Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act is now in the hands of the full House of Representatives after a late-night vote by the Rules Committee slashed allowable amendments to 209 from a record 1,502.  Approved at 11 p.m. Tuesday by a nine to four vote split on party lines, the bill ended up […]

The Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for the Portsmouth Site in Ohio took home about $15 million, or 95%, of its total potential fee for cleaning up after uranium enrichment for the six months ended March 28.  The take includes about 85% of the contractor’s subjective fee: the portion of the earnings for which DOE […]

Ohio created a new state Nuclear Development Authority this month that aims to make the state a research and development hub for advanced reactors and radioactive-waste-handling equipment, among other things. The new nine-member agency, created by the legislature as part of a 2024 state budget bill approved July 3, includes three tiers of members appointed […]

The Department of Energy soon plans to be in the market for a provider of technical support services for the Portsmouth Paducah Project Office, business currently held by Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Pro2Serve, according to a notice issued Monday. The Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in Cincinnati said Monday in an online notice it will soon […]

New Mexico and the Department of Energy on Tuesday asked for 90 more days, until Oct. 10, to continue monthslong negotiations about new cleanup rules for the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In a joint status report filed Tuesday with U.S. Magistrate Judge John Robbenhaar in New Mexico, DOE and the New Mexico Environment Department, said […]

A former Honeywell executive will remain at the Savannah River Site, jumping to Huntington Ingalls Industries to remain with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions now that Honeywell has sold its stake in the site prime contractor. James (J.C.) Epting said via LinkedIn on Sunday that he joined Huntington Ingalls as a senior vice president for Savannah […]

The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad N.M. Field Office and its Bechtel contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant hold a community forum Tuesday evening July 11 at the Marriott Albuquerque. The public forum, viewable online, will be the first major public discussion by managers at the field office and Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors since […]

Stuart MacVean, the president and CEO of Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, plans to retire in a few weeks, he said in a Monday memo to employees. “Although I’ll be around for a few more weeks, I bid a fond farewell […]

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 […]