Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The Department of Energy’s plan to conduct market research about siting a federal interim spent fuel storage facility might amount to nothing if industry and spent fuel host communities do not raise a ruckus around it, a trade group executive said here Tuesday at the annual Decommissioning Strategy Forum. Although a Department […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV — When it comes to getting spent nuclear fuel away from former power plant sites, the industry is “doing the wrong thing” to pressure the federal government to take action, a utility executive said here Tuesday. “[W]e really need to engage our governors and host communities more effectively to urge the federal government […]

Talks between Washington state and the Department of Energy over the future of Hanford Site cleanup continued this fall at a very granular level, according to the latest court-mandated status update about these so-called “holistic” negotiations.. “Since filing the last update on July 30, 2021, the Parties have continued to participate in mediation sessions, including […]

Between now and 2025, the Department of Energy envisions having a single operations office at the Hanford Site in Washington state rather than the current two, according to a procurement-related document. Although they have separate budgets approved by Congress, the Richland Operations Office and the Office of River Protection have reported to the same boss, […]

SUMMERLIN, Nev. — The site of a shuttered New Jersey nuclear power plant could one day host an advanced modular reactor, Holtec International’s regulatory affairs chief said here Monday at the Decommissioning Strategy Forum. Holtec is “evaluating” Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station to determine whether it’s a suitable site for the company’s SMR-160 modular reactor, […]

SUMMLIN, NEV. — Federal regulators should approve the sale of a Michigan nuclear power plant early next year, a Holtec executive said Monday at the Exchange Monitor’s annual Decommissioning Strategy Forum. Holtec International expects the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve its acquisition of the Palisades Power Plant from Entergy “no later than January of 2022,” […]

The Navy exercised a one-year, $1-billion option on Fluor Marine Propulsion’s Naval Reactors contract, which includes management of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s multi-site Naval Nuclear Laboratory in Idaho, New York and Pennsylvania, the parent company said Monday. Fluor Marine Propulsion, Arlington, Va., snagged the naval labs business from Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corp. in 2018 […]

Fresh off a big win at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site last week, BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., reported Friday that profits dipped a little in the third quarter as revenue took a bit of a tumble. BWXT Technologies (BWXT) posted net income of about $60 million, or 63 cents a share in the […]

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The utility company in charge of a California nuclear power plant is preparing to roll out its plan to decommission the site, a representative said here Monday at the annual Decommissioning Strategy Forum. “We’ll have several major announcements in the next 90 days about how the work is going to get done” […]

A federal district judge in Tennessee has refused to issue a preliminary injunction against the Department of Energy’s management contractor for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a case brought by a small group of plaintiffs refusing to comply with a vaccine mandate. While contractor UT-Battelle’s treatment of employees seeking vaccine exemptions could have been […]

Iran must be prevented from fabricating nuclear weapons, the former leader of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nonproliferation program said in a recent speech, as world powers attempt to revive a 2015 nuclear pact with the Middle Eastern country. “One thing that I need to emphasis is: Iran should not, and cannot, make nuclear weapons,” […]

The Government Accountability Office says in a recent report the Department of Energy should better evaluate and prioritize research and development needs across the weapons complex, rather than relying so much on individual field offices and national labs. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) also said in the report released Thursday that DOE’s assistant secretary for […]

Decommissioning at a long-shuttered California nuclear power plant is complete, the company in charge of the project told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has “completed the final phase of decommissioning” at the Humboldt Bay Power Plant’s Unit 3 reactor, the utility company told NRC in a letter dated Oct. 21. […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian matters that the ExchangeMonitor staff is tracking this week: November 01-02: Exchange Monitor’s Decommissioning Strategies Forum. JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort and Spa, Summerlin, Nev. IN PERSON.  03-05: Exchange Monitor’s RadWaste Summit. JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort and Spa, Summerlin, Nev. IN PERSON.  02: Leidos plans to […]

With a major suit filed against a Department of Energy contractor in his backyard, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) said in a Friday press release he is joining a lawsuit brought by the Georgia governor contending the federal government lacks authority to require government contractors to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The lawsuit was […]

Part of the unionized workforce at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state will vote Nov. 5 on a one-year contract extension negotiated by the Hanford Atomic Metals Trade Council, according to monthly reports filed by two major contractors at the federal complex. Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integrated Solutions (HMIS) entered into negotiations with […]

A joint venture led by Virginia-based BWX Technologies has landed a potential $21-billion, long-term contract from the Department of Energy to manage radioactive liquid waste and do other work at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. DOE’s award of the Integrated Mission Completion Contract to Savannah River Mission Completion, announced in a Wednesday press […]

Testimony on a restraining order, keeping the Department of Energy contractor running the Oak Ridge National Laboratory from placing a small group of COVID-19 vaccine refusers on unpaid leave, has closed and the order will remain in effect short-term. The current temporary restraining order will “remain in effect until either Friday at 5:00 p.m. or […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) has introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to prevent unvaccinated federal workers and contractors from being fired if they provide proof of COVID–19 antibodies. Newhouse, whose congressional district includes the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, announced the introduction of the Options Over Terminations Act Tuesday. “Federal employees who […]

Crews finished building the structure of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s next-generation, secondary-stage factory in September and the compound’s electrical hub is scheduled to be completed in around January, the site prime contractor said recently. The milestone for the Main Process Building, where the most important weapons work at the Y-12 National Security Site will […]

A federal court case challenging one of two proposed commercial interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel remained on hold Wednesday as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission worked through its licensing review, the agency said in a status report Tuesday. NRC told the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that Holtec International’s application to build an interim […]

One of two economically-troubled Illinois nuclear power plants bailed out by the state government last month has completed its refueling process, the plant’s operator said Wednesday. Byron Nuclear Generating Station “completed its refueling outage earlier this month,” a spokesperson for Exelon Generation told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing via email Wednesday afternoon. The Ogle County, Ill. […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has maxed out the options on Consolidated Nuclear Security’s short-term extension to run the Pantex Plant and the Y-12 National Security complex, keeping the short-timer incumbent on the job through March while the agency finalizes the award of a follow-on deal. With an expected four-month transition period to the next […]

Environmentalist groups from California, New Mexico and South Carolina are fighting to keep their lawsuit to slow plutonium-pit production from being thrown out of court and claimed this week that Congress’ mandate to produce pits does not prevent further environmental review of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s planned pit complex.  “[T]his lawsuit involves more than […]

Lockheed Martin [LMT] on Tuesday reported lower sales in its third quarter and reduced its outlook for revenue for 2021 with further declines expected in 2022 before rebounding to growth beginning in 2023. Combined with the depressed sales outlook at least through 2022 and a cut to the forecast for operating cash flow this year, […]

The Department of Energy said in an online notice Tuesday it is awarding the new remediation contract at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee to an Amentum-Jacobs team called United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC in a deal potentially worth $8.3 billion over a 10-year ordering period. United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), won the Oak Ridge […]