Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

A bill has been reintroduced in the Senate by co-chairs of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, which would require Congressional approval for any nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. The legislation is by Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) It is called the “No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act,” […]

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has submitted its operating license application to Canada’s nuclear regulator for the company’s first small modular reactor (SMR) at the Darlington nuclear site in Clarington, Ontario. The March 25 application also seeks permission for an associated waste storage structure for the Darlington New Nuclear Project, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is adjusting key safety controls as it prepares for expanded plutonium operations, even as routine breakdowns persist, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s weekly report for March 6. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Field Office approved the safety basis for Los Alamos’s plutonium facility in New Mexico during […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office in Richland, Wash., intends to issue a sole source contract to Mercia Advisors, LLC for Highly Specialized Strategic Budgeting and Congressional Liaison Support Services, according to a March 27 procurement notice. DOE’s Hanford Field Office intends to retain the firm’s services for up to one year without going […]

Executives with advanced reactor companies sounded upbeat during a Tuesday webinar on their projects chances of reaching criticality by Independence Day under the Department of Energy’s reactor pilot program. Officials from Aalo Atomics, Antares Nuclear and Radiant Nuclear all expressed optimism during an American Nuclear Society panel discussion webinar titled “Path to Criticality.” DOE’s reactor […]

President Donald Trump is expected to address the nation Wednesday evening at 9 p.m. Eastern time and give an update on the U.S. military presence in Iran. According to CNBC, Trump told reporters at the White House Tuesday he expected U.S. military forces to leave Iran in “two or three weeks” because “there’s no reason […]

Jeff Brunell, a longtime energy and defense executive, is now vice president of markets and strategy at Kiewit Nuclear Solutions. Brunell, who announced his new position last week on LinkedIn, was previously with AtkinsRealis as a vice president of business development. He was with Atkins two years working on business deals with the Department of […]

The Department of Energy and its cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory have now solidified a third of the high-level sodium-bearing radioactive waste at the site, DOE said Tuesday. According to a press release from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management  and Amentum-led Idaho Environmental Coalition, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) has processed about […]

A Virginia-based small business, DH Technologies, has been awarded a $1.1 million information technology and software contract with the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. The award posted online Monday in SAM.gov said the Leesburg-based, employee-owned company has won the computer-service related award with Lexington, Ky. Project office for the Paducah Site in Kentucky and […]

Holtec International completed major refurbishment projects for the shuttered Palisades reactor in Michigan and is on track to restart the plant probably in the first half of this year, the company said Monday. Site preparation is also getting underway for a couple of planned small modular reactors at the property that could enter service in […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plans to move forward with a sole-source award for a mobile counter-drone capability, according to a recently posted notice on a procurement site.  The notice, called a Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition, NNSA said NOMAD Global Communication Solution, an engineering and manufacturing company specializing in building […]

New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) issued an executive order to explore adding more nuclear power to the state’s energy mix. In the March 26 executive action, Ayotte ordered state agencies, led by New Hampshire’s Department of Energy, to do a review of regulatory and financial factors affecting nuclear deployment. Once the results of the […]

A New Mexico watchdog group says recent federal analyses point to growing pressure to expand plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), potentially beyond currently scoped capacity. The group refers to the lab’s most recently released record of decision and site-wide environmental impact statement (SWEIS), an analysis required by the National Environmental Policy […]

In a request for information (RFI) released March 25, the Air Force is looking for input from companies interested in deploying nuclear reactors at its bases. The RFI listed on procurement database sam.gov says the service is interested in 1 megawatt to-300-megawatt microreactors and small modular reactors (SMRs), not large-scale reactors. Interested companies will need […]

While the United Steel Workers (USW) union supports advanced nuclear projects for its members, it wants to ensure that employee health and safety remain protected at advanced reactor projects That’s the gist of supplemental comments filed with the Department of Energy in March by the union. “USW represents workers across the Department of Energy nuclear […]

The former Three Mile Island Unit 1 should be back online by the second half of 2027, a Constellation Energy spokesperson told Exchange Monitor Monday. According to a March 26 Reuters article, the grid operator PJM Interconnection said that the former Three Mile Island plant, now known as Crane Clean Energy Center, could not connect […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is looking at using a major facility at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory for treatment of some of NNSA’s future waste streams, according to a safety board report. On Feb. 17, NNSA and members of the Amentum-led environmental cleanup contractor for Idaho National Laboratory  met “to discuss […]

The Energy Facilities Contractors Group (EFCOG is starting registration for its annual 2026 hybrid meeting June 16-17 in Downtown Washington, D.C. In-person attendance will be at 101 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001. The point of contact for the conference is Christine Frei, staff@efcog.org. The first day will feature meetings of the board of directors, […]

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) formally announced the state’s bid for a Department of Energy’s nuclear lifecycle hub at a March 27 press conference held in Tooele County, Utah. Utah state officials gathered were on hand as Cox announced that Tooele County would be the site of the nuclear campus. Cox said during the press […]

Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) have called on Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) to immediately convene a public hearing with Pentagon officials on the Trump administration’s ongoing military campaign against Iran.  “We are deeply troubled by the lack of transparency from the Trump Administration and the Department of Defense and its failure to […]

The Donald Trump administration is expected to roll out its budget proposal for fiscal 2027 this Friday, April 3, a spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget confirmed to Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily. The budget request will be sent to Congress, currently in recess until mid-April. The forthcoming budget release is expected to […]

Wilmington, N.C.-based Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) received nearly $100 million in funding from the state of Kentucky and McCracken County for GLE’s proposed Paducah, Ky.-based enrichment facility. The performance-based incentive package will provide up to $98.9 million in tax and other financial incentives should GLE reach agreed investment and job creation goals, the company said […]

Entergy Louisiana and tech giant Meta signed a new agreement to support the construction and operation of Meta’s new data center in northern Louisiana. Under this new deal, Entergy Louisiana and Meta will look to support several energy sources, including nuclear power uprates, in powering Meta’s data center and broader energy systems, according to Entergy […]

The head of U.S. Strategic Command told lawmakers last week that nuclear modernization remains the Pentagon’s top investment priority, while signaling openness to expanding the Navy’s next-generation ballistic missile submarine fleet beyond current plans. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Adm. Richard Correll said recapitalizing all three legs of the nuclear triad is essential […]

A senior State Department official told lawmakers that the AUKUS security partnership is being hindered by a complex web of regulatory barriers, describing the challenge as a “fishing knot” that requires both regulatory and legislative fixes. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, Thomas Dinanno, undersecretary of state for arms control and international […]

Testing of Northrop Grumman’s and Bechtel’s prototype missile silo for the Sentinel should demonstrate a modular design the service and industry can repeat for all of the 450 planned, new silos, a Northrop Grumman official said last week. “Proving out the launch silo concept is critical to creating a repeatable approach that will accelerate deployment […]