Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will continue to bundle management of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and the Pantex Plant in Texas in the post Consolidated Nuclear Security era, according to a pre-procurement note posted online Friday. The single contract would be worth up to $28 billion over 10 years, including a […]

Access to a facility at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has been almost entirely closed off while an employee is tested for infection by novel coronavirus 2019. “A Hanford Site employee is undergoing testing for the coronavirus (COVID-19). Access to T64-B in the 200 East Area where the employee worked has […]

A regional organization to promote communities around the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico will soon need a new executive director for the second time in a little more than two years. The Regional Coalition of LANL Communities Board of Directors voted Thursday evening to end its working relationship with Chicanos […]

A new report from the Government Accountability Office covered some old ground last week: the bigger budget the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) says it needs to keep planned programs and programs of record on track could eat other defense programs’ lunch. “Such an increase may require cuts in other national defense programs to keep […]

General Dynamics on Wednesday posted lower earnings and sales in its second quarter on continued weakness in its Aerospace segment and an overall decline in its government and defense businesses due to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Net income fell 23% to $625 million, $2.18 earnings per share (EPS), from $806 million ($2.77 EPS), three […]

As part of a package of spending bills set to hit the floor late this week, the House of Representatives will debate the merits of temporarily freezing the Pentagon out of internal Department of Energy nuclear-weapon budget debates. The debate will take about 10 minutes of floor time, which the House Rules Committee granted in […]

After running operations at the Energy Department’s most complex nuclear cleanup project for nearly 18 months, Brian Vance was this week named manager of the Hanford Site on a permanent basis. Vance in October 2017 took over management of the DOE Office of River Protection, which oversees radioactive waste tank operations at the Washington state […]

Two Democrats from Washington state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Adam Smith and Sen. Patty Murray, are proposing legislation to make it easier for certain workers at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site and other nuclear cleanup jobs to qualify for federal benefits. The Seattle Times reported Wednesday the two lawmakers were proposing companion bills in the House […]

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Tuesday called on President Donald Trump to oppose commercial plans for facilities in her state and neighboring Texas that could temporarily store tens of thousands of tons of radioactive used fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. “Given that a permanent repository for high-level waste does not exist […]

An Ohio man filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday against FirstEnergy Corp. for its alleged role in a $60 million bribery and money laundering scheme to prop up two financially troubled nuclear power plants in the state. Jacob Smith, of Lorain County, is seeking unspecified damages and other relief from FirstEnergy and subsidiary FirstEnergy […]

The Energy Department plans to take “corrective action” on concerns regarding its May award of a $13-billion long-term Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state to the BWX Technologies-led Hanford Works Restoration. “Following our investigation and addressing other issues as appropriate, DOE will make a new award determination,” James Jurich, an attorney […]

Marshall Billingslea may yet officially become the State Department’s top arms-control official, after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday recommended his nomination for a floor vote. The 11-10 vote was split along party lines, with Democrats uniformly opposing Billingslea’s nomination as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security and Republicans almost unanimously […]

Boeing on Wednesday reported a loss in its second quarter, but not quite as bad as a year ago, as sales fell sharply on fewer commercial aircraft deliveries due to continued weakness in the 737 MAX passenger jet program, temporary shutdowns of some facilities in the spring, and the ongoing impacts to airlines from the novel […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)  still plans to produce the first copy of a refurbished Navy submarine warhead in 2021, and the first copy of a refurbished nuclear gravity bomb for the Air Force in 2022, a senior official with the civilian nuclear-weapon agency said Wednesday. Those were the new dates, announced in February, […]

“Many” of the nearly 250 National Nuclear Security Administration employees confirmed to have caught COVID-19 are believed to have been infected while teleworking, the head of the Department of Energy nuclear-weapon agency said Tuesday. While NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty did not say how many of the confirmed cases involved transmissions outside of an agency site, each […]

A deal could be approaching to resolve the state of Pennsylvania’s concerns about the planned sale and decommissioning of the long-retired reactor Unit 2 at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. In a letter Monday to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) asked to be given until Aug. 10 […]

An estimated 750-acre wildfire on the Nevada National Security Site was reported close to “100 percent containment” late Tuesday, after burning for at least two days. “No injuries reported, and no impact to mission facilities or assets,” according to a Twitter post for the Department of Energy nuclear-weapon complex. The site first acknowledged the fire […]

Raytheon Technologies on Tuesday said it swung to a loss in the second quarter largely due to a slump in commercial aerospace triggered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s defense businesses performed well. The commercial outlook remains weak and the company has achieved its cost savings synergies for the year. Sales in the quarter […]

Not long ago, the Energy Department anticipated operational startup this year of the long- awaited Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Idaho National Laboratory – but the new target is September 2021. That is the anticipated date for “full-fledged operation,” as opposed to testing, of the plant intended to treat 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing […]

Edison International and subsidiary Southern California Edison on Tuesday reported a significant drop in earnings for the second quarter of 2020, even as the parent company remained firmly in the black. Sale of fuel from the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) helped offset the non-core loss per share at Southern California Edison (SCE), […]

Another nine employees at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington Site reported Tuesday they have tested positive for the novel coronavirus 2019. This notification on the Hanford website came after the Energy Department confirmed eight new cases of COVID-19 within the workforce at the former plutonium production complex on Monday, plus seven over the […]

An article in the Tuesday edition of Weapons Complex Morning Briefing misstated plans by Exelon and FirstEnergy Corp. for their respective reactors at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

International Isotopes has agreed to a pre-decisional enforcement conference with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over apparent breaches of federal regulations and its license in connection with the May 2019 spill of cesium-137 at a hospital research building in Seattle. The teleconference is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Aug. 4. The meeting notice […]

Perma-Fix Environmental Services said Monday it has promoted a longtime manager to the position of executive vice president of waste treatment operations. The Board of Directors for the Atlanta-based waste management company approved Richard Grondin’s appointment on July 22, also making him an executive officer, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. […]

The House Rules Committee on Monday delayed by one day writing rules of debate for a package of fiscal 2021 appropriations bills that includes funding for the Department of Energy. The committee is scheduled to take up H.R. 7617 at 11 a.m. today. That would keep the lower chamber on pace to this week approve […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has voted 4-1 to approve an exemption for some emergency planning requirements for the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The commissioners’ votes and comments were collected during the past couple weeks, and posted Monday to the NRC website. Commissioner Jeff Baran cast the sole vote against the exemption. […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should either delay by a year its promised delivery date for the proof-of-concept unit of the next-generation nuclear cruise-missile warhead, or justify why it won’t, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Citing congressional requirements and Pentagon schedule demands, the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency promised to […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Thursday dismissed the two challenges to the potential $13-billion Tank Closure Contract at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, but it is unclear if this spells victory for the BWX Technologies-led team that won the award. Three sources said Monday the congressional auditor dismissed the challenges filed […]