Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. May 20-21: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Savannah River Site.  DeSoto Savannah, 15 E Liberty, Savannah, Ga., 31401. Monday, 1:00 p.m. Eastern time to 4:15 p.m. Eastern time; Tuesday 9:00 a.m. Eastern time to 3:30 p.m. […]

On May 14, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory completed the first in the Nimble series of underground subcritical experiments at the Nevada National Security Site, according to a press release. The subcritical experiment was conducted at the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation, also known as the U1a Complex.  In June 2023, a senior Livermore […]

A husband and wife employed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has turned to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit after failing to convince a federal judge in Tennessee they suffered discrimination from their refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Jessica Bilyeu last month settled her remaining claim over […]

Jessica Kunkle. a Los Alamos, N.M., native and longtime National Nuclear Security Administration executive, will lead the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management field operation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory starting in June. Kunkle has been with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) about 15 years and is a deputy administrator with NNSA’s […]

WASHINGTON — The National Nuclear Security Administration still plans to announce the new manager of Pantex Plant in June, the head of the agency said here Wednesday. Jill Hruby, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), reiterated the timeline during an evening Capitol Hill panel discussion and reception hosted by the nongovernmental Advanced Nuclear […]

A project to design a federally owned and operated interim storage facility for radioactive waste reached the milestone that marks the start of conceptual design work, the Department of Energy said Wednesday.  The Federal Consolidated Interim Storage Facility project “recently” reached the critical decision-0, or CD-0, milestone, DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy wrote Wednesday in […]

Jessica Kunkle. a Los Alamos, N.M., native and longtime National Nuclear Security Administration executive, will lead the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management field operation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory starting in June. Kunkle has been with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) about 15 years and is a deputy administrator with NNSA’s […]

Earnings rose at AtkinsRéalis, Montreal, Canada, in the first quarter, which the company attributed in part Wednesday to surging international interest in new nuclear power. Net earnings for the first quarter ended were C$45.5 million (US$33.45 million) or C$0.26 (US$0.19) a share, up from C$28.4 million (US$20.88 million) or or C$0.16 a share (U.S. 0.12 […]

Senators in a hearing Wednesday pressed Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins about what the State Department is doing to deter Russia and China’s nuclear capabilities. Jenkins was the sole witness in the hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which met less than a year before the February 2026 expiration of the New START nuclear arms control […]

The Department of Energy today canceled its Northern New Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board that was scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. Mountain Time. The next board meeting, for the panel which offers advice on DOE Office of Environmental Management issues affecting the Los Alamos National Laboratory, will be July 17, according to a staff email […]

Amid her campaign for a second term, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) on Tuesday filed a bill that would if enacted remove Yucca Mountain’s designation as a nuclear waste repository. The bill would also terminate the not-quite-dead Yucca Mountain licensing proceeding that the George W. Bush (R) administration started with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the […]

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee planned Wednesday to hold a hearing on arms control with the state department official in charge of the portfolio. The hearing was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Eastern time in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 419. The Honorable Bonnie D. Jenkins, the undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security at […]

The Department of Energy Tuesday rolled out its second market information request for carbon-free electricity at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, with an eye toward bigger projects that might generate power for locals near the nuclear complex. A top DOE nuclear cleanup manager at Savannah River said recently the agency is evaluating solar […]

The Department of Energy said it is still reviewing the latest small business proposals it got to manage the National Training Center in New Mexico and planned an award no sooner than August. In 2023, three small businesses protested the Department of Energy’s (DOE) 2022 award to Eagle Harbor to manage the National Training Center […]

With a June 7 deadline looming, supporters of reauthorizing the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act planned to gather at the U.S. Capitol grounds Thursday and urge House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to hold a vote on the measure. By May 16, the scheduled day of the rally and press conference, the House of Representatives will have […]

President Biden (D) on Monday signed into law a ban on importing Russian uranium beginning in 2028, the White House announced. Under the bill, companies may no longer import unirradiated low-enriched uranium produced in Russia or by a Russian entity unless the importer gets a waiver from the Department of Energy. Waivers are only good […]

After reaching a new labor contract with Centrus Energy for dozens of employees involved in making enriched uranium at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio, a United Steelworkers union local is in negotiations with the landlord contractor for the complex. Although the new Centrus contract, reached in March, only involves 40 people for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons programs would be authorized for slightly more than requested and its nonproliferation programs for slightly less if a defense bill published Monday becomes law. The House Armed Services Committee released the bill and report language for the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Monday and planned its annual […]

A U.S. District Court magistrate judge in Ohio issued an order last week coordinating pre-trial discovery in four federal lawsuits against present and former contractors at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Preston Deavers issued the stipulation and order Friday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. “Overlapping discovery” […]

Navarro Research and Engineering, Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Deep Isolation, Berkeley, Calif., said they formed a “strategic partnership” to help demonstrate disposal of nuclear waste in deep boreholes. “Navarro will provide engineering, environmental and technical support, and nuclear safety expertise,” reads a joint press release dated May 2024. Founded in 2016, Deep Isolation is trying […]

The Department of Energy in late May will hold an information session and site tour for potential bidders on a new Infrastructure Support Service contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management recently announced it would extend the incumbent landlord contractor Swift & Staley for up to 16 months, potentially through […]

A trio of small businesses based in Oak Ridge Tenn., have teamed up to form Nuclear Services Partners LLC, to pursue nuclear contracts in Tennessee and nationally, the companies announced last week. Nuclear Services Partners is a joint venture of Navarro Research and Engineering, MS Technology and Strata-G. Together the three small businesses have a […]

The National Nuclear Security of Administration’s Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation coordinated a multi-laboratory nuclear forensics capabilities exercise, the agency said recently. The Epic Shadow exercise is held twice a year by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to demonstrate the NNSA’s Nuclear Forensics Material Analysis Program (NF-MAP). With NF-MAP, NNSA says decision-makers will be […]

Nuclear power company Oklo, chaired by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, started trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday and dropped 54% directly after going public. Shares opened the day Friday at $15.50 each and had fallen to $8.45 each at the closing bell, according to trading data published online by the exchange. Oklo, originally […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. 15: Public hybrid meeting, Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Northern New Mexico.  16: Earnings Call: AtkinsRéalis will hold its first quarter earnings call at 8 a.m. Eastern Time. 16: Public meeting, Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, […]