Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

While it missed the start of the 2027 fiscal year, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is still working on appointing a new slate of members to the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB) for the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. “The membership package for DOE’s Hanford Advisory Board continues to make its way through […]

The Department of Energy’s heads of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Office of Environmental Management will headline the Energy Technology and Environmental Business Association (ETEBA) annual Business Opportunities and Technical Conference at the Knoxville Convention Center in Knoxville, Tenn. this week. The annual conference will feature NNSA administrator Brandon Williams and Office of […]

Fluor Marine Propulsion has received a $2.4 billion contract modification for work supporting the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory, according to the Defense Department. The $2.409 billion cost-plus-fixed-fee modification, awarded Sept. 24 and announced by the Pentagon Oct. 23, modifies previously awarded contract N0002418C2130. The work will support Naval Nuclear Propulsion […]

Public companies involved in supporting nuclear power, cleanup and security will be reporting financial earnings over the next couple of weeks. If recent earnings calls provide any clues there could be discussion of policy at the Department of Energy, its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Defense. Macro-economic trends […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) federal workforce fell nearly 12% as the agency’s workload reached its highest level since the Cold War, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. NNSA’s federal workforce declined by 236 employees, from 1,991 in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 to 1,755 in the second quarter of […]

Finnish spent fuel management company Posiva Oy was granted an operating license on Oct. 22 for the encapsulation and its final disposal facility, Onkalo, for spent nuclear fuel in Olkiluoto, Finland, the company said. The decision was approved by the government following a favorable safety assessment issued by Finland’s nuclear regulator, the Radiation and Nuclear […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the joint prime contractor for Savannah River Site, is expanding research and development investments at the Savannah River Site with aims to accelerate technology development supporting the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) missions. SRNS’ Office of Innovation is directing research investments across the site and coordinating work with national laboratories, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has finalized the rule to create a more uniform regulatory pathway for commercializing Department of Energy and Pentagon-approved reactor designs.  Originally proposed in April, the final rule is designed to allow NRC to leverage other agencies’ data and information regarding the reactor designs in its own regulatory review process. The rule […]

A little more than a year after Tim Walsh became the Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) the $8-billion office has reached key milestones in both nuclear cleanup and laying groundwork for future nuclear power, DOE said last week. Walsh was confirmed by the Senate on Oct. 7, 2025, the DOE Environmental […]

The United States Navy selected El Segundo, Calif.-based Radiant Nuclear’s microreactor technology to power Naval Weapons Station in Crane, Ind., the company said Tuesday. The Navy previously announced in September that Naval Weapons Station in Crane would be the service’s first naval microreactor installation. Radiant will work with the Navy, Army, Defense Innovation Unit, Nuclear […]

The Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Tim Walsh is scheduled to visit the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative on the campus of the University of South Carolina-Aiken Thursday to highlight the “Nuclear Renaissance in the Southeast.” According to a DOE announcement, Walsh is expected to discuss the Savannah River Site’s role in America’s nuclear […]

The Nuclear Company, a startup project developer, is eyeing Lewis County, Ky. as its site for a planned 6,600-megawatt power plant that would use six of Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactors. The Prosperity One Nuclear Campus would have up to six AP1000 reactors, with the initial phase of it beginning with two units, The Nuclear Company said […]

Northrop Grumman on Tuesday posted higher sales and net income in its third quarter driven by top-line gains across its businesses and bottom-line increases in three of them. Net income rose 2% to just over $1.12 billion, $7.89 earnings per share (EPS), from $1.1 billion (7.67 EPS) a year ago, handily beating consensus estimates of […]

Westinghouse has made plans to put $1 billion into constructing an advanced nuclear fuel factory at its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. Cranberry Township, Penn.-based Westinghouse said Wednesday the proposed fuel factory will produce low enriched uranium plus (LEU+) fuel to support its AP1000 reactor fleet. It hopes to have the new facility […]

