Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Senate appropriators proposed about the same funding for the Department of Energy’s nuclear energy programs, including for a proposed interim storage inquiry, during a Wednesday markup. If the Senate’s energy and water budget recommendation becomes law, it will green-light around $27.5 million in federal funds for nuclear waste disposal. The vast majority of that money, […]

More details became public this week on FirstEnergy Corp.’s  payments to Sam Randazzo, a lobbyist for the corporation who became chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, to nurture the company’s alleged scheming to get state subsidies for two struggling reactors.   Almost two weeks ago, FirstEnergy agreed to pay a $230 million fine […]

ALEXANDRIA, VA. — Whatever changes the Joe Biden administration’s nuclear posture review prescribes to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in the U.S. national defense strategy, the nuclear production complex will have the same needs as it does now, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s defense programs office said here Tuesday. “I recognize […]

ALEXANDRIA, VA. —The Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility team has staffed up to about 400 people and, despite near-term competition for specialized skill sets from other nuclear-weapon sites, should easily be able to flex up to its full complement of 1,800 when it comes time to cast pits next decade, the site contractor’s head of […]

After a Tuesday hearing to vet a nominee for a senior Department of Energy job, New Mexico’s senior senator pounded the table about making sure proposed interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel do not turn into permanent repositories. “The concern, really, is that the department does not have a plan to ensure that any […]

During an earnings call Tuesday with Wall Street analysts, top executives at Jacobs said the company is excited about leading a joint venture becoming the new remediation contractor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. “During the quarter Jacobs was awarded the Idaho Cleanup Project at Idaho National Laboratory as a majority partner in […]

A federal suit brought by former security guards at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio along with other individuals alleging “racketeering” by contractors at the nuclear complex has been stayed for 120 days to give plaintiffs time to replace their trial lawyers. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Deavers in the U.S. District Court for Southern […]

The Department of Energy, the Washington state Department of Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are expected to resume later this month what have been dubbed the “holistic” talks about future cleanup deadlines at the Hanford Site. “Vacation schedules have complicated meeting during July, but mediation sessions may potentially resume in August,” according to […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Judgements varied here Tuesday between two senior civilian nuclear-weapons leaders as to whether the National Nuclear Security Administration would meet some legally binding deadlines to produce new nuclear weapon cores this decade. Questioned about the deadlines by Weapons Complex Morning Briefing during the Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, the head of […]

The Joe Biden administration can’t achieve its “aggressive” climate goals without nuclear energy, the chairman of the Senate’s energy panel said during a Tuesday hearing. Speaking with Weapons Complex Morning Briefing during a break from the action at Tuesday’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to vet the Biden administration’s nominee for the Department […]

Frank Rose is officially principal deputy administrator of the the National Nuclear Security Administration, the semi-autonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapons agency announced Monday. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm conducted a virtual swearing in for Rose, who lives in Massachusetts, according to a tweet by Jill Hruby, herself sworn in as administrator of the National Nuclear […]

During an unusually hot summer, some crews at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state are sweating through their protective clothing, according to federal safety reports. Hanford workers at the Liquid Effluent Retention Facility experienced some incidents of contamination during June and July after management modified requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE) as […]

The Department of Energy needs to consolidate its agency-sponsored research on high-burnup spent nuclear fuel storage, the federal government’s nuclear waste panel said in a new report published Monday. Although DOE funds “a variety of organizations” and their research on the viability of storing and transporting high-burnup fuel (HBF), there’s not currently a single compendium […]

An inspection at a New Jersey nuclear plant being decommissioned by Holtec International revealed several security violations that might earn the company a civil penalty, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a letter to the plant’s owner last week. According to NRC’s letter, dated July 28, Holtec has a month to either contest the commission’s […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff recommended granting a 40-year license extension to Westinghouse Government Services’ Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, which among other things manufactures the rods used to restock the tritium reservoirs of U.S. nuclear weapons. The recommendation was part of a draft environmental impact statement published Friday.  The 40-year extension would kick […]

The story “Citing New Evidence, Enviros Ask NRC to Reconsider Decision on TMI Water Use Allegations” (Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, August 2, 2021) should have said that projected decommissioning water use at Three Mile Island Unit 2 was 100,000 gallons per day.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is planning to fire its next salvo this month in an ongoing legal battle over one of two proposed interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel, according to a court filing Monday. NRC will file its next brief in the case over Holtec International’s proposed storage facility in New Mexico by […]

Earnings fell at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the second quarter, which the Department of Energy contractor and maker of nuclear submarine reactors and components attributed to non-recurring costs such as commercializing a line of medical isotopes, plus higher interest rates. Net income for the second quarter ended June 30 was $59.4 million or $0.62 […]

Earnings from operations dipped at Jacobs, Dallas, in the third quarter of fiscal 2021, which the international engineering and construction company attributed in part to a non-cash valuation connected with its March purchase of the majority stake in PA Consulting. Net earnings for the third quarter ended July 2 were $165 million, or $0.82 a […]

Here are some events related to defense- and civilian-nuclear matters that the Exchange Monitor staff is tracking this week. 02: BWX Technologies releases its second quarter earnings after the market closes and hosts an earnings call at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. 03-05: Exchange Monitor Nuclear Deterrence Summit. The Westin Alexandria, Alexandria, Va. IN PERSON. 03: Leidos holds its […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should certify that the parties involved with decommissioning Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant comply with environmental law and that there’s a plan in place for water use at the site, a watchdog group said in a new filing with the agency. Citing new evidence in the form of emails […]

If the recent past is a guide, CEOs at some of the nation’s largest publicly-traded Department of Energy contractors could use their upcoming public earnings calls with Wall Street analysts to discuss President Joe Biden’s toughened stance on vaccinations for federal employees and on-site contractors. Weapons complex contractors BWXT, Fluor, Huntington Ingalls, Jacobs, Leidos and […]

The Department of Energy will establish a process to auction off tax credits to financially-struggling nuclear power plants, according to the Senate-side version of a bipartisan infrastructure bill. If the roughly $6 billion in allocated credits proposed in the bill became law, DOE would “establish a process for evaluating bids” and “select certified nuclear reactors” […]

The Exchange Monitor will host its annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit Tuesday through Thursday this week in Alexandria, Va. Programming was scheduled to begin Tuesday morning with a pre-conference workshop, followed by an afternoon keynote address from Charles Verdon, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) deputy administrator for defense programs.  Bob Raines, NNSA’s associate administrator for […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has made no decision yet on a Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board proposal to allow members to serve beyond their term expiration dates in order to keep the panel near full strength. The Office of Environmental Management (EM) headquarters is reviewing the Savannah River Site (SRS) […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is officially doing away with a proposed rulemaking that would govern spent fuel reprocessing, according to an agency notice published Thursday. Declining industry interest in spent fuel reprocessing, higher priorities in spent fuel management and “budgetary constraints” were the main drivers in discontinuing the staff rulemaking activity that began in 2013, […]

A roughly $1-trillion infrastructure bill negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators could provide Superfund sites with more than $3 billion for cleanup over the next five years. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would increase federal investment in projects including roads, bridges and broadband —and quicken cleanup of environmental contamination through $3.5 billion […]