Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

After 4 p.m. Pacific Time Monday, managers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state were informed that six more employees have tested positive for the coronavirus. News of the latest surge of COVID-19 cases at Hanford was posted on the DOE emergency operations website for the former plutonium production complex. This pushes […]

In addition to major national news outlets declaring that former Vice President Joe Biden (D) is president-elect, defeating incumbent President Donald Trump (R), pending any recounts and legal appeals, there were other election updates over the weekend that potentially affect the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex. In Nevada’s 3rd congressional district, first-term incumbent Rep. […]

Here are some public events related to defense- and civilian-nuclear matters that the ExchangeMonitor staff is tracking this week. Monday: Today at 2 p.m. Eastern Time is the deadline to register for an online proposal conference on a new technical assistance contract potentially worth $100 million at the Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico. The […]

Late Friday there was word of seven additional employees at the Department of Energy headquarters at Washington, D.C., testing positive for the coronavirus and four more positive cases across the country at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette talked about the spate of COVID-19 cases at the Forrestal Building in […]

The Department of Energy is pushing back against the narrative that Lisa Gordon-Hagerty was forced out of her job as administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration by Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette.  Gordon-Hagerty abruptly resigned Friday after more than two-and-a-half years in the top spot at DOE’s semi-autonomous nuclear-weapons agency. Her resignation letter, reportedly […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission slapped a $900,000 fine on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar nuclear plant in Tennessee, issuing five violations related to a “substantial safety culture issue” at the plant during the fall of 2015 and early 2016. The Tennessee Valley Authority uses Watts Bar Unit 1 to produce tritium for U.S. nuclear […]

Among the many subplots of the still-undecided White House contest between President Donald Trump (R) and former vice president Joe Biden (D) is the makeup of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Matthew Moury, the Department of Energy’s associate undersecretary for environment, health, safety, and security, was nominated to a post on the maximum-five-member Defense Nuclear […]

The alleged ringleader of what prosecutors have called the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history has been re-elected to a third term in the state legislature, unofficial results released Wednesday say.  Rep. Larry Householder won the seat unopposed, beating four write-in candidates.  Householder was indicted in July for allegedly taking part in a racketeering scandal […]

Andrea Romero (D), once forced out as chief of a group to support communities around the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, easily won a second term Tuesday in the New Mexico legislature. Romero won 77% of the vote to win re-election in District 46 of the state House of Representatives, according to figures […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Thursday formalized a decision to make at least 50 nuclear-weapon cores a year at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., and environmental groups immediately raised the prospects of a lawsuit if the agency does not review the plan again. The semi-autonomous Department of Energy agency made its long-expected […]

Twelve people representing 11 companies showed up at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site Oct. 21 to take a physical tour and learn more about a potential $21-billion, long-term contract for liquid waste cleanup. In addition to Amentum, the lead partner for incumbent Savannah River Remediation, other firms who turned out are Aecon-Wachs, Akima, […]

As expected, states were still counting votes for President of the United States at deadline for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. Democrats looked on track to maintain their majority in the House of Representatives, but the race to win the Senate was neck and neck, though the Republicans seemed to have a slight edge in the […]

Although it will nationalize the operations of its Atomic Weapons Establishment next June, the United Kingdom still plans to carve out a role in its nuclear weapons complex for industry, which managed the establishment for most of the last 30 years. “The new business model will see AWE [Atomic Weapons Establishment] plc continue to draw […]

The United States says the contractor for a cancelled plutonium recycling plant at the Savannah River Site still owes the feds millions of dollars because of allegedly fraudulent billing and called the company’s claim that it already paid back the sum smoke and mirrors, according to a new court filing. “MOX Services did make a […]

Managers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state learned Tuesday that three more workers have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a post on the property’s emergency operations website. That brings the unofficial total of COVID-19 cases at Hanford to 195 so far in 2020. That is based on a public […]

In an online session set for Nov. 10, the Department of Energy will discuss the final solicitation for a new technical assistance contract potentially worth $100 million at the Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico. The DOE Office of Environmental Management issued the final request for proposals (RFP) last week. In a notice posted Tuesday, […]

Holtec International and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy have signed an agreement to implement Holtec’s HI-STORM UMAX dry cask storage canisters in Japan. The technology provides an alternative to the typical spent fuel dry storage technologies currently used in Japan, a Holtec press statement said. Japanese storage technologies are challenged by unique conditions such as regulator-mandated extremely […]

Should former Vice President Joe Biden (D) defeat President Donald Trump (R) in today’s election, several women — including a Republican — and a black man could be shortlisted as candidates for Biden’s first secretary of energy, a source with experience in both government and industry said Monday. The source spoke to Weapons Complex Morning […]

FirstEnergy Corp. reported third-quarter earnings above analyst expectations days after firing its CEO and other executives following a summer of corruption allegations about an Ohio state nuclear-power bailout. The Akron, Ohio-based energy company reported net earnings of $454 million, or $0.84 a share, up from $391 million, or $0.73 a share. Quarterly revenue was $3 […]

A former number-two at the National Nuclear Security Administration would not rule out a return to government service on the eve of the presidential election. “No comment,” Madelyn Creedon, principal deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in the final years of the Barack Obama administration, said in a virtual meeting when asked […]

Prospective bidders are asking the Department of Energy for some leeway on making oral presentations for a potential $21-billion long-term contract for management of liquid waste at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Early this month, the department issued the request for proposals (RFP) for a potential 15-year contract for liquid waste management to […]

Although the Department of Energy has put the award on hold, BWX Technologies President and CEO Rex Geveden likes his company’s chances of retaining the potential $13-billion Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state. “We feel good about our prospects there,” Geveden said during the Lynchburg, Va.-based company’s third-quarter earnings call Monday […]

NRC Planning to Resume Force-on-force Inspections in March The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to resume force-on-force inspections in March next year, staff said in a meeting Monday featuring panelists from the Nuclear Energy Institute, NextEra, Entergy and the Union of Concerned Scientists. After granting a number of exceptions to force-on-force inspections at nuclear reactors in […]

For the second time in less than two years, Fluor is naming a new chief executive officer. The Texas-based company said in a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has named a board of directors member, David Constable, as the new CEO replacing Carlos Hernandez who has only been in the […]

The United Kingdom is nationalizing operations of its Atomic Weapons Establishment after letting contractors run it for nearly three decades, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence announced Monday. The Atomic Weapons Establishment will become a wholly-owned, arms-length body controlled by the Ministry of Defence, which will take over the heart of the U.K. nuclear weapons complex […]