Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The Russian federation informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that drone remains were found near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, the agency said in a press release. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he would assess the situation when he visits the site this week, and that he would […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration announced Monday it awarded a BWX Technologies subsidiary a contract to evaluate options for a pilot plant for domestically enriched uranium. Nuclear Fuel Services, the BWX Technologies (BWXT) subsidiary that manufactures fuel material for naval nuclear reactors in Erwin, Tenn., would complete the yearlong engineering study as part of the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission relied on the wrong law when it licensed private long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel, Texas and a mineral rights-group headquartered there told the U.S. Supreme Court last week. It is essentially the same argument that the state and Fasken Land and Minerals successfully used to convince the U.S. Fifth Circuit […]

From Paducah, Ky., to a section of the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico, Department of Energy weapons complex workers are coping with daytime high temperatures this week exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit, or in the case of Paducah, 100 degrees.  The DOE’s Paducah Site is expected to see daytime highs Tuesday through Thursday ranging from 100 […]

A weekend wildland fire that threatened thousands of acres at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site is 100% contained, site management said in a social media post Sunday. Fire and rescue teams for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) “have achieved 100% containment of the Ribbon Fire,” according to a Sunday post on […]

In another step in the trilateral AUKUS agreement, the USS Hawaii attack submarine arrived in Australia on Aug. 22 following submarine tender USS Emory S. Land to conduct maintenance work with Australian participants. The Emory S. Land is expected to start several executive maintenance activities in a submarine tendered maintenance period (STMP) aboard the nuclear-powered […]

On Aug. 12, the U.S. Air Force told the Government Accountability Office that the service is canceling the potentially $12 billion Integrated Support Contract 2.0 for the Minuteman III and future nuclear-tipped, silo-based Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles. The service may re-examine intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) support requirements for a future contract. The Integrated Support Contract […]

A federal claims court judge plans a closed- door hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday Aug. 28 with litigants in a dispute over a $45-billion liquid waste contract at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank Horn set the hearing for 11 a.m. Eastern Time […]

During a time of much political division in the United States, Democrats and Republicans both support nuclear energy, but lack concensus on nuclear weapons, according to their 2024 party platforms. Now that the Democrats and GOP have concluded their respective national conventions in Chicago and Milwaukee, Exchange Monitor scanned their policy platforms with an eye […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has entered into a new business deal, worth up to $19.7 million over three years, with an existing provider of technology support. DOE said in an Aug. 21 press release the department’s business support office for the chief information officer has signed a blanket purchasing agreement with […]

President Joe Biden approved an unprecedented nuclear strategy in March that would alter the country’s deterrent with aims to focus on China’s expanding nuclear arsenal, the New York Times said. The document, named “Nuclear Employment Guidance,” is currently classified, though the Times said it might be unclassified before the end of the Biden administration. According […]

The Department of Energy is shopping for more qualified developers for large-scale carbon-free energy projects at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. DOE said in a Wednesday press release it is issuing another request for qualifications (RFQ) for utility-scale projects at the 310-mile federal complex as part of the Cleanup to Clean Energy Initiative […]

A Department of Energy assessment during April and May found longstanding concerns over fire suppression systems at the Hanford Site in Washington state have still not been fixed, according to a recent report. Oversight of technical safety measures “are not adequate to ensure that safety significant FSSs [fire suppression systems] at the Central Waste Complex […]

The story “Don’t ‘break the NNSA’ with unrealistic expectations, Pentagon official says” in Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, August 14, 2024, should have said “Vipin Narang, former Department of Defense acting assistant secretary of defense for space policy.”

Carrie Meyer, acting director of communications for the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management, has been promoted to be permanent head of communications and stakeholder engagement, DOE said Tuesday. Meyer has been with Environmental Management for 17 years, much of it at the largest cleanup property, the Hanford Site in Washington state, DOE […]

OMAHA — The U.S. should focus on the air- and sea-based legs of the nuclear triad rather than the land-based leg, a California member of the House Armed Services Committee said last week. “Should we spend $170-80 million on the triad, on the ground based ICBM system, or could we better achieve deterrence using the […]

Small reactor startup Nano Nuclear Energy anticipates litigation over a critical July report from the publishing arm of a New York-based investment firm, the company wrote in a letter last week to Hunterbrook Media. In its letter, Nano Nuclear, New York, demanded that Hunterbrook Media, an affiliate of Hunterbrook Capital, take down an article and […]

The Department of Energy expects a batch of specially engineered replacement parts should help curb maintenance downtime at the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, according to a press release. The shipment of 16 replacement centrifugal contactors by Office of Environmental Management cleanup prime Savannah River Mission Completion should […]

Federal judges in August decided not to let environmentalists opposed to the restart of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant reargue their case before an entire appeals court. The judges did not give a reason for their ruling in a decision published Aug. 5 on the online docket for the case in the U.S. Ninth […]

Amentum and branches of Jacobs Solutions specializing in government and cyber-related work are poised to launch a new publicly-traded Amentum next month with deep footprints in nuclear, space exploration and defense work for the U.S. and its allies, executives said last week. “Following the combination, Amentum will generate revenues of approximately $14 billion. And importantly, […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 45 shipments of transuranic waste during July, according to DOE’s public website. As usual, the Idaho National Laboratory accounted for the majority of shipments, sending 33. Los Alamos National Laboratory sent four, and the Savannah River Site accounts for the remaining eight shipments […]

The State Department on Thursday submitted a determination to Congress that the Australian and United Kingdom export control systems are compatible with the U.S., a step in smoothing the process for AUKUS nuclear technology sharing. The 2021 AUKUS agreement aims to have the U.K. and U.S. help Australia build and maintain nuclear-powered attack submarines by […]

OMAHA, Neb. — Lawrence Livermore National Securities is negotiating a five-year extension for the management contract of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the director told the Monitor last week. “We’re in the midst of negotiations now,” Kim Budil, director of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, Calif., told the […]

The Department of Energy has issued a final solicitation for a new landlord contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky, business currently held by Swift & Staley. On Aug. 13, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management published the final request for proposals (RFP) for the new Infrastructure Support Services contract at the former gaseous diffusion plant […]

The Department of Energy confirmed Thursday that “more likely than not” another underground tank at the Hanford Site in Washington state is leaking radioactive waste. “Based on conservative estimates, it has been determined that T-101 is more likely than not leaking a small amount of contamination to the soil beneath the tank,” DOE managers at […]