Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The Department of Energy should have a new 10-year authorization to continue operating the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico in place before 2024, the manager of the agency’s Carlsbad Field Office said Wednesday. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s (WIPP) current 10-year state license expired months ago and DOE will operate […]

Texas has until Dec. 13 to make opening arguments in its lawsuit against a recently-licensed commercial interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, according to a Wednesday filing in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s the first major movement in the suit since early October, when the court accepted Interim Storage Partners (ISP) as […]

The parties to the Iran nuclear deal that traded sanctions relief for constraints on Tehran’s fissile materials program were to gather in Vienna on Nov. 29 for a seventh round of talks about bringing the U.S. and the Islamic Republic back into the deal, diplomats from some of those countries said Wednesday. Ali Bagheri Kani […]

The Pentagon expects China to have an arsenal of at least 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, according to a new report, with the U.S.’ top military official on Wednesday calling the pacing threat of Beijing a “really significant” challenge for the next 10 to 20 years.  The projected nuclear stockpile detailed in the department’s latest […]

Magistrate Judge Could Take Over Suit by ORNL Resisters Although a federal judge in Tennessee turned down a preliminary injunction for vaccine holdouts at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and contractor UT-Battelle has asked that the lawsuit be tossed, a federal magistrate could take over the case. On Tuesday, District Judge Charles […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission greenlit Wednesday a proposed rule aimed at streamlining the decommissioning process for nuclear power operators, the agency said in a statement. The newly-approved rule would implement “specific regulatory requirements” for reducing agency-mandated safety and emergency preparedness protocols at nuclear power plants that become unnecessary when the site is being decommissioned, NRC […]

Eleven employees at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state on Monday informed their bosses they have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an online advisory. The Leidos-led contractor, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, which acts as a landlord or city manager for the former plutonium production complex, posted the development Monday evening on […]

FirstEnergy Corp. reached an agreement to refund $306 million to overcharged Ohio customers over the next four years, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio announced Monday.  The commission, which regulates electricity, water, gas and other utilities, supports the agreement but must still formally approve it, according to a press release. The agreement is between FirstEnergy […]

Members of United Steelworkers Local Union 1-689, working in deactivation and demolition at the Department of Energy’s former gaseous diffusion plant complex in Ohio, approved a two-year contract extension Monday with Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth. The local union’s president, Herman Potter, declined to provide a vote count. Turnout was light but those who did vote went “overwhelmingly […]

Leidos, the lead team member on the Hanford Site’s support services contractor, is offering employees who don’t want to take a COVID-19 vaccination the option of moving over to the commercial side of the business, CEO Roger Krone said Tuesday on a conference call. Based on vaccination cards turned into the company, Krone said Leidos […]

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 […]