Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

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 […]

Defense Environmental Cleanup, the largest tranche of funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, could receive almost $7 billion under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2026. The final version of the NDAA was released Monday after a House and Senate Conference Committee harmonized differences between the earlier NDAA versions […]

Deep Fission has selected Great Plains Industrial Park in Parsons, Kan. as the site for its underground pilot reactor. Berkeley, Calif. nuclear reactor technology company Deep Fission will hold its groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, according to its Dec. 4 press release. The company has one of 11 projects selected under the Department of Energy’s advanced reactor […]

The Senate and House combined both versions of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into a version that would authorize $25.96 billion in funding for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). That is the highest authorization limit yet for the agency in charge of maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, and […]

After clearing regulatory review, the BWX Technologies-led Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada will take over as management contractor of Canadian National Laboratories this week. AECL selected the Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada to be the preferred bidder in June. Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada is composed of BWXT, Amentum and Kinectrics. Battelle Memorial Institute is […]

The Pentagon has completed its review of the trilateral AUKUS security agreement, top department spokesperson Sean Parnell has confirmed.  While the review has yet to be released publicly, Parnell in a statement affirmed the department concluded the security pact between the U.S., Australia and United Kingdom should move “full steam ahead” consistent with President Donald […]

BWXT Technologies said last week it has delivered its first full core of modern nuclear fuel for the Project Pele mobile microreactor prototype at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel, made of uranium, carbon and oxygen within small kernels, has been delivered to Project Pele, BWXT said. BWXT […]

The Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center is seeking responses  until Dec. 18 to its request for information for technical assistance contracts at certain nuclear complex sites. According to the procurement notice posted online Nov. 26, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management is looking for a small business to provide technical assistance to field […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  December 09: Conference: The second South Carolina Nuclear Summit starts at 9 a.m. Eastern Time at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. 09: Public meeting: The DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) holds a public meeting on tritium waste containers at […]

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission will hold a hybrid meeting on Thursday and hear a report from Waste Control Specialists (WCS) President David Carlson.  Calrson will present a report on recent site operations at Andrews, Texas-based WCS. The WCS report will include status and schedule of construction of additional capacity, according to […]

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will consider the nomination of Douglas Weaver to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during a Wednesday business meeting.  The panel is expected to vote on the Weaver NRC nomination as well as the nomination of Lee Beaman to be a member of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board of […]

Deep Isolation said Wednesday it has completed a three-year-long Department of Energy-funded project that advances the company’s Universal Canister System technology for nuclear waste disposal. Deep Isolation’s Universal Canister System is a triple-purpose canister designed to ensure the safe storage, transport and permanent disposal of spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste, according to its press […]

The Department of Energy and other agencies said Wednesday nearly half of the 33,000-plus acres at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee are suitable for reuse without any additional cleanup. Research by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) “show 16,377 of the […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory recently conducted an experiment on weapons-grade plutonium to assess how resilient a nuclear weapon will prove when it comes up against an adversary’s missile defenses.  The experiment was conducted at the lab’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), where fusion ignition, or the output of more energy than was input, was first achieved […]

Two nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) launch task area agreements were awarded to Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, a division of the defense company, and Pacific Engineering. The award was announced on the National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL) contracting platform. It will be funded by the Strategic Systems Programs in partnership with NSWC Crane, a spokesperson […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright is scheduled to visit the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site as well as the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory this week. That is according to an advisory released by the DOE communications office late Tuesday. The schedule shows Wright visiting the Ice Harbor Dam in Burbank, Wash., and answering questions from […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nuclear Regulatory Commission nominee Douglas Weaver told a Senate committee Wednesday if confirmed, he will prioritize safety and preserve NRC independence. “I’m not seeking to come back to the NRC to tear down the organization that’s done so much for me,” Weaver said in response to a question from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed the final safety evaluation for TerraPower’s Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyo. NRC, which completed the evaluation a month ahead of its accelerated schedule, concluded that there are no safety concerns that would prevent issuing TerraPower its construction permit, according to its Monday press release. The company filed its construction […]

Holtec and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will each receive $400 million from the Department of Energy to support early deployments of advanced light-water small modular reactors (SMRs), DOE said Tuesday. The federal cost-shared funding will help advance early SMR projects in Tennessee and Michigan, DOE said in a press release. The financial support helps […]

After spending 40 years with the federal government, Daniel Ogg, currently executive director of U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB), will retire effective Dec. 31. Ogg has headed NWTRB for more than three years and has been with the board, as a member of its professional staff, since 2014, according to a post Tuesday […]