Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The Department of Justice wants the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals to lift a stay with implications for a False Claims Act lawsuit against a Department of Energy contractor, Mission Support Alliance, before a federal court in Washington state. The Leidos-led Mission Support Alliance (MSA), which recently ended its nearly 12-year run as landlord […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this morning is considering the nomination of Jennifer Granholm, President Joe Biden’s choice to be secretary of energy. The hearing that started at 9:30 a.m. is being broadcast live on the committee’s website and marks the nominee’s first public appearance before a major congressional panel. Granholm, a Democrat, […]

The state of New York is suing the Nuclear Regulatory commission over their refusal to delay the sale of Indian Point Energy Center, according to a Friday legal filing. New York state attorney general Letitia James submitted the Friday petition to the D.C. circuit court of appeals, after the NRC denied the state’s request to […]

James Biggins is now listed as the acting general manager of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to an organizational chart released late last week. Biggins has served as a special assistant to the chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) since September 2018 and has also served as general counsel and […]

There were no protests filed over the Department of Energy’s December award of a stand-alone contract for a Battelle-led team to manage the Savannah River National Laboratory, an agency official said Monday. “We are working on getting ready to do the contract transition,” said Michael Budney, the top DOE Office of Environmental Management official at […]

COVID-19 is not stopping Super Bowl 55, nor stopping the National Nuclear Security Administration’s annual sweep of background radiation levels at the site of the big game ahead of the coin toss. The semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency will again dispatch its Nuclear Emergency Support Team’s Bell 412 helicopter, equipped with passive radiation […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a petition to extend the review deadline for documents related to Holtec’s proposed interim storage site, according to a recent commission filing. The Commission on Friday released a memo approving the extension and moving the deadline to Jan. 28 after a pair of interest groups petitioned the NRC for an […]

The energy and defense mix on the House Appropriations Committee, at least its leadership, will remain essentially unchanged in the 177th Congress, according to rosters released by Democrats and Republicans Monday. Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) will remain chair and ranking member, respectively, of the House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee. […]

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), an advocate for environmental cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site, said in a statement Monday he will not run for re-election in November 2022. “This doesn’t mean I’m leaving now – I still have two more years in my term and I intend to use that time to get […]

The Biden administration selected Commissioner Christopher Hanson to become the 18th chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency announced Saturday.  Hanson, one of the four current commissioners, is chairman effective immediately, according to an agency press release. He replaces former chair Kristine Svinicki, who left the commission on Jan. 20. “I look forward to […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., had 14 more employees test positive for COVID-19 between Jan. 13 and Jan. 19, the prime contractor said in a Saturday Twitter post, while a half-dozen more cases were confirmed Sunday at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Eleven of the 14 at the […]

Here are some public events related to defense- and civilian-nuclear matters that the ExchangeMonitor staff is tracking this week. January 25 The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Eastern Time today. 27 The West Valley Citizen Task Force is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. To register for […]

Two new contractors, for Central Plateau remediation and site services, are taking charge today at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Sunday was the end of the transition period and today marks the first Monday on the job for both Central Plateau Cleanup Co. as well as Hanford Mission Integration Solutions. Central Plateau is composed […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security is seeking a subcontractor to build the National Nuclear Security Administration’s High Explosives Science and Engineering facility at the Pantex Plan in Amarillo, Texas, according to a procurement note posted online. The three-building High Explosives Science and Engineering facility is one part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Primary Capability Modernization […]

David Huizenga, the No. 3 official at the National Nuclear Security Administration, will take over as acting Secretary of Energy until the Senate confirms President Joe Biden’s nominee for the post, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), the administration said Wednesday. Granholm is scheduled for a Jan. 27 confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy Natural […]

The Department of Energy and Parsons Corp. have finished hot commissioning of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Parsons, which designed and built the 140,000-square-foot plant to treat salt waste left over from Cold War era atomic weapons work, will run the facility for a year before turning […]

Editor’s note: Joe Biden was sworn in Wednesday as the 46th President of the United States, meaning that President Donald Trump and his cabinet have left town, including Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillettee. Biden has selected former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) as his Secretary of Energy. She is scheduled to have a confirmation hearing […]

Less than a month after officially calling off a $13-billion liquid-waste cleanup award at the Hanford Site, the Department of Energy has started procurement of a replacement pact called the Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract, with a draft solicitation expected by March. The draft request for proposals (RFP) will, unlike the now-revoked tank-waste contract awarded […]

Former Department of Energy official Dr. Rita Baranwal broke a year of social media silence Wednesday to announce that she is filling a senior position at the Electric Power Research Institute, her new professional home post-Trump administration. Baranwal joined the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) as the chief nuclear officer and vice president of the […]

The Department of Energy’s December award of the new $160-million Paducah Infrastructure Support Services Contract to Swift & Staley could end up being withdrawn, sources told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing in the past week. Federal representatives are looking into whether the Paducah-based incumbent contractor exceeds the size limit for this particular small-business set-aside and the […]

In his Senate nomination hearing Tuesday, Secretary of Defense designate Lloyd Austin would not commit outright to supporting the National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan to build two factories to produce new plutonium pits. “Maintaining a credible, reliable, safe and sustainable nuclear capability is of utmost importance, of the highest importance. And so [pits] is a […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a blanket denial recently of four hearing requests and three motions filed respectively by the state of New York and environmental watchdog groups that sought to delay the sale of Indian Point Energy Center, according to a recent agency memorandum. According to the memo dated Friday, the state of New […]

The Department of Energy will not pursue a civil penalty against Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth over nuclear safety violations in fiscal year 2019 after it cut $2.6 million from the company’s potential $6.7-million subjective fee that year. The infractions at the former gaseous diffusion plant complex in Ohio stem from shortcomings in worker radiation protection at the […]

A Democratic House staffer who has worked the nuclear weapons and strategic systems portfolio for the House Armed Services Committee for a decade will get a Pentagon post with a similar bailiwick in the Joe Biden administration. Leonor Tomero will be deputy assistant director for nuclear and missile defense programs after inauguration day, the publication […]

For now at least, the compensation for top managers under the next Oak Ridge Reservation Cleanup Contract in Tennessee will be capped at $525,000 annually, the Department of Energy said in a procurement document posted Jan. 15. The DOE issued its final request for proposals for a new Oak Ridge remediation contract last month and […]