Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

BWX Technologies said Thursday it has received a contract to procure long-lead components for U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers, which including options is worth $806 million over seven years. In a press release, the Lynchburg, Va., company said the contract from the “U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program” has a one-year base period worth […]

Holtec International believes it can complete decommissioning of the three-reactor Indian Point Energy Center by 2036, assuming it receives federal authorization to buy the nuclear power plant. The Camden, N.J., energy technology company laid out its schedule in a presentation to be given today to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in advance of the application […]

It could be 2020 before the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) incorporates the latest federal earthquake data into the agency’s environmental review of a planned next-generation uranium hub, a spokesperson said Wednesday. As part of a lawsuit brought by environmental and nuclear watchdogs, a federal judge in late September ordered the semiautonomous Department of […]

The Jacobs-led company in charge of cleanup of the former gaseous diffusion plant at the U.S. Energy Department’s Paducah Site in Kentucky has reportedly selected a new top executive. The appointment of Myrna Redfield at Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership was reported Tuesday by WKMS-FM, a public radio station for Murray State University in Murray, Ky., […]

President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to break with the longstanding norm of not disclosing the location of U.S. nuclear weapons deployed abroad by telling a reporter he was “confident” weapons stored at Turkey’s Incirlik air base remained safe. Turkish military forces last week crossed into Syria after Trump — in a move widely criticized […]

Parsons carried out four proficiency drills between July and September at the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), which is expected to open in December at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina The contractor in charge of building and starting up the plant plans five more drills through November,  according to a […]

Just two days after officially completing the reorganization of its nuclear materials office, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday announced it had combined two offices that provide oversight for nuclear power reactors. As of Sunday, the federal agency has merged its Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation with its Office of New Reactors. The new […]

A 45-day comment period began Monday on proposed changes to the Tri-Party Agreement (TPA) that governs cleanup at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The parties to the agreement – the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Washington state Department of Ecology – will accept comments through Nov. 29. The […]

It’s official: Brian Vance is the sole manager of both the Richland Operations Office and the Office of River Protection at the U.S. Energy Department’s sprawling Hanford Site in Washington state. The longtime manager and U.S. Navy veteran had filled this dual role in an acting capacity since February. Energy Secretary Rick Perry informed Congress […]

Rose Gottemoeller, the Obama administration’s lead negotiator of the New START nuclear arms control treaty between the U.nited States and Russia, began saying public goodbyes Wednesday as part of her long-planned departure as deputy secretary general of NATO. “I will be heading back to the United States and I’m looking forward to writing a book […]

It could be two years before a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission board holds a hearing in the single contention it allowed against licensing of a consolidated interim storage facility in Texas for spent nuclear power reactor fuel. The anticipated “trigger date” for parties to begin filing various paperwork and then the evidentiary hearing itself is […]

EnergySolutions is no longer partly owned by investment firm Lindsay Goldberg, although it still is listed on the Goldberg website. Due to an editing error, the ownership status was listed incorrectly in the Tuesday edition of Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.

The U.S. Energy Department has now formally announced plans to keep the three current providers of technical support services for the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) on the job through June 2020. The agency filed a formal notice Thursday announcing plans to keep Albuquerque, N.M.-based Strategic Management Solutions Inc. (SMSI) on the job for up to […]

The Senate is expected to vote to confirm Barbara Barrett as the next secretary of the Air Force as early as Oct. 16, after resuming consideration of her nomination Oct. 15. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) filed cloture on the nomination Sept 26, before the upper chamber left for its annual two-week October recess, […]

EnergySolutions on Tuesday said it had sealed the deal for acquisition of reactor Unit 2 (TMI-2) at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, which famously partially melted down 40 years ago. The Salt Lake City-based nuclear services firm will buy TMI-2’s assets and obtain its licenses from reactor owner FirstEnergy Corp. It […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration cleared the future transfer of some U.S.-origin uranium and plutonium, currently in irradiated fuel rods, from South Korea’s state-owned Korea Electric Power Co. to Studsvik Nuclear AB, in Nykoping, Sweden, according to a Federal Register notice published Tuesday.  In Sweden, the rods “will be used for testing the fuel […]

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined without comment to hear South Carolina’s argument that an appeals court illegally denied the state its right to contest the Department of Energy’s decision to close an over-budget, behind-schedule plutonium-disposal plant last year. The decision from the high court, for which there is no appeal, spells the end […]

AECOM announced Monday it plans to sell its government contracting business for $2.4 billion to two investment firms rather than advancing its previous plan to spin the branch off into a stand-alone public company. Affiliates of New York City-based American Securities and Lindsay Goldberg are joining to buy AECOM’s Management Services business. In June, AECOM […]

The Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council (HAMTC) has reached a tentative deal for one-year extensions to existing labor contracts for hundreds of union members employed by major vendors at the U.S. Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. In a Facebook post Monday, HAMTC announced that its negotiating committee had reached the agreement with contractors […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is accepting hearing petitions on proposed license transfers for the retired Crystal River nuclear power plant in Florida. Owner Duke Energy wants to transfer the facility’s operations and spent-fuel storage licenses to a subsidiary of Accelerated Decommissioning Partners (ADP). That company, a joint venture of NorthStar Group Services and Orano, […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management plans to extend the current technical services contract at the Paducah Site in Kentucky with Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Pro2Serve for up to six more months. On Thursday, DOE published a notice of intent to issue a sole-source extension to keep Pro2Service on the job at Paducah through […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formally accepted SHINE Medical Technologies’ application to obtain a 30-year operating license for a proposal medical isotope production facility in Wisconsin. The agency said in a Federal Register notice, issued Saturday and dated Tuesday, that it had docketed the application following its acceptance review. That license application will now […]

At least some of the advisory committees chartered to provide independent perspective on nuclear matters to the Department of Energy — including one that represents the neighbors of Cold War nuclear-weapon sites — continued to operate beyond a Sept. 30 presidential deadline to cull such groups. President Donald Trump on June 14 ordered federal department […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Barring unforeseen circumstances, the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management expects soon to award the potential 10-year, $6 billion support services contract for the Hanford Site in Washington state, an agency procurement official said Wednesday. The Energy Department apparently recently informed Congress the contract was being awarded, only to reverse course […]

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), seeking her party’s nomination for president, on Wednesday proposed reinstating corporate taxes to pay for cleanup of Superfund sites contaminated by hazardous wastes. The measure is among a list of proposals in the candidate’s new environmental justice plan. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists more than 1,300 Superfund properties on […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– Some large infrastructure projects in the U.S. Energy Department’s nationwide nuclear cleanup complex should be completed in the next couple years, an agency official said Wednesday. That should include startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at […]

The state of North Dakota has temporarily suspended its review of applications to allow disposal of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) at two landfills in Williams County. The freeze gives time for officials in the northwestern county to decide whether to approve amendments to the conditional use permits for the landfills to begin […]

Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published Monday in observance of the Columbus Day federal holiday. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Tuesday, Oct. 15.