Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s four nominees for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors in a 53 – 43 vote on Dec. 18. The confirmation of Arthur Graham, Mitch Graves, Jeff Hagood and Randall Jones were among a large bloc of other Trump nominees who were awaiting confirmations. The four confirmed […]

A Bechtel National company has landed a Department of Defense contract modification worth nearly $928 million for naval nuclear propulsion components, the Pentagon said last week. Bechtel Plant Machinery., Monroeville, Pa., was awarded the modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, according to a Dec. 19 summary of contract news from the Pentagon. About two-thirds […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and other Department of Energy branches said last week they have made big strides toward recovering rare plutonium-244 from old Cold War-era material at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. A new radiochemical separation capability successfully recovered valuable isotopes from a Mark-18A target at the Savannah River National […]

The Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management has agreed to allow Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions to dispose of Class A low-level radioactive waste from Ontario, Canada at the company’s Clive, Utah disposal facility. EnergySolutions got an affirmative vote Friday for its proposal to import the Canadian waste at the Clive facility located in […]

The Department of Energy has revealed its first selections for its Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear’s (GAIN)nuclear energy voucher program. According to DOE GAIN’s Dec. 18 press release, the first round of recipients for fiscal 2026 are: BWX Technologies Advanced Technologies, based in Lynchburg, Va.  NuScale Power, in Corvallis, Ore. Orbia Fluor and Energy […]

New nuclear projects have the potential to provideup to 30% of electricity for developing countries, according to a December report by the Rockefeller Foundation. The report, “The Role of Nuclear Energy in Powering Universal Energy Abundance for Emerging Economies”, said countries with an emerging market and developing economy could use nuclear power to deliver up […]

During fiscal 2025, the legacy cleanup contractor at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico shipped more than 190 cubic meters of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). That’s according to a quarterly update distributed Wednesday by Brad Smith, president and general manager of Newport News Nuclear-BWXT-Los Alamos […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has extended the operating licenses by 20-years for three reactors in Illinois. NRC extended Constellation Energy’s Clinton Clean Energy Center’s Unit 1 in Clinton, Ill. and Dresden Clean Energy Center’s Units 2 and 3 near Morris, Ill., according to NRC’s Tuesday press release. Clinton Unit 1’s boiling water reactor license […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), who used his post on the House Appropriations Committee to push for remediation of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, said Wednesday he will not stand for re-election. Newhouse, who also holds the unofficial status as perhaps one of President Donald Trump’s least favorite House members, made the announcement on his […]

Urenco USA has completed its first production of low enriched uranium plus (LEU-plus) and installed its third cascade of centrifuges for the advanced fuel at its New Mexico uranium enrichment plant, the company said this week.  “In 2025, we have delivered on our plans to launch a new advanced fuels capability and to install new […]

The Senate Wednesday, in a 77-20 vote, passed the $901 billion 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would allow nearly $26 billion in funding to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The bill now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk, where he has indicated he plans to sign it into law. The annual NDAA, […]

Geosyntec, a global environmental engineering and consulting company, said Wednesday morning it has signed a deal to buy Las Vegas-based Department of Energy subcontractor Longenecker & Associates (L&A) for an undisclosed amount. “This strategic acquisition accelerates Geosyntec’s growth in the federal sector, broadens service capabilities, and expands global market access for the combined organizations,” Florida-based […]

A longtime Amentum executive, Jim Blankenhorn has been selected as the new president and chief executive officer of United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), the environmental prime at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. Blankenhorn assumes the top job at UCOR effective April 1, 2026. UCOR said in a Dec. 16 press release […]

Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) have introduced legislation this week to formally establish the Office of Fusion at the Department of Energy. House Fusion Energy Caucus co-chairs Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) introduced a companion bill in the House this week as well. The bill looks […]

Crews at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site recently finished drilling two new groundwater monitoring wells and making a third one deeper, DOE’s nuclear cleanup office said Tuesday. Data from the new wells on Pahute Mesa should improve groundwater monitoring at the longtime nuclear testing site, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said in […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed the last production unit of the W88 Alteration 370, a program to modernize the W88 nuclear warhead over several years, NNSA announced Tuesday. The W88 nuclear warhead entered the stockpile in late 1988 and is deployed in the U.S. Navy’s Ohio-class Trident II D5 Submarine-Launched […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 25 shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste in November. Through the first 11 months of the calendar year 2025, WIPP has received 408 shipments. That is down from 441 in the same period last year.  The 25 shipments last month is less than […]

Natura Resources has signed an agreement to collaborate with the Department of Energy under the DOE reactor pilot program, Natura said this week. The goal of the DOE program is to have at least three demonstration reactors reach criticality by July 4, 2026. Natura is one of 10 companies selected for the program. It is […]

The Navy accepted delivery of the future Virginia-class USS Idaho (SSN-799) from General Dynamics (GD) Electric Boat on Monday, marking the second attack submarine delivery of the year. The boat will now undergo a set of tests and trials before being commissioned into active service, expected in the spring of 2026. SSN-799 is the 26th […]

The license extension request for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant recently received key approval from a California state agency. On Dec. 11, the California Coastal Commission voted 9-to-3 to allow Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) Diablo Canyon permission to continue running through 2030. Along with the approval, PG&E must take substantial measures mitigating the plant’s […]

EnergySolutions and another Utah-based company, Creekstone Energy, have teamed up to explore nuclear power options for data centers, the companies said last week. Creekstone and EnergySolutions said in a Dec. 11 press release they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore advanced nuclear options at the Utah Creekstone Gigasite in Delta, Utah and […]

The BWX Technologies-led joint venture in charge of liquid waste cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is seeking subcontractors to solidify much of the less-radioactive waste into a concrete-like grout.  In a Dec. 9 solicitation, Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure LLC (H2C) sought proposals for grouting and disposal of […]

The conferenced fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) turns back a proposal by the Senate to accelerate the U.S. Air Force AGM-181 Long Range Standoff (LRSO) nuclear cruise missile under development by RTX’s Raytheon. The Senate bill recommended $756 million for LRSO – $149 million more than requested by the Air Force – including […]

Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, a naval technical agent, was awarded a $453.9 million contract modification to fund engineering support on the Trident D5 missile guidance subsystem, the Pentagon announced last week. The cost-plus-fixed-fee modification applies to a previously announced and awarded Navy contract to continue engineering and support services for the submarine-launched ballistic missile system. […]

A recent report by the United Coalition for Advanced Nuclear Power (UCAN Power) says America’s commercial power industry will benefit from the Pentagon’s growing role in nuclear technology. The report drafted in November outlines “34 tangible recommendations” that the Department of Defense (DoD), or as the White House calls it the Department of War (DOW), […]