Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

PanTeXas Deterrence LLC (PXD), the management and operating contractor for the Pantex Plant, has selected Emily Hunt as its first chief technology officer, creating a new executive role focused on modernization and research. Hunt will serve as Pantex’s lead scientist and oversee the plant’s long-term technology and innovation strategy, including efforts to expand research and […]

Constellation Energy was issued a conditional loan by the Department of Energy of up to $5 billion dollars to increase its operating reactor fleet capacity by 1,100 megawatts. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and DOE’s Energy Dominance Financing Director Gregory Beard made the announcement at Constellation’s Byron Clean Energy Center in Ogle County, Ill. Tuesday […]

The Department of Energy’s prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., has hired Patrick Hefflinger as its new head of communications. Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors announced Hefflinger’s appointment in a Monday news release. Hefflinger, who has more than 15 years in the field, comes to WIPP after being a […]

The Pentagon said Monday it picked the USS Colorado (SSN-788) to be the first U.S. Navy Virginia-class attack submarine assigned to Submarine Rotation Force West (SRF-West), marking the next step in the AUKUS submarine process, starting in late 2027. SRF-West aims to help Australia prepare to ultimately operate, maintain and support its own nuclear-powered and […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., will hold its next public meeting on Wednesday Nov. 4. The New Mexico Environment Department has proposed modifying WIPP’s state operating permit for the second time in four years. The state and DOE have been in talks about the issue. WIPP, managed for […]

BWX Technologies’ (BWXT) subsidiary, BWXT Advanced Fuels, will supply tri-structural – or TRISO – fuel to Antares Nuclear under a new multi-year agreement, the companies said Tuesday. Under this contract, BWXT will provide an initial supply of one metric ton of uranium of TRISO fuel to Antares. If Antares reactor deployment continues to grow, then […]

Fairbanks Morse Defense last week broke ground on a $60 million manufacturing facility that will increase production on Virginia-class naval propulsion components funded in part from international AUKUS funds. The company on Oct. 20 broke ground on the third Center of Excellence at the existing Bird-Johnson Propeller Company facility in Pascagoula, Miss., which it said […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the final environmental impact statement for Global Laser Enrichment’s (GLE) proposed laser enrichment facility located near the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky. According to GLE’s Oct. 23 press release, NRC staff recommended issuing a license to construct and operate the facility. This issuance comes months after NRC published […]

While it missed the start of the 2027 fiscal year, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is still working on appointing a new slate of members to the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB) for the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. “The membership package for DOE’s Hanford Advisory Board continues to make its way through […]

The Department of Energy’s heads of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Office of Environmental Management will headline the Energy Technology and Environmental Business Association (ETEBA) annual Business Opportunities and Technical Conference at the Knoxville Convention Center in Knoxville, Tenn. this week. The annual conference will feature NNSA administrator Brandon Williams and Office of […]

Fluor Marine Propulsion has received a $2.4 billion contract modification for work supporting the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory, according to the Defense Department. The $2.409 billion cost-plus-fixed-fee modification, awarded Sept. 24 and announced by the Pentagon Oct. 23, modifies previously awarded contract N0002418C2130. The work will support Naval Nuclear Propulsion […]

Public companies involved in supporting nuclear power, cleanup and security will be reporting financial earnings over the next couple of weeks. If recent earnings calls provide any clues there could be discussion of policy at the Department of Energy, its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Defense. Macro-economic trends […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) federal workforce fell nearly 12% as the agency’s workload reached its highest level since the Cold War, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. NNSA’s federal workforce declined by 236 employees, from 1,991 in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 to 1,755 in the second quarter of […]

Finnish spent fuel management company Posiva Oy was granted an operating license on Oct. 22 for the encapsulation and its final disposal facility, Onkalo, for spent nuclear fuel in Olkiluoto, Finland, the company said. The decision was approved by the government following a favorable safety assessment issued by Finland’s nuclear regulator, the Radiation and Nuclear […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the joint prime contractor for Savannah River Site, is expanding research and development investments at the Savannah River Site with aims to accelerate technology development supporting the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) missions. SRNS’ Office of Innovation is directing research investments across the site and coordinating work with national laboratories, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has finalized the rule to create a more uniform regulatory pathway for commercializing Department of Energy and Pentagon-approved reactor designs.  Originally proposed in April, the final rule is designed to allow NRC to leverage other agencies’ data and information regarding the reactor designs in its own regulatory review process. The rule […]

