Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) Monday appointed Darline Graham Nordone, Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R) sister, to finish out the late Senator’s term and fill the vacant seat left by his unexpected death Saturday. “Lindsey Graham recognized the greatness of America, the seriousness of his work, and also the value of human and lighthearted spirit,” […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has determined that construction and operation of a new East End Campus at the Y-12 National Security Complex will not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. This finding clears the way for the project to move forward without preparing a full environmental impact statement. NNSA issued a […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., has made its first shipment of concentrate from the Effluent Management Facility (EMF) to a nearby plant operated by Perma-Fix for grouting, DOE said Monday. The EMF concentrate is a liquid waste byproduct created when Hanford’s radioactive underground tank waste is vitrified into a glass form […]

The Town of Taos, N.M. last month approved a resolution opposing the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) plans to expand plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), calling for further environmental review. Resolution 26-37, adopted June 9, cites a Feb. 11 NNSA Defense Programs memorandum, Responsive Today, Dominant Tomorrow: Enhancing American Nuclear Dominance, […]

A House Energy and Commerce Committee panel is set to consider six nuclear power-related bills Tuesday morning, according to the committee’s website. The Energy Subcommittee will convene at 10:15 a.m. Eastern Time to markup bills on topics ranging from uranium enrichment to Nuclear Regulatory Commission pay to nuclear transparency at the Department of Energy. The […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is planning a series of virtual public meetings this week on proposed rule changes following the Advance Act and a 2025 executive order by President Donald Trump. On Monday July 13, starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, NRC will hold a public hearing on its plan to update security requirements, according […]

The liquid waste prime contractor at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has finished key construction stages for the latest jumbo-sized Saltstone Disposal Unit (SDU), DOE said Thursday. The Savannah River Site (SRS) environmental prime Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) and its subcontractors have now installed 208 support columns, 25 wall […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  JULY  15: Meeting: House Cleanup Caucus event begins at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time in Rooms 2043 and 2044 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.  16: Meeting: The Paducah Site-Specific Advisory Board neets starting at 5:30 p.m. Central Time at […]

The B-21 Raider will have two pilots instead of one pilot and a weapons systems officer (WSO), according to the Air Force, as the service creates a competitive pilot transition program for WSOs and combat systems officers (CSOs). The Air Force said in a July 9 press release the transition program would be for the […]

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee who oversees Savannah River Site in his state, died suddenly Saturday, Graham’s office said Sunday. “On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” Graham’s office said in a statement early […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, Tim Walsh, wrote the director of Washington state’s Department of Ecology to stress “the urgency” DOE places on state approval of grouting some of Hanford Site’s less-radioactive waste. DOE appreciates Washington state’s “willingness to consider our proposed ‘glass-plus-grout’ strategy” for the 200 East Area […]

An analyst with the European Policy Centre (EPC) warned NATO’s evolving defense posture must preserve a credible conventional military presence in Europe, arguing that nuclear guarantees alone are insufficient to deter Russia. In an op-ed published this week, EPC policy analyst Juraj Majcin said the alliance’s shift toward greater European responsibility for conventional defense — […]

Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Standard Nuclear proposed its initial public offering (IPO) Tuesday just weeks after the company filed its IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in mid-June. The advanced nuclear fuel company Standard Nuclear said in a Tuesday press release it is launching its “roadshow” for its proposed IPO of 18.25 million shares […]

The United States signed a memorandum of cooperation with Japan and South Korea to create a framework between the three to deploy small modular reactors (SMRs) in other countries. The initial focus on the countries’ three-way cooperation would initially focus on the Indo-Pacific region, according to the Department of State’s Tuesday press release. The agreement […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed the certification, or “diamond stamping,” of all planned canned subassemblies for the B61-13 nuclear gravity bomb this fiscal year, according to a Wednesday agency press release. NNSA also said in the release it certified the canned subassemblies, or the secondary stage of a two-stage thermonuclear weapon, at Y-12 […]

The prototype reactor canister for Deep Fission’s Gravity reactor arrived at the company’s Parsons, Kan. site on Tuesday, which the company said marks a milestone in its “Proof-of-Concept Well” program and development of its Gravity reactor. Berkeley, Calif.-based Deep Fission said in a press release the factory-built prototype canister completed fabrication, hydrostatic testing and was […]

Centrus Energy will join the S&P SmallCap 600 Index before markets open July 14, a move the company said reflects its growing role in rebuilding the U.S. nuclear fuel supply chain and expanding domestic uranium enrichment capacity. “Our invitation into the S&P SmallCap 600 reflects the progress our team has made and the expanding role […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed a new rulemaking Tuesday revising how the agency intends to implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) standards. Under the proposed rule, the agency is seeking to streamline and change Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 51 – or 10 CFR Part 51 regulations to “alleviate unnecessary regulatory burden, […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state continues to prepare to ship transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico and could start sending drums there within a year, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) update. In a DNFSB resident inspector report for the week ended […]

The United States nearly doubled its uranium production last year from its 2024 total as the country’s renewed interest in nuclear power continues to materialize. In the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Domestic Uranium Production Report, published June 23, the U.S. uranium mines produced 1.38 million pounds of triuranium octoxide (U3O8) in 2025. This was […]

Aleut Government Services has been awarded a $6.2-million contract by the Department of Energy Office of Science for administrative and business support services at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The award notice was posted online July 6. Aleut Government Services business address is listed as Colorado Springs, Colo., according to the notice. Aleut Government […]

A coalition of watchdog organizations is pressing the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to release three documents it argues are essential to public review of the agency’s draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for expanded plutonium pit production. The South Carolina Environmental Law Project (SCELP) – which is representing Savannah River Site Watch, Tri-Valley CAREs […]

Numerous changes are coming to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s reactor licensing as the agency proposed an overhaul of regulatory modifications to modernize its procedures, it said last week. NRC said in a July 1 press release that these changes will modernize reactor licensing, oversight and siting practices of nuclear power plants. These sweeping changes were […]

The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) latest report of major defense acquisition programs found that while several nuclear modernization efforts continue to advance through development and testing, the Sentinel program remains burdened by significant cost, schedule and design challenges. In its annual review of weapon systems released last week, GAO said the Air Force’s Sentinel intercontinental […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch agrees with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that DOE should not rush into costly infrastructure projects before doing more research up front. By the end of 2026, the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) will look to implement two GAO recommendations in a recently-released report, the head of […]