Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  June 23: Meeting: The Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board meetings starting at 6 p.m. Eastern Time at Ohio State University, Endeavor Center, 1862 Shyville Road, Room 165, Piketon, Ohio 45661.  24: Meeting: West Valley Citizens Task Force meets virtually starting at 6:30 […]

Seth Cohen, the Department of Energy’s chief counsel for nuclear law and policy, announced over the weekend that he is leaving the government. “So, the cat is out of the bag … this past week I decided to transition out of the federal government,” Cohen said Saturday on his LinkedIn page. Cohen said he was […]

Another non-light reactor has reached criticality under the Department of Energy’s reactor pilot program, as California-based Valar Atomics achieved the milestone on June 18. Valar Atomics conducted its zero-power criticality testing at Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Emery County, Utah, marking the first reactor to hit this feat outside of a national laboratory, according […]

Berkeley, Calif.-based Deep Fission last week became a publicly listed company on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, the company said in a press release. The underground small modular reactor (SMR) developer will trade under the ticker symbol of FISN. Deep Fission said June 17 that the $16 per share pricing of its public offering should […]

The Air Force and Army Corps of Engineers broke ground May 28th at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., on a construction project for the future Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The project is a $26 million Commercial Entrance Control Facility (CECF) – the so-called “Gateway to Sentinel” – which, once built in […]

The Virginia-class submarine USS Colorado (SSN-788) completed its scheduled maintenance period at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility on June 10, 29 days ahead of schedule.  The Navy said in a statement the early completion was due to a close partnership and clear communication between the shipyard and ship’s crew.  “Colorado’s success […]

Navarro Research and Engineering has entered into a strategic partnership with New York-based Quadrant Nuclear Industries to support the growing demands of the advanced nuclear industry, Navarro said this week.  According to Navarro’s press release, through the agreement Quadrant Nuclear plans to combine its experience in advanced nuclear technology development and project execution  Navarro’s expertise […]

The Department of Energy is getting closer to renaming its nuclear cleanup branch, the head of what is currently the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) told a gathering of industry contractors Wednesday in Washington, D.C. EM is “soon to be the Office of Nuclear Restoration and Revitalization.” DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Tim […]

Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Greg Jaczko lost in a longshot bid for Congress as a Democratic delegate for Washington, D.C., according to multiple news outlets. At-large D.C. council member Robert White won the Democratic primary for the Congressional seat, garnering 63.2% of the vote, according to the Associated Press. Jaczko finished last among the […]

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) expects the full House of Representatives to take up the fiscal 2027 Energy & Water Development appropriations bill next week. “We will go to the floor next week.” Fleischmann told the annual meeting of the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) Wednesday in Washington, D.C. The lawmaker, whose district adjoins the Department […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said that Holtec International’s Palisades nuclear power plant will play a role in power data centers in Michigan, according to a Monday WKAR article. Wright, along with Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.), discussed energy plans in Michigan amid the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing closing a $1.6 billion […]

A Department of Energy Savannah River Site contractor and a safety watchdog are looking at an early May mishap where a crane boom struck a powerline along an access road in the saltstone area of the complex. The incident was laid out in two separate Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) staff reports. BWXT-led Savannah […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has entered production for the Lynx supercomputing cluster, a new high-performance computing system designed to support nuclear weapons simulations and other key national security workloads. The system is part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Commodity Technology Systems-2 program, an effort to provide advanced computing resources across the […]

A construction company has broken ground on an $11 million procurement warehouse for the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Program (SRPPF).  Hensel Phelps, the general contractor for the facility, said in its June 12  news release that the warehouse will be 22,000 square feet and is slated for completion in March 2027. The warehouse will provide […]

The largest driver to the increase of nuclear reactor construction cost in the United States is mid-construction regulatory change, American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Roger Pielke recently said.  In a Monday analysis report, Pielke said U.S. nuclear construction has essentially flatlined since 2006 and argued that nuclear policy choices have led to the cost increase. […]

Senators from both parties are pressing the Donald Trump administration to submit any future agreement with Iran, and any provisions addressing Tehran’s nuclear program, for congressional review. Lawmakers returned to Washington this week seeking details about a preliminary memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran that Trump said would help end hostilities and […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) released its version of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which would authorize $32.31 billion in spending for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). SASC marked up its version of the must-pass defense policy bill last week, and it has advanced to the Senate floor now. The […]

Eleven candidates, including multiple Republicans have filed paperwork with Washington state election officials to compete in an Aug. 4 primary to help select a successor to incumbent Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) in the state’s 4th congressional district. The Central Washington district, with a history of supporting Republicans, includes the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. Newhouse, […]

California-based Oklo and Tennessee-based Standard Nuclear entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Tuesday to look into commercial collaboration on nuclear fuel recycling and advanced fuel manufacturing. The collaboration between the two companies comes as both companies were selected for advanced negotiations by the Department of Energy under its Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program last month, […]

An article in the June 10 Weapons Complex Morning Briefing [NWTRB hears international waste repository plans] should have said Finland has reached the waste repository commissioning stage.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public input on the environmental review of Holtec’s two proposed small modular reactors (SMRs) at Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan. Comments on the scope of Holtec’s Palisades SMR project’s environmental impact statement are due by July 15. The agency is looking for public comments to identify possible alternatives, environmental […]

The United States and Iran reached a deal to end the U.S. military campaign in Iran and open the Strait of Hormuz, according to Pakistan’s prime minister, but the questions still remain on Iran’s nuclear program.  Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a mediator between the two parties, told media outlets over the weekend that both […]

Veolia Nuclear Solutions – Federal Services (VNSFS) has appointed Jennie Stults as its vice president of Strategy & Growth, the company announced this week. Stults, who has about 30 years of experience in environmental remediation and business development, was most recently vice president of business development for Amentum’s North American energy and environmental business, according […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), the longtime incumbent whose district adjoins the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, used a Sunday opinion column in the Tri-City Herald to defend proposed fiscal 2027 nuclear cleanup funding for Hanford in the bill passed by House Appropriations last month. The comments by Newhouse, a House Appropriations member who is not […]

United Kingdom-based Rolls-Royce SMR has been selected by Swedish nuclear company Videberg Kraft to deploy three small modular reactors (SMRs) on the Värö peninsula on Sweden’s west coast. Videberg Kraft’s project looks to build Sweden’s first nuclear power plant in over 40 years and to add 1,500 megawatts of low-carbon baseload power, according to Rolls-Royce […]

Global spending on nuclear weapons reached a record $118.8 billion in 2025, driven largely by increased U.S. investments in nuclear modernization programs, according to a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The report released this week estimates the United States spent $69.2 billion on nuclear weapons activities last year, accounting for […]