The Army has begun site planning for three nuclear microreactors at Fort Benning, Ga., as an early step toward deploying the systems under its Janus energy resilience program. Fort Benning hosted an initial Janus Program site visit Oct. 16 with Army planners, officials from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking responses to gauge the market’s capabilities to help the agency perform its Force-on-Force inspection activities. According to the NRC’s Monday System for Award Management (SAM) notice, NRC invites all parties, including all categories of small businesses, to respond to the Source Sought Synopsis, a federal market survey tool. However, […]

Years after the Department of Energy cancelled the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina, a company based in France is making ambitious plans for MOX at the nuclear complex. The original multi-billion-dollar MOX project, meant to convert weapons grade plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel that could be […]

NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy’s merger could be jeopardized as the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s staff urge the commission to reject the proposal as it currently stands. In a Monday 201-page filing, the Virginia State Corporation Commission staff said the proposed merger application fails to prove that the merger would provide adequate service to Virginia […]

Mike Petters, a former CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), is returning to the company’s board of directors as the shipbuilder says its working to expand capacity to meet growing U.S. Navy demand. HII announced Oct. 20 that Petters, who served as the company’s first president and CEO, has been elected to its board. Petters […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has set a $23.5 billion performance baseline for the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility’s (SRPPF) main processing building, with completion now estimated for December 2038, the agency told Exchange Monitor Monday. The estimate covers the main processing building at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, where NNSA plans […]

In a short turnaround, West Virginia formally removed itself from consideration for the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus program recently. The state was selected to be the sixth state on a shortlist for the program on Sept. 8, but by Sept. 30, West Virginia withdrew itself after saying it would not be able […]

North Korea is continuing to expand its nuclear arsenal and missile capabilities, including efforts to field more advanced and survivable systems, according to a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. The Oct. 13 CRS update says Pyongyang is pursuing a broader range of nuclear-capable delivery systems while expanding production of the fissile material needed to […]

AtkinsRéalis Group said late Monday afternoon it is teaming up with the state of Indiana and Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative to explore a potential 6,000-megawatt nuclear power project that would use Canadian reactor technology. The parties announced in a press release they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore developing a complex […]

Kentucky state’s nuclear energy department issued a request for information (RFI) late last week to gauge interest in its nuclear reactor pilot program. According to the Oct. 16 RFI, the responses to the solicitation are due by Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Responses from utilities, nuclear reactor developers, prospective utility customers and other […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending Congress consider clarifying the roles of the Department of Energy and its regulators when remediated lands from Cold War and Manhattan Project sites are transferred to local communities. In a report released this month, GAO also urged DOE to “direct cleanup sites to evaluate cleanup costs and schedule […]

Rockville, Md.-based X-energy, American Electric Power (AEP) and Amazon have signed a joint agreement to develop a 960-megawatt small modular reactor (SMR) project in Indiana. Using X-energy’s Xe-100 SMR, X-energy and AEP will pursue feasibility studies for the SMR at the former coal site, Breeding Generation Station, in Sullivan County, Ind. The two companies plan […]

The Navy earlier this month issued a new sources sought notice conducting market research to identify shipyard vendors capable of being prime construction yards for the next-generation attack submarine, or SSN(X), program. While the notice, due Oct. 15, sought sources able to act as prime builders in the next submarine that will succeed the Virginia-class […]

Centrus Energy acquired one of its manufacturing suppliers, Westernman Holdings, in a transaction for nearly $116 million, Centrus said Monday. The near-$116 million acquisition was made up of a combination of $95 million cash that was on hand and $21 million of equity, Centrus said in its press release. Additionally, Westernman and all its business […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced last week that after three decades of work, most radioactive soil cleanup at a Superfund site 12 miles west of New York City has been completed. A ceremony was held Oct. 5 to mark major soil cleanup of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) site in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will host a joint public meeting with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) at NRC’s Headquarters in Rockville, Md. on Oct. 22.  According to FERC’s Oct. 15 meeting memo, the agencies will discuss various regulatory concerns such as grid reliability, increasing energy demand and existing and new nuclear power plants. The […]