Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Kairos Power has broken ground on its Hermes 2 demonstration plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn. over the weekend. The Hermes 2 plant is Kairos’s first commercial-scale reactor and was issued a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2024. Barnard Construction, which is currently working on the Hermes low-power demonstration reactor, will serve as […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s fiscal year 2027 budget request will be the subject of a  House Energy panel hearing on Wednesday.  The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy subcommittee will also discuss NRC’s implementation of the Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act – or the ADVANCE Act and Executive Order 14300, during the hearing. All […]

David Beck, deputy administrator for defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), told Congress Monday he would give them a plan for spending fiscal 2026 reconciliation funds “within the next 30 days.” Beck was responding to a question by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) while testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services Strategic […]

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Oklo made several personnel changes in key management positions and to its board of directors last week. Oklo appointed four new directors on April 14. The board members are David Christian, David Park, Derek Kan and Mark Peters. The appointments were made effective April 10, according to Oklo’s press release. “As we […]

Department of Energy contractor BWX Technologies (BWXT) is expanding its heavy-manufacturing footprint by signing a deal to acquire Precision Components Group (PCG) and two of its subsidiaries. The privately-held PCG had $125 million for 2025 revenue and a workforce of roughly 400 people, Lynchburg, Va.-based BWXT said in a Monday press release. BWXT did not […]

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee, said she has “faith” the models used at the national labs are good, but it’s “always good to be ready” to test weapons regardless. “I think we should listen to the scientists,” Fischer said in a panel with the Center for Strategic […]

Centrus Energy said Monday it has selected Geiger Brothers as its construction contractor for the multi-billion expansion project for the Centrus uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio, a deal potentially worth $900 million. According to a Centrus Securities and Exchange Commission Monday filing, the time-and-materials contract signed by the two companies runs through Jan. 30, […]

Tim Walsh, who heads the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), said Monday DOE’s Hanford Site in Washington state remains the program’s biggest nuclear cleanup challenge. But at the same time Hanford, which accounts for about 40% of EM’s budget, is primed for a “breakout year,” Walsh told a Senate Armed Forces panel […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear remediation contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is preparing to accept used fuel from Penn State University that could assist with both energy and medical research, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said recently. INL can accept Training, Research, Isotope, General Atomics (TRIGA-) fuel for the first time in decades […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  APRIL: 20: Conference: The Nuclear in New Mexico Conference presented by the Clean Energy Association of New Mexico gets underway starting at 9 a.m. Mountain Time at the Hyatt Regency Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico.  21: Conference: The Energy Communities Alliance sponsors […]

The state of New York plans to select a site to host at least 1,000 megawatts of new nuclear power this year, according to an April 13 Bloomberg article. New York Power Authority Senior Vice President of Nuclear Development Todd Josifovski said in the article that the state will issue a request for proposals to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will have a public meeting with its Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes to discuss medical use of radioactive materials on April 21 at 10 a.m. at NRC’s headquarters in Bethesda, Md. According to NRC’s April 15 press release, the commission meeting discussion will include the Advisory Committee on […]

Sandia National Laboratories is advancing construction of its new Power Sources Capability (PSC) facility, a major infrastructure project supporting the nuclear security mission, the lab said last week. The lab in New Mexico held a ceremony April 14 for the installation of the final beam in the facility, according to a press release.  The roughly […]

Los Alamos Technical Associates (LATA) has promoted Cory Tackett to assistant vice president supporting the Department of War Programs, the company said in a press release. In the role, Tackett will help oversee programs at the Defense Department tied to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) weapons activities portfolio.  Tackett’s 13-year tenure at LATA consists […]

The Department of Energy’s $8.2-billion fiscal 2027 request for its nuclear cleanup branch, which includes a budget cut for the Hanford Site in Washington state, would not affect solidification of less radioactive tank waste, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told a House panel Wednesday. During an exchange with Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Wright said the […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright confirmed Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has “just begun” pit production in testimony Wednesday to the House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee on the fiscal 2027 budget request for the Department of Energy. Wright was responding to a question by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), ranking member of the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has received 28 responses from states following DOE’s request for information for the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus program.  During a Wednesday House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee hearing on DOE’s fiscal 2027 budget request, Wright said the nuclear […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) recorded 25 transuranic (TRU) waste shipments in March, following an annual maintenance outage that kept it offline since January.  The 25 shipments are the first since the facility accepted 33 shipments in December, and an uptick from March 2024 when WIPP received 13 shipments, according to […]

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Wednesday North Korea has made a “very serious increase” to progress on its Yongbyon nuclear weapons complex, with expansions possibly including a new uranium enrichment facility. Grossi made his comments at a filmed press conference in Seoul, South Korea, where he met with South […]

Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Dave McCormick (R-Penn.) have introduced a bill this week that looks to expand the Department of Energy’s ability to accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear technology The bill, Nuclear Energy Innovation and Deployment Act, was introduced to the Senate on Tuesday. The senators said in the press release that the […]

Nuclear power, as a percentage of electric generation, is expected to remain relatively flat despite the Donald Trump administration’s push to reach 400 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2050, according to an April report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2026 report, published April 8, provides projections of what the agency […]

The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy unveiled in a Tuesday memorandum a new initiative focused on the use of nuclear power in space. Within 30 days of the memorandum, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will create a program to develop a mid-power space reactor with a lunar fission surface power […]

In a Sunday editorial, the Tri-City Herald newspaper in Richland, Wash., blasted the Donald Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 request that would cut by more than $390-million the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup budget for the Hanford Site. While Hanford would still receive around $2.9 billion, more than a third of the budget for the DOE […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued two new final rules under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) meant to streamline environmental review during its licensing processes. The first rule, affirmed on Monday by the Commission, creates a new generic environmental impact statement framework for new reactor technology. NRC said the new setup uses “a technology-neutral […]

United States–Iran nuclear negotiations have hit a stalemate over a fundamental dispute on uranium enrichment limits, major news outlets reported this week, underscoring the gap between nonproliferation demands and Tehran’s red lines. The U.S. proposed a sweeping restriction that would require Iran to halt uranium enrichment for up to 20 years and relinquish its existing […]

The Department of Energy wants $10 million to fund the standalone Office of Fusion in fiscal 2027, according to DOE’s recent budget justification document. DOE said the $10 million request will support the office by providing funding for personnel, travel, advisory and start up assistance. The Office of Fusion will lead DOE in advancing “a […]