Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The House Armed Services Committee will mark up its version of a must-pass policy bill Thursday that includes a clause on the relationship between the Pantex Plant and the nearby Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Texas. A provision of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which will undergo an amendment session Thursday, […]

Austin, Texas-based Last Energy received the Department of Energy’s approval of its preliminary safety analysis last week for its test microreactor at the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus in Bryan, Texas. Last Energy becomes the most recent nuclear company to achieve this regulatory milestone under DOE’s reactor pilot program, which seeks to have at least three test […]

Veolia, the international environmental services company, announced Monday it has completed its purchase of Pennsylvania-based Clean Earth, a hazardous waste management company. Veolia, which in North America is involved in nuclear remediation-related work, said the transaction is valued at $3 billion. Clean Earth handles everything from contaminated soil and dredge material to per- and polyfluoroalkyl […]

Tetra Tech has been awarded a contract valued at nearly $1.8 million to assist the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in developing federal environmental policy documents. The work involves technical support services for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance for site-wide document development for NNSA’s Office of Environment, Safety, and Health, according […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  June 02: Meeting: The Arms Control Association holds its annual meeting starting at 9 a.m. from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.  04: Hearing: House Armed Services Committee marks up its version of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Action. The […]

The version of the fiscal 2027 Energy & Water Development bill recently voted out of the House Appropriations Committee endorses key Department of Energy projects getting underway at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash and the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. At Savannah River Site (SRS) DOE is directed to brief the House Appropriations […]

As part of its efforts to remove high-risk radioactive material from the world, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday it has taken the last cesium-137 blood irradiator from Lebanon. It is an important milestone, NNSA said in a Friday May 29 press release. That’s because the cesium inside these medical […]

United Kingdom-based Rolls-Royce SMR has selected Doosan Enerbility and Škoda JS to supply reactor components for its small modular reactor (SMR) program, the company said on May 27. According to Rolls-Royce SMR’s May 27 press release, the two supply chain companies will conduct pre-production work, including reactor vessel body, design finalization and manufacturing readiness to […]

Holtec International said last week it was selected to power the Green River Advanced Nuclear Project in Emery County, Utah,  Holtec will construct its SMR-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in Emery County under Gov. Spencer Cox’s (R) state initiative Operation Gigawatt to double energy production within 10 years. The company’s SMR-300 is a pressurized water […]

The governing board for Benton County, Wash., home to the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, has urged New Mexico officials not to restrict interstate shipments of transuranic waste to DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. “The Benton County Board of Commissioners writes to express our concern that the draft permit modification for […]

Houston-based nuclear startup Deployable Energy said last week it received the Department of Energy’s approval for preliminary safety analysis for its microreactor demonstration. Deployable Energy applied to be a part of DOE’s reactor pilot program but was not one of the 10 companies chosen in August 2025. But the nuclear startup was selected under DOE’s […]

The United States nuclear weapons enterprise must be flexible, scalable and collaborative in coming years in a world where Russia and China are rapidly modernizing their nuclear triad, officials said during a Tuesday webinar held by the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance (ANWA) Deterrence Center. Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Eric […]

The Navy told lawmakers last week it found a dry dock at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding shipyard it thinks can be used for final assembly of the new Trump-class battleship. in between aircraft carrier sequencing. However, several armed services and appropriations committee members continue to express skepticism or outright opposition to the new […]

The White House Office of Personnel Management is seeking public comment on its proposal to implement non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, for future and current federal employees. According to a Wednesday Federal Register notice, the proposal is meant to ensure employees “comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained […]

Torrance, Calif.-based Antares Nuclear signed a long-term enrichment services deal with Urenco on May 21 to supply high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for its new microreactors. Under the agreement, Urenco will provide enrichment services for HALEU to assist with Antares’ planned microreactors deployments across North America and other markets, Antares said in a press release. The […]

Berkeley, Calif.-based Deep Fission launched its initial public offering (IPO) on May 20,  saying in a press release it expected the initial IPO price to be between $24 and $26 per share.  The nuclear company is targeting a valuation of nearly $1.6 billion, according to an article by Reuters. Deep Fission began the roadshow for […]

The Navy’s top officer last week outlined updates in the service’s strategy to extend the service life of several nuclear-armed Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) that could result in quicker turnarounds for delays in the new Columbia-class boats. “We were looking at a number between four and five of these PIRAs, as we call them, […]

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Finance Committee lost his Republican primary runoff Tuesday to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to national news outlets. Paxton, recently endorsed by President Donald Trump, won about 64% of the vote in the GOP runoff, according to Wednesday morning data from NBC News. The winner […]

Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink could gain the authority to transfer funds appropriated for non-ICBM programs to the LGM-35A Sentinel future ICBM and the existing Minuteman III, under the fiscal 2027 House Armed Services Committee (HASC) proposal by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). The transfer authority would last from fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2030, […]

California- based Oklo said Tuesday it has been selected for negotiations with the Department of Energy to potentially receive surplus plutonium for nuclear fuel in reactor projects.  This comes after the DOE  issued a request for applications in October 2025.for companies interested in being part of the federal Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program. DOE plans to […]

About 81 million pounds of rubble have been cleared away from the two-acre footprint of the former Alpha-2 building site at the Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. That amounts to about 3,500 truckloads of debris being hauled away from the former uranium enrichment […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted Orano USA’s Project IKE uranium enrichment facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. for an accelerated review on May 21. NRC said in a press release it plans to complete its technical review of Orano’s construction permit application within 12 months. That evaluation will include a detailed safety and security analysis and […]

As part of its Energy & Water funding bill advanced last week, the House Appropriations Committee wants the Department of Energy’s cleanup office to report within six months on what to do about certain radioactive waste at the West Valley Demonstration Project near Buffalo, N.Y. The bill passed out of House Appropriations would order DOE’s […]

Veolia Nuclear Solutions – Federal Services has made personnel changes in two high-level management positions aimed at improving its engineering and technology business lines, the company said on May 20. According to a Veolia Nuclear Solutions – Federal Services (VNSFS) spokesperson, the company has promoted its former Vice President of Technology Deployment Brett Campbell to […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would receive no additional funding for cleaning up certain old nuclear sites during fiscal 2027, according to the Energy & Water Development bill advanced by the House Appropriations Committee last week. “This appropriation funds the cleanup of certain low-level radio active materials and mixed wastes located at sites contaminated […]

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) remains concerned that a prospective U.S.-Saudi Arabia 123 agreement may not include the “gold standard” nonproliferation provisions that bar uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing. “You know, I have raised this at every opportunity, and always the answer is opaque,” Merkley said in an interview. “But what my impression is, no […]