A little more than a year after Tim Walsh became the Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) the $8-billion office has reached key milestones in both nuclear cleanup and laying groundwork for future nuclear power, DOE said last week. Walsh was confirmed by the Senate on Oct. 7, 2025, the DOE Environmental […]

The United States Navy selected El Segundo, Calif.-based Radiant Nuclear’s microreactor technology to power Naval Weapons Station in Crane, Ind., the company said Tuesday. The Navy previously announced in September that Naval Weapons Station in Crane would be the service’s first naval microreactor installation. Radiant will work with the Navy, Army, Defense Innovation Unit, Nuclear […]

The Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Tim Walsh is scheduled to visit the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative on the campus of the University of South Carolina-Aiken Thursday to highlight the “Nuclear Renaissance in the Southeast.” According to a DOE announcement, Walsh is expected to discuss the Savannah River Site’s role in America’s nuclear […]

The Nuclear Company, a startup project developer, is eyeing Lewis County, Ky. as its site for a planned 6,600-megawatt power plant that would use six of Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactors. The Prosperity One Nuclear Campus would have up to six AP1000 reactors, with the initial phase of it beginning with two units, The Nuclear Company said […]

Northrop Grumman on Tuesday posted higher sales and net income in its third quarter driven by top-line gains across its businesses and bottom-line increases in three of them. Net income rose 2% to just over $1.12 billion, $7.89 earnings per share (EPS), from $1.1 billion (7.67 EPS) a year ago, handily beating consensus estimates of […]

Westinghouse has made plans to put $1 billion into constructing an advanced nuclear fuel factory at its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. Cranberry Township, Penn.-based Westinghouse said Wednesday the proposed fuel factory will produce low enriched uranium plus (LEU+) fuel to support its AP1000 reactor fleet. It hopes to have the new facility […]

The Army has begun site planning for three nuclear microreactors at Fort Benning, Ga., as an early step toward deploying the systems under its Janus energy resilience program. Fort Benning hosted an initial Janus Program site visit Oct. 16 with Army planners, officials from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking responses to gauge the market’s capabilities to help the agency perform its Force-on-Force inspection activities. According to the NRC’s Monday System for Award Management (SAM) notice, NRC invites all parties, including all categories of small businesses, to respond to the Source Sought Synopsis, a federal market survey tool. However, […]

Years after the Department of Energy cancelled the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina, a company based in France is making ambitious plans for MOX at the nuclear complex. The original multi-billion-dollar MOX project, meant to convert weapons grade plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel that could be […]

NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy’s merger could be jeopardized as the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s staff urge the commission to reject the proposal as it currently stands. In a Monday 201-page filing, the Virginia State Corporation Commission staff said the proposed merger application fails to prove that the merger would provide adequate service to Virginia […]

Mike Petters, a former CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), is returning to the company’s board of directors as the shipbuilder says its working to expand capacity to meet growing U.S. Navy demand. HII announced Oct. 20 that Petters, who served as the company’s first president and CEO, has been elected to its board. Petters […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has set a $23.5 billion performance baseline for the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility’s (SRPPF) main processing building, with completion now estimated for December 2038, the agency told Exchange Monitor Monday. The estimate covers the main processing building at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, where NNSA plans […]

In a short turnaround, West Virginia formally removed itself from consideration for the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus program recently. The state was selected to be the sixth state on a shortlist for the program on Sept. 8, but by Sept. 30, West Virginia withdrew itself after saying it would not be able […]

North Korea is continuing to expand its nuclear arsenal and missile capabilities, including efforts to field more advanced and survivable systems, according to a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. The Oct. 13 CRS update says Pyongyang is pursuing a broader range of nuclear-capable delivery systems while expanding production of the fissile material needed to […]