Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The AECOM-led contractor in charge of liquid waste management at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site earned $28.57 million of a potential $30.28 million for its latest fee period. That represents better than 94% of the possible fee, according to the DOE performance scorecard. During the period from June 1, 2018, through March 31 […]

A power outage at the Nevada National Security Site’s Device Assembly Facility (DAF) interrupted some of the site’s nuclear stockpile stewardship operations for about two weeks this month, a spokesperson said. The outage happened July 1, after a series of mishaps in replacing the DAF’s uninterruptible power source — a backup power supply system that […]

An unidentified Energy Department nuclear facility needs to remedy shortcomings in its cybersecurity program, according to DOE’s Office of Inspector General. “Furthermore, we found that limited cybersecurity resources at the site impacted the ability of the site to ensure that all security controls were fully implemented,” the Energy Department IG said in the memo dated […]

NorthStar Group Services has requested approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to switch the means of transport to disposal of 200,000 gallons of contaminated wastewater from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The company plans to move the wastewater primarily by rail to a disposal site in Idaho, rather by truck as previously OK’d […]

Executives from Fluor, one of the larger contractors in the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons complex, are scheduled to discuss second-quarter earnings at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time Thursday. The financial numbers for the quarter ending June 30 will be posted after the market closes on Thursday. The call with Wall Street analysts will be webcast. Fluor […]

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler is expected to rule in August on a dispute over waste discharge standards at the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. Mary Walker, administrator for EPA Region 4, said in March the new on-site waste landfill planned at Oak Ridge lacks adequate protections against discharges of contaminated wastewater […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee announced will this question Strategic Command Commander and Air Force Gen. John Hyten as the nominee to become the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The confirmation hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday in Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room G50. The committee has been conducting a series […]

Fluor Marine Propulsion plans to move some 200 Naval Reactors Facility employees in Idaho off-site in 2020, when the prime contractor for the federal Naval Nuclear Laboratory expects to enter a five- to 10-year lease for office space. The Naval Reactors Facility, which stores spent fuel from nuclear warships and submarines, employs a total of […]

The Department of Energy is assessing potential vendor interest in processing, shipping, and disposing of radioactive waste from the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) in New York state. In a request for information (RFI)/sources sought notice Wednesday, the DOE Office of Environmental Management requested capability statements from interested parties with the expertise to do the […]

The Air Force is currently expecting to see first flight of the B-21 next-generation bomber around December 2021, the service’s number-two military official revealed Wednesday. Speaking at an Air Force Association Mitchell Institute event on Capitol Hill, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson said according to a software app he tracks on the new […]

Boeing, which designed and built the current fleet of U.S. nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles, confirmed Thursday it will not bid on the contract to build the successor Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) missiles. Boeing and Northrop Grumman are the only two companies eligible to bid on the Air Force’s contract to build the next-generation ICBMs. “After […]

In a federal discrimination lawsuit seeking $3.5 million, an African-American woman formerly employed by the Savannah River Site’s security contractor says she was terminated for accidentally leaving her gun in a bathroom, while a white employee kept her job after making the same error. In the complaint, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for South […]

An air tunnel at a degrading Savannah River Site nuclear materials processing facility should be able to withstand an earthquake, according to a detailed analysis for the Department of Energy, despite concerns raised two years ago by a federal safety board. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), management and operations contractor for the 310-square-mile DOE facility […]

City officials from Oak Ridge, Tenn., want to meet with Energy Department representatives before the federal agency issues a draft record of decision in August for a new 2.2-million-cubic yard landfill planned for the Oak Ridge Site. City Manager Mark Watson made the request in a July 12 letter to Jay Mullis, manager of DOE’s […]

Northrop Grumman on Wednesday reported a strong second quarter on higher earnings and sales, while strong order flow also drove a substantial increase in the company’s backlog. Net income increased 9% to $861 million, $5.06 earnings per share (EPS), from $789 million ($4.50 EPS) a year ago, beating consensus estimates by $0.38 per share. Sales increased […]

A wildfire that has burned 113,000 acres since Monday no longer poses a threat to the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory. The Sheep Fire, started by a lightning strike, was 60% contained as of Thursday morning. As a result, the Idaho National Laboratory expects to resume normal operations today, the Energy Department said in an […]

A surprise to no one, Boeing on Wednesday swung to a loss in its second quarter on massive charges related to its 737 commercial aircraft program, which also led to a precipitous decline in sales, but the negatives were partially offset by gains in the company’s defense and services businesses. Regulatory authorities and airlines worldwide have […]

FirstEnergy Solutions will keep its two Ohio reactors open after the state this week approved a $150 million annual boost to the financially struggling company. The Akron-based power provider announced Wednesday afternoon it would halt preparations for deactivating the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor and the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry. Without the […]

The Department of Energy and the prime contractor for the canceled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF)  have made “significant progress” settling a $200-million-plus lawsuit, according to a Wednesday court filing. CB&I AREVA MOX Services, now majority owned by McDermott International, sued DOE and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in 2016, alleging the agency […]

Jacobs subsidiary CH2M appears prepared to resume the higher-risk work involved in demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state, according to an Energy Department report. “Overall, changes and improvements necessary for safely resuming higher risk demolition work have been effectively established and implemented,” the department’s Office of Enterprise […]

The Senate confirmed Mark Esper to become the next permanent secretary of defense on Tuesday by a landslide vote, ending months of uncertainty about the Pentagon’s leadership. Esper, who previously served as Army secretary since 2017, was confirmed by a vote of 90-8 Tuesday afternoon. Eight Democrats voted against his confirmation, and two senators – […]

The new federal budget caps deal provides $2.5 billion more in base defense spending than the 2020 budget the House of Representatives has already approved, and the National Nuclear Security Administration would need a 25% share of the extra funding to reach its preferred nuclear-weapon budget. To get the money, the semiautonomous Department of Energy […]

The California Coastal Commission is expected in September to decide whether to issue a permit that is necessary for major decommissioning to begin on two retired reactors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The commission had been scheduled in June to take up Southern California Edison’s application for a coastal development permit, but […]

A good 2019 keeps rolling for Lockheed Martin, which on Tuesday reported strong increases in earnings and sales in its second quarter, building on handsome gains in the first quarter. The results led the company to increase its guidance for sales, earnings, and cash this year. Net income in the quarter increased 22 percent to just […]

Nuclear services firm EnergySolutions on Tuesday announced its first foray into the burgeoning business for acquiring retired nuclear power plants for decommissioning. The Salt Lake City-based company said it had inked a term sheet with a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. for the asset transfer of reactor Unit 2 at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating […]

The Ohio state government on Tuesday approved a $150 million annual bailout for FirstEnergy Solutions’ two nuclear power plants in the state. The Ohio House of Representatives voted 51-38 to approve its bill following recent modifications by the state Senate. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) then quickly signed the measure into law. The bill translates […]