Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Some of the 1,502 amendments filed in the House for an annual defense policy bill deal directly with the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise, including a call to allow the National Nuclear Security Administration more time to make 80 new plutonium pits annually. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) filed an amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization […]

To net an investment from Hyundai, Holtec International, Camden, N.J., wanted to lie about its value and about the prospects for its proposed interim spent-fuel storage business, a former Holtec executive alleged. Kevin O’Rourke, Holtec’s former chief financial officer, said he was fired in 2022 after about a year on the job for refusing to […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. 11: Senate Armed Services Committee. Hearing to consider the nomination of Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown for reappointment to the grade of general and to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 9:30 a.m. […]

The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday said Butte County, Idaho, lacks either a factual or legal basis to win its lawsuit against the Department of Energy over ongoing storage of certain nuclear material at the Idaho National Laboratory. The feds want U.S. District Judge David Nye to toss the lawsuit the county, home to […]

National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Jill Hruby and nonproliferation lead Corey Hinderstein visited Georgia in June, a nation the agency says is on the frontlines of nuclear-materials smuggling.  The NNSA has “extensive ties” to Georgia, located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and has worked in the country for more than 20 years on […]

The Department of Energy is studying disposal options for a radiologically contaminated forklift and other material after crews removed multiple waste drums from a partially-flooded building at the Hanford Site in Washington state, according to reports from a federal safety board. Radiological contamination turned up on an employee’s pant leg and on a forklift tine, […]

Los Alamos County, N.M., home to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos National Laboratory is under stage 1 fire restrictions by order of the county’s fire marshal. The restrictions, brought on by seasonal high temperatures and dry conditions, went into effect July 7, the Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) said in a statement. […]

After extensive searches, the International Atomic Energy Agency says there are no visible mines or explosives set by Russian troops at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.  IAEA officials in recent days have been inspecting parts of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), including some sections of the perimeter of the plant’s large cooling pond, the […]

The Department of Energy is awarding a National Governors Association group a grant worth $2.6 million spread over five years to work on waste management and nuclear cleanup at federal sites, the agency said Wednesday. The grant to the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices is provided through DOE’s fiscal 2023 budget, the agency […]

Westinghouse Electric has submitted its first batch of vendor design review paperwork to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for a microreactor capable of generating up to 5 kilowatts of electricity, the company said Wednesday. Westinghouse filed four phase 1 submissions with the Canadian regulator June 30, the company said. The Pennsylvania-based company also intends to […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency on July 4 effectively endorsed the safety of a controversial Japanese plan to discharge treated radioactive water from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown accident into the Pacific Ocean. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the United Nations nuclear organization, presented the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report to […]

Charlotte, N.C.-based Honeywell has sold its stake in the Fluor-led joint venture that runs the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the company said this week. The company has divested its interest in Savannah River Nuclear Solutions to the remaining partners, Fluor and Huntington Ingalls Industries, Honeywell said in a Monday press […]

Until last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had a full slate of five commissioners for the first time since 2019. Now, the civilian nuclear power regulator is down to four after the Senate left town without voting on whether to give Jeffrey Baran, the longest-serving NRC commission, another five years at the agency. The realm […]

The No. 2 Department of Energy manager at the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York, Craig Rieman, has left to take another job within the agency, members of a local task force heard last Wednesday. Bryan Bower, DOE’s manager of the West Valley cleanup, announced the move last Wednesday, June 28, during a […]

An article in the June 27 edition of Weapons Complex Morning Briefing [Acting boss Ike White hits work anniversary at EM] should have said that William (Ike) White has now been at the helm of the Office of Environmental Management for four years. 

The Department of Energy and its Amentum-led contractor have suspended work stabilizing the 324 Building within the Hanford Site in Washington state after discovering far more radiologically-contaminated soil underneath than previously thought. Scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have confirmed that “a much larger volume of highly contaminated soil will need to be remediated […]

After a legal battle concluded the December 2020 winner of the Infrastructure Support Services business for the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky too large for the small business set-aside award, the agency is doing fresh market research for a new landlord contractor. The DOE Office of Environmental Management on Friday June 30 published […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, which manages and operates portions of the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site wants to hire a company for an undisclosed “large capital project,” according to a notice on the federal government contracting website.  Located about 15 miles south of Aiken, South Carolina, the Savannah River Site (SRS) comprises 310 contiguous […]

United Steelworkers Local 1-689 President Herman Potter fears the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio could have a tough time filling vacancies in the near future due to a combination of factors. With the existing workforce at or approaching retirement age, looming brownfield projects driving a need to hire fresh hands and an impending […]

The story “Los Alamos wants to speed glovebox buying, widen supplier base” [Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, June 28, 2023] should have said NNSA plans to hire Merrick Strategic Management Solutions, with an anticipated contract award date of August 28.

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to perform two subcritical explosive experiments at the Nevada National Security Site in the fiscal year that ends Oct. 1, 2024, according to Deputy Administrator for Defense Nonproliferation Corey Hinderstein. Since the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CBTB) took effect in 1992, NNSA has performed 33 subcritical experiments at the […]

Publicly traded stock of advanced nuclear reactor developer NuScale, which is majority-owned by Fluor Corp., hit an all-time low this week. The company’s stock, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, plunged to $6.42 a share on Tuesday, down by about 40% compared with the Oregon-based company’s first day of trading on May 2 […]

Antinuclear activists on Wednesday sent a letter to the Michigan legislature urging state lawmakers not to approve a $300 million grant to help Holtec International restart the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station. In a letter dated Wednesday and mailed to all 148 michigan lawmakers — 110 representatives and 38 senators — 79 people and 43 organizations […]

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wants an oversight hearing on “misleading” statements Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm made to the panel in April about her stock ownership. “During the hearing, Secretary Granholm claimed she did not own any personal financial stocks, when in fact, she held […]

A leading Ohio politician faces sentencing Thursday afternoon in Columbus following a March conviction on a $60 million bribery scheme involving two financially struggling nuclear power plants. Larry Householder, 64, the former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, and former Ohio Republican Party chairman Mathew Borges, 50, face sentences of up to 20 years […]