oak Ridge Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board holds […]

Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will be published on Tuesday and Thursday only during the weeks of Aug. 12, 2024 and Aug. 19, 2024, as part of the Exchange Monitor’s annual August recess.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is starting its preliminary market research into the next phase of legacy cleanup at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. In a Tuesday procurement notice, the Environmental Management office issued a sources sought/request for information on Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contract II. “No solicitation exists […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inviting the public to request hearings on Holtec International’s ongoing efforts to reopen the shuttered Palisades Nuclear in Michigan. In a Wednesday press release, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced opportunities for stakeholders to request hearings on aspects of the restart. There is an Oct. 7 deadline for the public […]

Privately-held Amentum, which has made big acquisitions of late, recorded a net loss in two of the past three fiscal years, according to a financial filing prior to next month’s planned merger with the government contracting branch of Dallas-based Jacobs. That is according to a July 15 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by […]

A longtime GOP member of the House Appropriations Committee who represents the largest Department of Energy cleanup site is second in an open primary in Washington state, while a Democrat active in nuclear issues in Missouri lost her party’s primary. Incumbent Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), trails a fellow Republican backed by former President Donald Trump, […]

Earnings fell at Jacobs Solutions, Dallas, in its third quarter, as the international engineering and construction company refocuses on high-growth areas as it prepares to spin off its government contracting business that will merge with Amentum. Jacobs announced its quarterly financial results in a Tuesday press release. The company made a new Securities and Exchange […]

Earnings more than doubled year-over-year at Centrus, Bethesda, Md., in the second quarter, during which the company’s flagship uranium brokerage business almost tripled, according to a press release.  The company’s quarterly earnings call was scheduled for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Centrus often has what it sometimes calls lumpy quarters, where uranium fuel orders […]

The landlord contractor overseeing roads, grounds and daily services at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state told employees Tuesday the executives acting as president and chief operations officer are now the permanent bosses. Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) Amy Basche as president and chief operations officer Todd Synoground “have been confirmed […]

Husband-and-wife plaintiffs filed written arguments with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently again claiming the Department of Energy contractor running the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee discriminated against them for their religious-based refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The July 24 filing by Jeffrey and Jessica Bilyeu in litigation against […]

The president and CEO of Lynchburg, Va.,- based BWX Technologies said Monday he expects a legal protest over a potential $45-billion Department of Energy liquid waste contract will be “sorted out” within a few months. Rex Geveden offered his take on the court battle over the Integrated Tanks Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington […]

In a notice published online Tuesday, the Department of Energy formalized a $1.5 billion loan needed to restart the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant next year. DOE announced its guarantee of the loan to plant operator Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., in a Federal Register notice. The agency conditionally approved the loan in March. Holtec has said […]

Publicly-traded companies involved with Department of Energy nuclear programs were not exempt from Monday’s stock market nosedive, which media reported mirrored fears of a coming U.S. recession. Companies that are big players in both the DOE Office of Environmental Management and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) posted per-share declines on Monday, based on Internet searches […]

A federal district court judge in Washington state last week formally approved giving the Department of Energy four more months to start cold commissioning of a facility to turn some of the less radioactive waste at the Hanford Site into a solid glass form. The prior deadline was Thursday Aug. 1 for startup of cold […]

While the U.S. Air Force says it is restructuring the Sentinel next generation nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile program, Senate appropriators are recommending adding $200 million in funds in fiscal 2025. The Senate Appropriations Committee would bump the $3.7 billion Air Force request for the Northrop Grumman Sentinel to $3.9 billion. The added $200 million would […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the second quarter, which the company on Monday attributed partly to organic growth in government operations as it prepared to begin work on a new nuclear weapons contract. In June, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awarded PanTeXas Deterrence, a BWX Technologies (BWXT)-led joint venture, a contract […]

In a final guidance published Monday, Nuclear Regulatory Staff took advice from EnergySolutions and gave reactor operators more leeway to prove they should be allowed to use decommissioning funds for equipment replacements. However, operators will still be barred from tapping into the funds, which are supposed to be reserved for cleaning up nuclear power plants […]

Here are some events related to defense nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. 05: Hybrid meeting: The Hanford Advisory Board meets starting at 9 a.m. Pacific Time. The meeting will originate from Washington State University Tri-Cities, Room 120/120A, Consolidated Information Center, 2770 University Drive, Richland, Washington 99354.  05: Earnings call: BWX […]

Availability of water at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, which is continually decreasing, is “important for nuclear security,” according to the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency. “The dwindling water levels in the cooling pond remains a potential source of concern, and we will continue to closely monitor and observe the situation at the […]

Wyoming Rep. Donald Burkhart (R) last week said he is preparing a bill that would allow the state to build an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in its territory. Burkhart spoke July 31 during the second day of a hearing of the Wyoming state legislature’s joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee. “We […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee would give the requested $800 million to the Uranium Processing facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., for 2025, $40 million less than House appropriators recommended. The budget for the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), part of the 2025 energy and water development and related agencies appropriations bill the Senate committee passed Thursday, would […]

The legacy cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has excavated most of the corrugated metal pipes buried at a material disposal area and sliced up more than half of the pipes, a federal advisory board heard last week. As of early last week, Newport News Nuclear BWXT […]

Editor’s note, Aug. 01. The story was updated with comment from Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). WASHINGTON — Senate appropriators on Thursday proposed a 2025 Department of Energy budget that would pile funding the House wants to put into nuclear weapons into nuclear-weapons cleanup. That’s according to a detailed bill report the Senate Appropriations Committee released […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee planned to mark up Thursday its version of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s 2025 budget, the committee announced. The full committee markup was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Eastern time in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 106. The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025 is one […]

The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup office needs better oversight of contractors doing big, expensive infrastructure projects, according to a federal audit released Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wants DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) to better monitor performance “and hold contractors accountable,” according to the new report. “GAO reviewed five selected EM […]