Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting comments between now and Sept. 16 on the Department of Energy’s plans for two new disposal panels at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. The new panels will help the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) replace disposal capacity lost due to the February 2014 underground radiological […]

A federal safety watchdog will hear testimony from government agencies next month on best practices for taking care of aging nuclear infrastructure, some of which is a half-century old. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has set a public hearing Aug.14 at its Washington, headquarters to hear testimony from representatives of the Government Accountability […]

President Joe Biden (D) on Tuesday announced his intent to nominate Senate staffer Matthew Marzano to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and fill the agency’s last vacancy.  Marzano is an Idaho National Laboratory detailee on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee where he advises lawmakers about clean air, climate and energy, […]

Two amendments dealing with the National Nuclear Security Administration were agreed to and two anti-nuclear amendments failed during a 2025 appropriations debate Tuesday on the House floor. The 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, H.R. 8997, reached the House floor Tuesday, but lawmakers ended their day without a vote on the […]

PanTeXas Deterrence announced four key personnel who will lead management of the Pantex Plant alongside Kelly Beierschmitt, president of the BWX Technologies-led venture, the parent announced Tuesday. The four other senior managers leading PanTeXas Deterrence are: Carl Beard, production operations director. Beard has five years of experience at the Pantex Plant and experience in pit […]

An Amentum-led Department of Energy contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state is starting to remove radioactive waste from single-shell Tank A-101 and transfer it to a newer double-shell tank, DOE said in a Tuesday press release. Removal began of the 325,000 gallons of radioactive and chemical waste in Hanford’s A Tank Farm a […]

The federal government should create a new strategy for disposing of spent nuclear fuel from power plants or recycling it, a Democratic congresswoman said in a hearing Tuesday. “We have to find a storage solution for nuclear waste that does not abandon the communities that host nuclear reactors, whether that way is through reprocessing, permanent […]

A plaintiff who claims false statements by the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico led to the breakup of his marriage served legal papers on the government defendant, he told a federal court last week. After being warned by U.S. District Court Judge Steven Yarbrough that the case would be dismissed unless […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission needs less than a year to finish regulatory approvals for restarting Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, the head of the agency said Tuesday. Plant owner Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., “has submitted all of the regulatory filings that we need to do [and] we expect to reach a decision on those filings […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is slowing its hiring and growth with aims to alleviate overcrowding in the community, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said in answer to a local’s question at a large and vocal town hall Monday. “We’re not going to continue to grow the lab,” Jill Hruby, head of the […]

Top Department of Energy executives for the weapons complex Monday evening got an earful from a large and vocal crowd of New Mexico residents on everything from plutonium pit production to proposed new electric power lines near the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Also at one point during the 90-minute meeting, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

The Joe Biden (D) administration said Monday it would veto the House’s version of the Department of Energy’s 2025 budget, even though the President supports the bill’s added funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration. “The bill provides critical resources reaffirming congressional commitment to a strong national defense and NNSA’s enduring missions,” the statement by […]

The Sentinel modernization program is not only “absolutely necessary” but “might not be sufficient” for Europe’s defense, a Department of Defense official said last week at a virtual discussion after the NATO summit in Washington. “We cannot afford not to proceed with Sentinel,” Vipin Narang, Department of Defense acting assistant secretary of defense for space […]

A joint venture that lost twice in a $45B Department of Energy competition at the Hanford Site in Washington state has presented a federal court with a legal ruling it hopes will disqualify the winner. AtkinsRéalis-led Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance (HTDA) on July 18 told Judge Marian Blank Horn a decision in a similar case […]

Holtec International may not dump wastewater from the decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant into Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts said last week.  The final decision to deny Holtec a state permit modification for the wastewater discharges had been simmering for about a year. In July 2023, Massachusetts made a tentative determination that Holtec’s permit […]

About two months after the U.S. made it illegal in most cases to import Russian uranium, Centrus Energy Corp., Bethesda, Md., got a waiver to continue imports from the Federation in 2024 and 2025. The waiver, granted by the Department of Energy on July 18, allows the company to continue imports of low-enriched uranium “for […]

House lawmakers were set Tuesday to question the four members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about the agency’s latest budget request and about nuclear policy changes enacted this month. The House Energy and Commerce energy, climate and grid security was set to begin the annual NRC budget hearing at 10:00 a.m. in the Rayburn House […]

The House Rules Committee planned to meet Monday on Capitol Hill at 4:00 p.m. to consider amendments and write rules of debate for appropriations bills that include the Department of Energy’s 2025 budget. Of the 122 amendments offered to the Rules Committee, only a few touched on defense or civilian nuclear matters at DOE. Historically, […]

The Department of Energy has implemented all 34 corrective actions required by a June 2021 settlement agreement over mislabeled waste sent to the Nevada National Security Site from the Y-12 National Security Site in Tennessee, officials said last week. Completion of enhanced waste verification at the Nevada Site, before and after waste arrives, was noted […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management lacks consistent policy on allowing staff to work remotely, and efforts to use internship-type programs to recruit younger workers have yet to pay off, according to last week’s congressional watchdog report. Those are a couple of sidenotes inside the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on staffing shortages […]

Here are some events related to civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. 22: Town Hall: NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby and DOE Environmental Management Senior Adviser Candice Robertson will hold a town hall-style meeting starting at 6:00 p.m. Mountain Time at the Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder in Santa Fe, NM. […]

Robert (Bob) Wilkinson started his new job this week as president and project manager of the Amentum-led solid-waste prime at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Wilkinson, previously president of Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, is succeeding John Eschenberg atop Amentum-led Central Plateau Cleanup Company, which also includes Fluor and Atkins. Wilkinson’s […]

Editor’s note: the election digest tracks lawmakers whose constituencies include Department of Energy nuclear sites or civilian nuclear reactors that are being decommissioned. Most lawmakers with big nuclear constituencies look, as usual, safe to win reelection this November. However, a few are retiring and some are in tight races. The Exchange Monitor’s election digest is […]

Virginia-based Amentum recently hired Nathan Rutledge for its newly-created position of senior vice president and head of investor relations. Rutledge will lead investor relations activity connected with Amentum’s announced merger with Jacobs’ Critical Mission Solutions and Cyber and Intelligence businesses, according to a July 2  press release. The new blended company will be publicly traded. […]

A half-dozen Department of Energy nuclear sites are being honored by the Global Electronics Council for 2023 purchases that resulted in carbon dioxide emission reductions equal to removing 121,000 cars off the road for a year, according to a DOE press release. The Hanford Site in Washington state, the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action […]