Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), told the Exchange Monitor Wednesday it is “certainly not my job to agree” with President Donald Trump on whether to return to nuclear testing. “You know, the president is the Commander in Chief, the president will make all of these decisions,” Williams said in response […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awarded Amazon Web Services (AWS) a contract,worth up to $30.7 million, to complete high-performance computing support and data processing services for the agency. The sole source contract, which has a $10-million floor, is named “AWS Genesis Demonstrator,” and the NNSA Weapons Activities Office provided the funds. The agreement is […]

Work crews at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico will start demolition of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) old Ion Beam Facility this year, a DOE cleanup manager said Wednesday. “We are going to tear down the ion beam and remove the slab” starting in 2026, Jessica Kunkle, who […]

The Donald Trump administration is reportedly considering offering economic incentives for states to consider taking on nuclear waste, according to a Wednesday article from Politico. The Trump administration intends to introduce a program sometime this week addressing  nuclear waste, Politico reported. Governors would be invited to compete for economic development in exchange for hosting spent […]

Congressional appropriators Tuesday unveiled the final $839 billion fiscal 2026 defense spending bill, including an $8.4 billion topline boost covering some priorities sought by the Donald Trump administration outside of its Pentagon budget request.  The bill includes $27.2 billion to build 17 ships, including one Columbia-class submarine and two Virginia-class submarines. For aircraft, the bill […]

Amentum has been chosen by Rolls-Royce SMR to serve as its program delivery partner for the first European deployments of Rolls-Royce small modular reactors. . The two companies signed a collaborative agreement to make Amentum responsible for integration, oversight, governance, construction management and execution of SMR deployment, according to Amentum’s Tuesday press release. In the […]

Salas O’Brien, an international employee-owned engineering and technical services firm, announced Wednesday it is purchasing Los Alamos-based TechSource, a government contractor that does work with the Department of Energy. “Salas O’Brien has strengthened its ability to deliver solutions for the most complex federal government and infrastructure challenges with the addition of TechSource, a leading scientific […]

The United States and Slovakia have entered into an intergovernmental agreement to bring new electric generation to the Slovakian civil nuclear program. The agreement, announced by the U.S. Department of Energy Jan. 16, includes the development of a new state-owned American 1,200-megawatt unit at the Jaslovské Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant. Bohunice has two operating pressurized […]

Despite its dwindling number of board members, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) kept busy as a safety watchdog for the Department of Energy during fiscal 2025, according to a recent report. Set up 35 years ago by Congress as a five-member panel, DNFSB is down to a single member, Patricia Lee. Nevertheless, work […]

A Jan. 13 Weapons Complex Morning Briefing article on Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve), included a spelling error in the headline. 

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina has hired Roderick Jackson as its associate laboratory director for the science, energy and innovation directorate. The science, energy and innovation directorate focuses on integrating fundamental research, energy reliability and innovation within a cohesive and mission-driven framework, according to a Jan. 14 press release. […]

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant lost all off-site power due to “widespread military activity” in Ukraine, United Nations nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on the social media platform X Tuesday. According to IAEA on X, several Ukrainian electrical substations as well as powerlines to other nuclear power plants were affected. Ukrainian […]

Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit will feature speeches from big nuclear weapons complex players, including National Nuclear Security Administration head Brandon Williams and the first public appearance by newly sworn-in U.S. Strategic Command commander Adm. Richard Correll. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) whose state houses silos for the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, will also speak. […]

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has upped the ante on previous plans and called for the state to build up to five gigawatts or 5,000 megawatts of new nuclear energy. Hochul announced the increased demand during her 2026 state of the state address on Jan. 13. Last summer, Hochul announced plans for New York […]

The Department of Energy last week denied it has done away with long-time radiation safety standards as reported by a Washington, D.C.-based publication earlier this month. In a Friday Jan. 16 email reply to Exchange Monitor, a DOE spokesperson denied an earlier report by Politico’s E&E News that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright was ending […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management has hired a longtime federal hand, Lara Beasley, to be its deputy director.   Beasley comes to DOE Legacy Management from DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Legacy Management office announced in a December press release. A native of the Chicago area, Beasley has worked with […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  January 20: NRC meeting: The meeting on license renewal issues starts at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.  26: Conference: Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit is set for Jan. 26 through 28 in Arlington, Va.  27: Meeting the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board […]

Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions has filed a notice of intent with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) confirming the company’s plans to develop new generation at the shuttered Kewaunee nuclear plant site in Wisconsin. In a press release posted online Monday, EnergySolutions said it is working with WEC Energy, a Milwaukee-based utility holding company, on the […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received fewer shipments of transuranic waste (TRU) in 2025 than it did during 2024, according to data from the facility’s public website. WIPP took in 33 shipments in December, to cap off the 2025 calendar year with 441 shipments, which is down from […]

The top lawmaker on the House’s Navy acquisition oversight panel on Wednesday backed the Donald Trump administration’s plan to build a new fleet of battleships, calling the initiative a “great idea.” Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), chair of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee also offered his support for the Trump administration’s recently […]

Brandon Williams, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), will give the keynote speech at an event hosted by the House Nuclear Security Working Group, Bechtel and the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance Deterrence Center on the Capitol Wednesday. The Congressional Nuclear Security Working Group is chaired by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), whose district abuts […]

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) has issued an executive order to establish a state nuclear energy task force to explore adding new reactors to the state’s current electricity portfolio. The Missouri Advanced Nuclear Energy Task Force will assist in providing recommendations to Missouri’s State Energy Office’s Department of Natural Resources’s new energy plan, which will […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a hybrid question and answer session Tuesday afternoon to discuss ways the agency can improve procedures for subsequent license renewals. The meeting will take place at NRC’s headquarters in Rockville, Md. from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. It can also be viewed through Microsoft Teams.  In addition […]

A bipartisan panel of radioactive waste experts are releasing a study today calling for an independent nuclear reactor owner-led corporation to be formed to oversee disposal of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear plants and high-level radioactive waste from  weapons production. The NuCorp, or Nuclear Corporation, would be required by federal legislation and established by reactor […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) cancelled the publication of a draft environmental report for public comment on plutonium use at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a local publication reported.  According to Livermore Vine, NNSA intended to release the draft, and said so in a notice of intent January 2025, for comments and feedback from the […]

Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published on Monday Jan. 19 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The next morning briefing will come out Tuesday Jan. 20.

The Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management could be active on new contract solicitations this month, according to a recent procurement update. According to a notice posted online during the week before Christmas, a final  request for proposals (RFPs) could come out this month for  the Portsmouth Infrastructure Support Services contract in Ohio. […]