Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

In offering California’s last nuclear power plant a new lease on life, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sidestepped a legal argument from antinuclear activists who said the agency might be illegally extending the plant’s operating license. The NRC on Wednesday published a roughly five-page explanation in the Federal Register explaining the agency’s decision to conditionally let […]

The Department of Energy prime for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is looking for contractors interested in performing building demolition. Bechtel-led Lawrence Livermore National Security, the contractor managing the laboratory for DOE’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) posted a sources-sought notice Thursday March 2 seeking a subcontractor for building and slab demolition as […]

The weapon systems that make up the U.S. nuclear triad have nearly outlived their operational utility and must be replaced to maintain a credible deterrent, senior Air Force officers in charge of nuclear forces said in congressional testimony Wednesday. Both Russia and China are rapidly modernizing and expanding their nuclear weapons stockpiles and delivery platforms, […]

A small leak of simulant, detected last week, has been cleaned up at a waste treatment facility undergoing commissioning at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, a spokesperson said Wednesday. The “final preparations for the start of radiological operations” within the coming weeks, are continuing by DOE and its Jacobs-led contractor, Idaho Environmental Coalition, […]

Butte County, Idaho sued Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in federal court this week over continued spent nuclear fuel storage at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The county says DOE should bear the “social” and “economic” costs of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) serving as a “default repository” for nuclear waste from entities […]

Facing expanding mandates for information security at the two big nuclear-weapon production sites it manages, Consolidated Nuclear Security has launched a hiring spree for qualified information technology and cybersecurity experts. Over the past several years, Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) has found it difficult to meet its cybersecurity and IT staffing needs with its internal employee […]

State legislation that would ban storage of high-level radioactive waste in New Mexico was scheduled for a final committee vote on Wednesday. Senate Bill 53, sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D) was on the agenda for a Wednesday meeting of the New Mexico House Judiciary Committee, which was scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. […]

The Amentum-led tank management contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has inked a $8.9 million subcontract with Richland-based Fowler General Construction to build an interim surface barrier over the U Tank Farm. Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), which has Atkins as minority partner, announced the award Tuesday in a press […]

A legal challenge to COVID-19 vaccination policy at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state will be heard in early May by a panel of judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, according to a notice posted online last week. Oral arguments in David Donovan versus Brian Vance are […]

By the end of the year, the Department of Energy expects to file final reports with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Kentucky for taking down the C-400 building at the Paducah Site in Kentucky, officials said last week at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix. The Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Report for the C-400 Complex […]

An environmental group continued to raise objections with a regional water authority about the decommissioning of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission effectively rejected the groups concerns last week. The NRC, through the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, on March 1 rejected Three Mile Island Alert’s contention to a […]

Northrop Grumman recently completed the first full-scale static test of an LGM-35A Sentinel solid rocket motor at its test facility in Promontory, Utah, marking yet another milestone on the road to potentially flying an example of the next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile later this year. In partnership with the U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, the […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through its Charleston, S.C. District, is building a $3.2-million security barricade at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The project, to replace a 20-year-old temporary barricade, should be finished by the end of the year, the Corps said in a Friday March 3 press release. […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office should roll out its final solicitation for a national deactivation set-aside contract for small businesses by April 8, the agency said last week. The Small Business Nationwide Deactivation, Decommissioning and Removal contract pre-solicitation notice dated March 1 anticipates the final request for proposals (RFP) within 45 days from […]

PHOENIX – The Department of Energy is expected to hand down more guidance this spring and summer on what agency sites should do about a group of synthetic chemicals first widely-used during the Manhattan Project days for uranium-separation. That was the word here last Thursday from Karen Skubal, an environmental engineer with the DOE’s Office […]

PHOENIX —Born of necessity during the pandemic, the virtual tours and online meetings held for Department of Energy nuclear cleanup work have proven popular and probably won’t go away soon, even as the impact of COVID-19 fades, officials said here last week. Like other organizations, the DOE’s Cincinnati-based Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center is taking […]

PHOENIX— Small and disadvantaged businesses could secure more federal funding from the Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup office, according to procurement representatives who addressed the Waste Management Symposia here last week. The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is raising its small and disadvantaged business awards goal for fiscal 2023 to 7% from […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week: March 7: Nuclear Science Advisory Committee. Department of Energy Office of Science. 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. Hilton Washington DC/Rockville Hotel & Executive Meeting Center, Roosevelt Madison Room, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. In-person and virtual attendance […]

PHOENIX —One year into its new 10-year deal at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge has finished demolishing some key structures at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the remediation prime’s CEO said Wednesday. All of the old contaminated buildings at Y-12 and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory […]

California’s energy policy and planning agency said Tuesday that the Golden State should take action to keep its last operating nuclear power plant online through the end of the decade, according to a press release. The California Energy Commission’s (CEC) staff analysis of Diablo Canyon Power Plant, published Tuesday, recommended that Sacramento pursue keeping the […]

PHOENIX — Opening a federally-run interim storage facility for the nation’s stranded spent nuclear fuel inventory might not be the only way the Department of Energy could declare victory in its most recent effort to build one, the agency’s nuclear waste lead said here Wednesday. DOE’s consent-based approach for siting a federal interim storage facility […]

PHOENIX – The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has since 2017 received only half as many transuranic waste shipments annually as it did prior to a February 2014 underground radiation leak that halted operations for three years – but that could soon change, officials said Wednesday. Encouraged by the startup […]

PHOENIX — When it comes time to search for a potential host for a federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, the Department of Energy could offer financial incentives to move things along, the agency’s top nuclear waste official said here Wednesday. Once DOE finishes up its ongoing information-gathering activities among interim storage stakeholders, […]

PHOENIX— Planning by the Department of Energy and its contractors allowed the Hanford Site in Washington state to withstand the impact of recent wind gusts in excess of 80 miles per hour, the boss of the landlord services provider said here Wednesday. “The massive windstorm” a few weeks ago knocked out of service about 13 […]

The Department of Energy plans to extend, by five more years until April 11, 2028, business deals with two privately-held disposal sites that occasionally take radioactive waste from the federal agency, according to procurement notices published Monday. The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management published a “justification for other than full and open competition” for certain […]