Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

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), […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) hosted an Australian delegation at its Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division last week in support of the trilateral AUKUS agreement, the company announced on its website. Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime minister and minister for defence, led the delegation.  “It was fantastic to see the U.S. submarine industrial base on display […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was awarded over $28 million to modernize its technology infrastructure for emergency response, the Technology Modernization Fund said on its investment page. The Technology Modernization Fund, which provided the award, was created in 2017 to provide civilian government agencies with funding for tech modernization projects. The TMF’s authority expired […]

Facilities in Pennsylvania once used to help develop U.S. Navy nuclear propulsion systems will be torn down by the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, DOE announced last week. The Environmental Management office recently issued an Action Memorandum, drafted by RSI, for demolishing old C-Area buildings at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West […]

The Senate is expected to vote on the confirmation of Douglas Weaver to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week.  Senate Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) filed a cloture motion on the nomination of Weaver on Dec. 11. Additionally in the motion, several other nominees are to be considered, including the four Tennessee […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses for all three units at Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama.  Browns Ferry’s Unit 1 operating license will now expire in December 2053, June 2054 for Unit 2 and July 2056 for Unit 3.  “The subsequent license renewal at Browns Ferry marks a […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  January 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 meets starts at 9 a.m. Eastern Time at Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, 4345 Trolley Line Road, […]

The House Wednesday voted 312 to 112 to pass the $900.6 billion fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would authorize $25.96 billion in funding for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The annual defense policy bill, which supports an $8 billion topline boost and wide-ranging acquisition reforms, now heads to […]

South Carolina’s state-owned utility said this week it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Brookfield Asset Management to do a feasibility study for finishing two incomplete nuclear reactors at the Virgil C. Summer nuclear station. In October, Santee Cooper approved Brookfield’s proposal to complete the two partially built AP1000 reactors at V.C. Summer […]

Julie Kozeracki has been promoted to acting chief investment officer for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, which was previously known as DOE’s Loan Programs Office. The office “can do many amazing things and I’m looking forward to making more progress on my personal favorite: restarting, uprating, and building big nuclear reactors,”  […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) hosted a ceremony Tuesday to lay down the keel, or backbone, for the Virginia-class attack submarine Barb (SSN 804), the company announced in a release. The Barb is the 31st Virginia-class attack submarine and the 15th that will be delivered by NNS. “Our reason to come together […]

Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO) is receiving three additional years to manage and operate the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., DOE said early Wednesday. With the three-year extension, Salado will continue to run WIPP from Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2029, DOE said in a news release. […]

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee advanced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission nominee, Douglas Weaver, in a 15 – 4 vote at Wednesday’s business meeting. Weaver will now move forward to a full Senate vote on his nomination to be an NRC commissioner. If confirmed, he will serve the remainder of former commissioner Annie Caputo’s […]

Navarro-ATL has been awarded a one-year extension of its management and operations contract for the 222-S Laboratory at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Navarro-ATL, previously known as Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration, LLC, announced the extension Tuesday in a LinkedIn post. The original contract started in 2021. The contract includes a […]

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) has introduced legislation to expand tax incentives for domestic nuclear energy investment. The bill, Parity for Nuclear Energy Investment Act, was introduced on Dec. 4. It is co-sponsored by Reps. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.). The legislation seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the […]

Over 20 containers of low-level radioactive sludge have now been solidified into a glass form at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, feds said this week. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said in a Tuesday news release that the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) built by Bechtel National recently reached […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and Babcock International Group have agreed to a contract expanding a partnership to support construction of Virginia-class submarines through HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division. The HII press release on Tuesday said this is the first Virginia-class outsourced contract to Babcock for submarine work with NNS. However, the two entered a […]

The House and Senate’s combined National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of fiscal 2026 would authorize $160 million for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy for funding projects related to energy security. The House-Senate Conference Committee collaborated to iron out the differences between the NDAA versions. The Conference Committee version came out Sunday and […]

The protective barrier around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site can no longer confine radioactive waste due to a drone strike in February, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement Dec. 5. An IAEA team completed a safety assessment of the protective cladding, named the New Safe Confinement (NSC), at Ukraine’s Chernobyl site. […]

Finland’s nuclear regulator has received its third extension to complete the assessment of Posiva Oy’s operating license application for its spent nuclear fuel deep geological repository, Onkalo. The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority’s May to November oversight report said it expects to submit its opinion on the application by June 2026. The previous due […]

The Department of Energy is issuing $11 million in awards to five companies to develop and license new transportation packages for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). According to a Monday press release, DOE’s $11 million in awards will assist industry-led efforts to design, modify and license transportation through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The five companies […]

Holtec International has landed a Taiwan Power Co. contract to build indoor dry spent fuel storage facilities at both the Chinshan and Kuosheng plant sites, Holtec said Monday. The work at these four boiling water reactor (BWR) units bring Holtec’s global dry storage client roster to 155 worldwide, according to Holtec’s Monday press release. “This […]

Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. recently downgraded Building 9206 from nuclear facility status to radiologically contaminated, local publication The Oak Ridger said Monday. Building 9206 was constructed in 1944 and was used for processes such as uranium recovery and processing, as well as chemical recycling. The Y-12 building was shut down in […]

New Mexico environmental officials said Friday Dec. 5 remediation is getting underway at four old uranium mine and mill sites within the state under a collaborative effort called the New Mexico Mine Cleanup Initiative. With the New Mexico Legislature having provided a total of $20 million toward remediation of abandoned mine and mill sites, work […]