Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Environmental crews at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory have discovered three broken ceramic filter elements are to blame for stalling operations at a plant built to solidify liquid sodium-bearing radioactive waste. In March, DOE and its Jacobs-led contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition, decided to suspend restart of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU). While […]

Lawmakers will debate a version of the National Defense Authorization Act that allocates $25 billion in funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration as both the House and the Senate look at the bill this week in closed markups. The House Rules Committee debated H.R. 8070, the House version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization […]

President Joe Biden’s administration objected Tuesday to a provision in the  House Committee on Armed Services version of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act that would ban Chinese or Russian nationals entry into nuclear weapons facilities and national security laboratories. The statement cites Section 3111 of the H.R. 8070 version of the National Defense […]

An executive at American Demolition and Nuclear Decommissioning, John (Rick) Dearholt has died, the head of a Knoxville-based nuclear trade organization confirmed by phone Tuesday morning. A memorial service for Dearholt, a longtime board member for the Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association, is set for Friday June 21, said the executive director of the […]

Although 11 months have elapsed since the Department of Energy awarded a new $5.9-billion environmental cleanup contract at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, DOE’s cleanup office still isn’t saying when the new contractor will take over from Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth. In an email reply Monday to Exchange Monitor, a DOE spokesperson declined to say when Southern […]

A baker’s dozen of contractors joined Department of Energy representatives May 29 to learn more about the draft solicitation for a new small business landlord contractor at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. The DOE Office of Environmental Management issued a draft request for proposals (RFP) last month for a small business to act as a […]

Leaders from the United States and the Republic of Korea convened in Seoul on Monday with aims to strengthen nuclear deterrence and relations between the two nations, according to a press release from the Department of Defense. The two nations met with intentions of information sharing, consulting, and joint planning and execution to extend deterrence […]

A spokesperson from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico confirmed in an email Monday to the Exchange Monitor that an incident involving skin contamination due to a glovebox failure resulted in no significant health issues.  During the week of May 10, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) wrote a staff report on […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is commencing market research for its cyber security needs in Cincinnati and Washington, D.C. In a May 30 notice, DOE issued a request for information for technology and cyber security needs at the cleanup office’s Washington, D.C., headquarters and the Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in Ohio. […]

The Department of Energy nuclear cleanup branch has issued its final solicitation for a five-year, potential $90-million Consolidated Technical Support Services contract for field offices and sub- offices. The final request for proposals (RFP) for the small business set-aside contract was published Thursday June 6 in the government’s online System for Award Management (SAM.gov), by […]

The story “Consent-based interim storage facility remains years away” [Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, June, 4, 2024] should have said DOE plans to open the consolidated interim storage site by 2040 and a deep underground disposal site might not open until decades later. 

A top National Security Council official said Friday at an Arms Control Association conference  the United States will need to employ a more assertive nuclear strategy in light of the posture being taken by Russia and China. In a separate speech at the same event, House Armed Services Committee member, Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), said […]

Here are some events related to civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. June 12: Hybrid public meeting, Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Idaho Cleanup Project. Shoshone-Bannock Hotel and Events Center, 777 Bannock Avenue, Fort Hall, Idaho. Streaming on Zoom. 11:00 a.m. Eastern time to 6:45 p.m.  Eastern time.  12: Hybrid […]

LOUISVILLE, KY— In a five-year span, prospects for the U.S. commercial nuclear power sector have gone from gloomy to upbeat, an executive with the industry group, Nuclear Energy Institute, said here last week. As recently as 2019, up to 20 U.S. reactors, or more than one-fifth of the fleet, were expected to shut down under […]

Harry Boston, founder of Boston Government Services, is stepping down as CEO and being succeeded by chief operating officer Doug Freund, the Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Department of Energy contractor said May 31. Boston, who started Boston Government Services (BGS) in 2007, sold his ownership stake to Louisiana-based Bernhard Capital Partners in 2022, according to the […]

The U.S. Air Force B-21 Raider stealth bomber by Northrop Grumman is exempt from a Title 10 requirement that a defense secretary seek a waiver for a low-rate initial production buy of more than 10 percent of total production for a Major Defense Acquisition Program, the Department of Defense said. The Department of the Air […]

The Department of Energy Wednesday announced the selection of two companies that will potentially develop hundreds of megawatts of electricity from solar power at the Idaho National Laboratory. NorthRenew Energy Partners and Spitfire propose to install a combined total of 400 megawatts of carbon-free electricity at Idaho National Laboratory under DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy […]

With the Nuclear Regulatory Commission moving toward updated regulations on disposal of  both low-level waste and Greater Than Class C waste, the governor of Texas is reluctant to allow the latter in his state. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in a May letter to the head of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said his […]

LOUISVILLE, KY. — The Department of Energy’s former chief information officer warns the federal government will become more demanding on cyber security requirements for contractors, and that it’s likely to be costly and time-consuming. “Agencies are updating policies,” Rocky Campione, vice president of cybersecurity and technology solutions for Boston Government Services, said here Wednesday. Campione […]

LOUISVILLE, KY. —A readiness assessment should occur by December for the new ventilation system at the Department of Energy’s disposal site in New Mexico for defense-related transuranic waste, a manager for prime said here Tuesday. That review and a DOE safety assessment should clear the way the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to start phasing […]

Both the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the E3 group of nations expressed concerns over Iran’s uranium enrichment in their statements at the Board of Governors meeting. International Atomic Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi emphasized that Iran’s enrichment of 60% purity is close to the required purity of 90% for […]

Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen and Space Force Guardians launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, equipped with one re-entry vehicle, Tuesday morning. The test is part of a series of over 300 tests of the missile and is meant to to showcase the strength of the deterrent, according to a press release.  […]

LOUISVILLE, KY —The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup branch will put out its updated Master Asset Plan, sometime between late summer and the end of the year, the acting  director of infrastructure told the Radwaste Summit here Tuesday. “What is the future use of these facilities,” is an ongoing issue at the DOE Office […]

LOUISVILLE, KY.— The Department of Energy expects to start making early selections for carbon-free energy projects on federal nuclear sites within “the coming days or weeks,” a DOE Office of Environmental Management executive said here Tuesday. The announcement of clean power project selections will come before DOE has the signed realty agreements in hand, Robert […]

LOUISVILLE, KY. — The Department of Energy’s consent-based siting program for interim storage of spent fuel could take decades but the lengthy process does not appear to scare localities interested in nuclear power, attendees at Exchange Monitor’s Radwaste Summit heard Monday. DOE has touted its program to find communities willing to host interim spent fuel […]