Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

ROCKVILLE, MD – Just 11 weeks in, new Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Doug Weaver said Wednesday he is focused on cutting down on the “conservatism” in NRC measures, without compromising safety, to allow for new nuclear innovation. Weaver, confirmed as commissioner by the Senate in December 2025, said he wants NRC to become a risk-informed […]

ROCKVILLE, MD – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is at a crossroads and needs both safety and speed to prepare for incoming nuclear innovation, commissioner Matthew Marzano said here Wednesday. Marzano opened up the second day of the NRC Regulatory Information Conference. As the recent push for nuclear power seems like an unprecedented moment for the […]

The ranking member of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projected Forces subcommittee in a Tuesday letter further pushed the Defense Department to award an overdue multi-year contract covering up to 11 Block VI Virginia-class attack submarines. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) has been pushing DoD to award the contract that was authorized in the fiscal […]

PHOENIX— A Genesis consortium of public, private partnerships has already identified more than two dozen national science challenges, Kristen Ellis, a longtime DOE supervisor who is currently the associate principal deputy undersecretary for science, said here Tuesday. The Genesis Mission is designed to be a joint effort by industry and the Department of Energy’s national […]

Edwin Deshong is the Department of Energy Environmental Management office manager at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Erik Olds is EM manager for the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee and he is also acting head of the Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office. Their names were misspelled in a March 10 Morning Briefing article.

Irving, Texas-based nuclear fuel company Fluor said Monday Bob Card, former Under Secretary of Energy and most recent CEO of Canadian project management company SNC-Lavin, will join Fluor’s Board of Directors. Card was selected March 4, and his appointment brings the number of board members to 12, Fluor’s press release said. While Card’s most recent […]

ROCKVILLE, MD. – With the influx of nuclear reactor designs coming down the pipe, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is “ready for the moment” to efficiently and safely license, commissioners David Wright and Bradley Crowell said Tuesday morning. The two commissioners spoke in their own respective plenaries during the NRC Regulatory Information Conference. Though a lot […]

PHOENIX – The land-constrained Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco, Calif. must demolish decaying old buildings covering a third of its footprint over the next 16 years, Livermore manager Mark Costella said here Tuesday. Livermore’s main Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) campus takes up only one square mile, Costella said. As […]

The annual outage at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico should end in the next couple weeks, following significant replacement work and upgrades to infrastructure that a watchdog deemed “substandard or inadequate.”  “The annual winter maintenance outage began on January 5 this year and is scheduled to end in […]

An Amentum-led joint venture has won a $112 million framework contract to lead decommissioning and waste management at nuclear research sites in four European countries. The new contract, issued by the European Commission Joint Research Center, has a two-year base period, with an option of three possible two-year extensions, according to Amentum’s Tuesday press release. […]

PHOENIX — David Brunnert, the new chief operating officer at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, will focus much of his attention on the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Waste Management Symposia heard here Monday. “He and I served in the first Gulf War together,” the head of Environmental Management (EM) Tim […]

ROCKVILLE, MD. – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will stay committed to independence and safety through the various changes to the agency, NRC Chair Ho Nieh said during the opening panel here Tuesday morning. Recently appointed chair Nieh opened up NRC’s 38th annual Regulatory Information Conference. Nieh said there have been a lot of narratives over […]

PHOENIX – The increased interest in using Department of Energy nuclear sites for new power generation does not mean the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) is putting cleanup on the backburner, EM officials said here Monday. Dutch Conrad of Mid-America Conversion Services kicked off the afternoon session by asking how Environmental Management can reassure […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) greenlighted the start of full construction, or Critical Decision 2/3, for the High-Fidelity Training and Operations Center (HFTOC) at Savannah River Site. The HFTOC will function as a training facility, or a mock facility, for the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility’s Main Processing Building, according to a Monday press […]

PHOENIX — A Finland nuclear regulatory company official kicked off the 52nd Waste Management Symposia here Monday saying Finland’s reliance on “high-level expertise” is a reason a deep underground repository for spent fuel is expected to open there. Construction of the project in southwestern Finland began more than two decades ago. And the facility should […]

Amentum and RSI’s joint venture was awarded a contract for U.S. Navy demolition projects construction that could be worth nearly $1 billion. RSI Amentum Environmental Solutions’ demolition services under the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract are expected to address environmental restoration tasks at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, according to Amentum’s Monday press […]

Centrus Energy and Oklo agreed on Monday to seek a joint venture focused on deconversion services for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and advancing fuel-cycle technologies in Ohio. The nuclear fuel companies announced in a press release that the activities for this joint venture will take place at Centrus’ Piketon uranium enrichment facility site in Pike […]

The president of General Dynamics Electric Boat division on Wednesday said a multi-year contract to procure 15 nuclear-powered submarines is still months away while also providing an update on lowering shipyard attrition rates and the utility of outsourcing. The Navy has been negotiating the deal with General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) on awards […]

PHOENIX – The Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management will soon be changing its name, DOE Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Tim Walsh told the 52nd annual Waste Management Symposia here Monday morning. The new name will be something along the lines of the Office of Nuclear Restoration and Revitalization, Walsh said at […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has appointed former NRC staffer Anna Bradford to lead its Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, effective in May. Bradford is currently director of the Division of Nuclear Installation Safety at the International Atomic Energy Agency. Jeremy Groom, who is serving as the acting director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, will continue […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled a new initiative focused on accelerated development of new advanced nuclear technology. DOE said in its March 5 press release the new initiative, Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, will create a hub to speed up advanced nuclear technology deployment using technical and regulatory frameworks on federal and non-federal lands. […]

The commander of Naval Submarine Forces last week argued it is “critically important” the government continues supporting the SSN(X) next generation nuclear-powered attack submarine program to maintain its advantage over China. “The Virginia-class submarine is highly capable, it is by far the most capable nuclear attack submarine that’s ever existed in the world,” Vice Admiral […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is restarting HB-Line operations in order to recycle surplus plutonium and produce uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for advanced reactors. DOE announced the restart in a Friday March 6 press release. It did not reveal a specific date for the restart driven by President Donald […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy’s head of nuclear cleanup, the CEO of Longenecker & Associates and officials connected with Finland’s spent nuclear fuel program will help kick off the 52nd Waste Management Symposia (WMS) here Monday morning. Tim Walsh, DOE’s assistant secretary for environmental management, will be part of the morning plenary session as […]

March:  08-12: Conference: Waste Management Symposia kicks off at Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix. 10: Conference The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Regulatory Information Conference kicks off at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel in Rockville, Md.  12: Webinar: Tennessee Valley Authority will host a webinar on its integrated resource plan starting at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.   

Kansas-based Kiewit Nuclear Solutions has picked Jeff Leita, formerly of Amentum, as vice president of markets and strategy for its Department of Energy management and operations business line, Kiewit said in a news release this week. Leita has much experience across the nuclear, federal and national security sectors, where he has led complex efforts and […]