Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff plan to submit a proposed rulemaking about near-surface disposal of Greater Than Class C waste to the commission in November, officials told the public Wednesday. The proposed rule, years in the making, combines a 2015 inquiry into a rules change for Greater-Than-Class-C (GTCC) waste with changes to low-level waste disposal governed […]

The Department of Energy and Canadian nonprofit Nuclear Waste Management Organization signed an agreeement to cooperate on used nuclear fuel management, the Canadian organization announced Tuesday. “The agreement reflects the U.S. and Canada’s shared commitment to safely managing used nuclear fuel, including that from small modular reactors,” the Nuclear Waste Management Organization wrote in a […]

The White House has ended remaining COVID-19 federal jobsite vaccination rules triggered by two 2021 executive orders but attorneys for 315 workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site say the legal fight should go on. The administration of President Joe Biden (D) and other defendants in David Donovan versus Brian Vance “have not relinquished […]

Legislation to encourage domestic production of nuclear fuel are on the move this week in Congress, and the movement began Tuesday in House subcommittee, which easily passed a bill to prohibit imports of Russian uranium by Jan. 1, 2028. Summing up Republican sentiment H.R. 1042, the “Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act,” Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission could issue a Federal Register notice this week of a draft environmental review to allow Waste Control Specialists to move stranded Department of Energy transuranic waste to a different location within the company’s 1,300-acre property in preparation for its ultimate removal from Texas, a federal spokesperson said Tuesday. The public notice, […]

Another power-generation cycle is underway at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 1, one of two reactors in which rods that help the National Nuclear Security Administration top off the tritium reservoirs of U.S. nuclear weapons are irradiated. The plant returned to operation on May 12 after a scheduled shutdown for maintenance […]

The Department of Energy aims to use an advanced new solvent by the end of fiscal 2025 to improve the numbers at the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a cleanup contractor boss told a federal advisory board Tuesday. Other glitches at the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) should […]

The Department of Energy wants to hear by June 16 from entities doing research and development on technology to transmute nuclear waste into other things, the agency wrote Monday in a request for information. DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) seeks “novel and disruptive technologies that are early in the R&D cycle” and […]

The U.S. State Department released aggregate numbers of strategic offensive nuclear weapons on Monday, its obligation under the New START treaty, despite Russia’s refusal to participate further in the bilateral deal.  “As a lawful countermeasure in response to the Russian Federation’s violation of its New START Treaty obligations, the United States did not provide its […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission planned to hold a meeting Wednesday about a long-awaited proposed rulemaking that will cover both low-level waste and Greater Than Class C waste. The NRC last week published a few of the slides it planned to brief at Wednesday’s scheduled meeting, on the slate for 1:00 p.m. Eastern time and officially […]

State officials signed off last week on a Department of Energy request to delay installation of what’s known as Next Generation Solvent at the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a federal advisory board heard Monday. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control on May 8 approved […]

NorthStar Group Services said last week it plans to acquire the Vallecitos Nuclear Center, in Sunol, Calif., from General Electric Hitachi, adding four reactors to the privately held company’s decommissioning fleet. As of Monday, privately held NorthStar, New York, had not filed for a license transfer with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Neither NorthStar nor General […]

The Department of Energy will not begin transition to a new BWX Technologies-led contractor at the Hanford Site in Washington state until a legal challenge of the $45-billion liquid-waste contract is resolved in court, according to a Friday court filing. The Department of Justice confirmed May 8 that DOE would stay performance of the potentially […]

Ground was broken last week on a new 13,000-square-foot operational command center at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nevada National Security Site to consolidate emergency services into a single building. NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Frank Rose cut the ribbon for the Mercury 2 building on May 11. The new facility is among those to be […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week 15: Meeting: The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board meetings in public session starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time in a session being held at Crowne Plaza Charleston Airport 4831 Tanger Outlet Blvd | North Charleston, […]

Oak Ridge, Tenn., City Council is expected to discuss its ongoing search for a new city manager during a regular meeting Tuesday following the May 5 retirement of Mark Watson, 68. Watson is retiring after holding the Oak Ridge post for more than a dozen years. Watson has served as a city manager in four […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico appears headed for its busiest calendar year since the disposal site reopened in 2017.  The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) received 47 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during the month of April, based upon a search of DOE’s public website for the facility on […]

Some of the heaviest hitters in New Mexico politics united this week to oppose construction of the interim spent fuel storage facility the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed Holtec International to operate in the state. Holtec has not said when it might begin building the facility, which under an NRC license granted Tuesday may operate for […]

Washington state, the Department of Energy and the public interest group Heart of America Northwest, have reached a settlement on how the government agencies should respond to leaks of underground radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford Site. The formal settlement agreement was filed with the Washington’s Pollution Control Hearings Board Wednesday, the parties announced. This […]

The U.S. Department of Labor invited both current and former nuclear-weapons workers to Richland, Wash., near the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, to discuss eligibility for occupational illness benefits. The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act outreach session will be held at 9 a.m. Pacific Time at the Holiday Inn Richland, according to a […]

In a Tuesday hearing about his nomination to a third term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Republican Senators painted Commissioner Jeffrey Baran as an impediment to nuclear progress. However, none of the Republicans who questioned Baran in his Wednesday nomination hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said they would oppose his nomination.  […]

The House Armed Services Committee postponed its markup of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act with no rain-check date given, the panel’s chairman said Tuesday.  Without giving a reason for the delay, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) just five days after announcing the markup schedule for the various subcommittees, said the entire process would be pushed […]

The Government Accountability Office Tuesday denied a bid protest challenging the Department of Energy’s award of a new security contract to Centerra at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. While a redacted version of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) opinion likely won’t be available for several days, the federal watchdog posted a notice on […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday licensed Holtec International to operate a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico, agency documents show. The proposed facility, which Jupiter, Fla.-based Holtec calls HI-STORE, may receive 8,680 metric tons of uranium, the equivalent of 500 canisters, “in the form of undamaged fuel assemblies, damaged […]

An Atkins-led group that bid and lost on the Department of Energy’s $45-billion Integrated Tank Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state bypassed the usual channels of protest and sued DOE over the award. Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance, a team with Atkins Nuclear Secured, Jacobs Technology, and Westinghouse Government Services, filed suit under seal […]