Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Nevada’s congressional delegation wants to codify the consent-based siting of future nuclear waste repositories, an amendment filed for the House’s 2023 National Defense Authorization Act shows. If the House adopts Rep. Dina Titus’ (D-Nev.) amendment to the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the law would prohibit the Department of Energy from unilaterally using cash […]

Several nuclear weapons issues, touching on life extension programs, research prohibitions and more, could come up for debate on the House floor next week when lawmakers return to Washington. After a week at home for Independence Day, lawmakers were set to resume floor votes on July 12, according to the majority leader’s calendar. Looming large […]

With local data suggesting rising COVID-19 infection risks, the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are reinstating some stricter masking and testing requirements. While masks are still optional for employees at Hanford, some workers take a COVID-19 test when they come onsite, according to […]

Halfway through the fiscal year, the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site appears on pace to dispose of more radioactive and classified waste than during fiscal 2021, according to the latest quarterly report from the site. During the second quarter of the fiscal year, which ended March 31, the site disposed of 154,000 cubic […]

United States consumption of electricity produced by nuclear power plants last year hit its lowest point in nearly a decade, the government’s independent energy auditor said last week. According to a report published Friday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA),  electricity consumption in 2021 from nuclear power decreased to around 8.12 quadrillion British Thermal […]

Two of the newest additions to Holtec International’s inventory of former nuclear power plant sites could be good candidates for a future advanced reactor facility, the company said last week. Among the viable proposals for repurposing Michigan’s Palisades and Big Rock Point plants is a plan to build SMR-160 small modular reactors (SMRs) at both […]

Maryland-based Amentum, a leading government contractor for the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense, announced the addition of two new senior managers June 30. Amentum, which leads multibillion-dollar joint ventures across the DOE weapons complex, announced the personnel additions in a June 30 press release. Sean Mullen was appointed executive vice president for […]

The House Appropriations Committee, which last week advanced a spending bill with about $7.9-billion in fiscal 2023 funds for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office, is still concerned about long-term remediation costs of the Hanford Site in Washington state. House appropriators remain antsy about the money and time needed to fully clean up the […]

Mid-America Conversion Services, the Atkins-led incumbent running the Department of Energy’s depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion program, employs a workforce of more than 400 in Kentucky and Ohio, according to procurement information recently posted online. As of June 1 Mid-America has 200 employees at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, 119 union members and the rest salaried, […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week: 05: Congress remains in recess this week following the Independence Day holiday. Regular sessions are scheduled to resume next week.  07: The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant plan a community […]

The Department of Energy this week solicited bids for a potentially 10-year contract to produce high assay low-enriched uranium fuel using a centrifuge cascade Centrus Energy Corp. built at the Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio. Bids for the The High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) Demonstration Cascade Completion contract are due Aug. 8. The contract […]

After the Supreme Court vacated a Washington state law aimed at making it easier for workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site to claim compensation for job-related illnesses, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Congress must pass her Toxic Exposure Safety Act. The high court, an independent branch of the federal government, unanimously ruled last […]

The utility in charge of California’s last operating nuclear power plant on Tuesday changed its tune about the facility’s planned closure, asking the Department of Energy for extra time to apply for a federal bailout to keep it online. Diablo Canyon Power Plant operator Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) “appreciates the Department of Energy’s efforts […]

Professional Project Services or Pro2Serve, appointed Sherry Browder as president and chief executive officer, the Tennessee-based Department of Energy contractor said Wednesday  In her new role, Browder, who last October was selected as the company’s president and chief operating officer, will be responsible for managing Pro2Serve’s offices, subsidiaries, contracts and staff nationwide, according to a […]

While changes in a legally-binding consent decree allow the Department of Energy more time to start turning low-level radioactive tank waste into glass at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the agency’s goal is still to start the work by the end of 2023, the top fed at the property said Wednesday. While DOE has […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wednesday freshened its records to reflect EnergySolutions as the new owner of a Wisconsin nuclear power plant after the company earlier this week finalized its purchase of the site, agency documents show. Kewaunee Power Station’s operating license now shows EnergySolutions as the plant’s owner, NRC told the company in a letter […]

After a three-judge panel earlier this year ruled in favor of the Joe Biden administration’s executive order requiring virtually all federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, the entire Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to rehear the case. In a two-page order published Monday, the 5th Circuit said it has agreed to grant […]

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), a candidate for the U.S. Senate, used a House Appropriation Committee markup Tuesday on a Department of Energy fiscal 2023 budget proposal to discuss health concerns and hopes for economic development at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. During the vote approving the Energy and Water Development subcommittee’s nearly $7.9-billion budget for […]

The House Appropriations on Tuesday approved a 2023 spending bill that included roughly the requested funding for Department of Energy nuclear weapons programs, one of which should get almost double the funding it will receive under the bill, a Republican Congressman said. The 2023 energy and water development appropriations act should be “[r]aising the amount […]

The full House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday voted 32 to 24 in favor of a fiscal year 2023 spending bill with almost $7.9 billion for nuclear weapons cleanup at the Department of Energy. That’s about even with the 2022 appropriation, and with the Joe Biden administration’s ask, taking into account the roughly $190 million the […]

House appropriators during a budget markup Tuesday came out swinging against two proposed commercial interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel in Texas and New Mexico. “The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is racing to license the construction of high level [nuclear waste] storage sites both in New Mexico and in Texas,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told […]

Sam Brinton is the Department of Energy’s new deputy assistant secretary for spent nuclear fuel and waste disposition, according to an internal DOE email seen by the Exchange Monitor. It is Brinton’s first government job. In the role, Brinton will take the helm of DOE’s frustrated, decades-long effort to find a home for more than […]

Jamie Shimek, lead staffer on the appropriations panel that writes the first draft of the Department of Energy’s budget every year, will leave Congress and return to the national labs network, lawmakers said during recent budget debates. “She will be my newest constituent,” Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said Tuesday during the House Appropriations committee’s markup […]

Almost a month after it shut down a Michigan nuclear power plant for good, Entergy has finalized the facility’s sale to the decommissioning company that will dismantle it, according to a Wednesday press release. Completing the sale of Palisades Nuclear Generating Station to Holtec International “​​completes Entergy’s planned exit from the nuclear merchant power business,” […]

House appropriators want to keep the Hanford Site’s budget flat in fiscal year 2023 and nixed the Joe Biden administration’s plan to increase the site’s liquid-waste budget at the expense of solid-waste programs, according to a bill up for debate in committee on Tuesday. Overall, the bill proposes roughly the $7.9 billion requested for DOE’s […]