Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

PanTeXas Deterrence, the BWX Technologies-led joint venture in charge of management and operations at Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, is seeking sources to build Pantex’s High Explosive, Synthesis, Formulation and Production (HESFP) facility.  The prime contractor posted a notice on sam.gov Jan. 27 citing the need for a subcontractor with experience in process engineering, process […]

The Department of Energy approved the preliminary documented safety analysis for Radiant Nuclear’s Kaleidos demonstration reactor Monday. El Segundo, Calif.-based Radiant becomes the second company to have its safety analysis approved by DOE under its advanced reactor pilot program, with the first being Antares Nuclear. Through the program, DOE has set a goal of at […]

Earnings rose at Amentum, Chantilly, Va., in its first quarter, which the international engineering and technology company attributed to surging interest in nuclear both to power the grid and to support space exploration. Net earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 ended Jan. 2 were $44 million, or $0.18 a share, up from $12 […]

A proposed University of Michigan data center will support research related to nuclear weapons and plutonium pit development for Los Alamos National Laboratory, the student-run newspaper Michigan Daily reported Jan. 30. Patrick Fitch, deputy laboratory director for science, technology and engineering at Los Alamos, reportedly said at an open house for the project that nuclear […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., has a six-person cyber threat response in place since 2023 charged with searching for signs of trouble across more than 10,000 connected devices at the federal complex, DOE said last week. Hanford’s Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) team, formed by Hanford’s Leidos-led landlord contractor Hanford […]

Électricité de France (EDF) recently awarded Virginia-based Amentum a handful of new nuclear services contracts valued at roughly $730 million (£540 million). Under these contracts, Amentum will be expanding the critical solutions for the United Kingdom’s current nuclear reactor fleet, in addition to the construction of a new gigawatt power station at Hinkley Point, according […]

Work crews are cutting trees and clearing land to prepare for construction of two modern uranium enrichment projects at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky, DOE said last week. About 100 acres of land are being cleared at Paducah to make way or an enrichment plant planned by California-based nuclear technology startup, General […]

Nuclear energy hit a record high in power generation in 2025 and could play a larger role in the world’s power mix going forward, according to a February International Energy Agency report. In the report “Electricity 2026”, published Feb. 6, nuclear power produced 2,850 terawatt-hours (TWh) globally in 2025, indicating a 1.2% increase from 2024 […]

The Department of Energy said Monday it launched a consortium, or public-private partnership, to support the Donald Trump administration’s Genesis Mission in using artificial intelligence (AI) to expedite research and strengthen national security. According to DOE’s press release, the consortium will feature capabilities from DOE, the national laboratories, the private sector and academic institutions. The […]

Kurt Bender was appointed BWX Technologies senior vice president and chief digital officer, effective Feb. 5, the company said last week.  In the role, Bender will be responsible for BWXT’s digital strategy supporting operations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. BWXT president and CEO Rex Geveden said the promotion comes as the […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  February  10: Earnings call: Amentum will hold its quarterly financial results conference call starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.  10: House Cleanup Caucus: Invitation-only  event starts at 5 p.m. E.T. at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.  11: Earnings call: […]

William (Ike) White who led the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management for five years has been appointed to the advisory board for the Department of Energy alumni network. White’s appointment, along with two other advisory board members, was announced in a Friday LinkedIn post by the DOE alumni network, an organization formed in […]

BWX Technologies said it has made “significant progress” in the production of tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) for Antares Nuclear and is on track to have it completed by the July 4 deadline. Antares is one of 10 companies that were selected for DOE’s advanced reactor pilot program. The program seeks to have at least three reactors […]

The Department of Energy has awarded over $19 million to five nuclear companies to research and develop fuel recycling technology for spent nuclear fuel. According to DOE’s Feb. 5 press release, the five selected companies were: Chicago-based Alpha Nur will research and validate a process that recovers highly enriched uranium from used fuel by domestic […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) last week posted strong fourth quarter and full-year results on strength across its shipbuilding and mission systems businesses. Huntington Ingalls Industries subsidiaries are part of major joint ventures doing business in the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex, including the legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New […]

Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee have raised “significant concern” with the Pentagon’s move to classify reconciliation spending plans, urging the department to provide more public details on how the $150 billion is being allocated. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, led by Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the lawmakers say […]

The Department of Energy said Wednesday it will resume uranium recovery operations at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, utilizing the H-Canyon facility. The uranium recovery work will help recover key isotopes that are currently hard to obtain in the United States and support scientific research as well as medical applications and commercial uses, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has launched an agency-wide reorganization to streamline decision-making in an effort to create more efficient licensing procedures. NRC said it will reorganize around core business lines of new reactors, operating reactors and nuclear materials and waste, according to the agency’s Wednesday press release.  Within the overhaul, “licensing and inspection functions […]

The Department of Justice recently launched an online portal for radioactive waste survivors to submit claims for assistance through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). “GREAT NEWS – the DOJ has launched the online portal for radioactive waste survivors to submit their RECA claims,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), one of the bipartisan advocates for RECA, […]

ARLINGTON, VA. – Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC) will complete the first phase of a real estate acquisition project that will add 2 million square feet of office and manufacturing space this June, the site’s acting manager said last week. Shekita Robinson spoke at a panel of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) field […]

Deep Isolation launched a multi-year full-scale demonstration program this week for its nuclear waste disposal technology. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Jan. 28 at the Deep Borehole Demonstration, located at the Haliburton Drilling Technology Facility near Cameron, Texas. Deep Isolation said stakeholders across the nuclear industry, Texas state officials and Department of Energy representatives attended. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) has granted a Texas environmental group’s petition to intervene in the case surrounding Dow and X-Energy’s construction permit application for Seadrift, Texas. The ASLB ruling on the intervention petition, which was issued Jan. 22, found that San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (Waterkeeper) established grounds to […]

ARLINGTON, VA – For sites in the Department of Energy’s nuclear complex recruiting electricians and skilled craftspeople is a big task – and keeping them can be another. This was a key theme to emerge during a Tuesday Jan. 27 panel discussion here at Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit.  Senior managers from National Nuclear […]

The Department of Energy said Tuesday a California-based company that plans a major enrichment plant in Paducah, Ky., will use a longtime nuclear facility at the Hanford Site in Washington state In a Tuesday press release, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said it has teamed up with the nuclear fuel company General Matter for potential […]

With a 16-year U.S.-Russia nuclear agreement expiring Feb. 5, three former national security officials testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Tuesday to advise on next steps and whether a year-long extension is best. Signed in 2010 by then U.S. and Russian Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, the New Strategic Arms […]

ARLINGTON, VA. – In his debut public address as Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Adm. Richard Correll told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit the national labs were one of “five significant threat vectors” of concern for STRATCOM. “The way I think about it, and I hope I came across in my remarks, is […]