Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced its return to “normal operations” to contractors on a federal procurement website following the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. “Contractors are advised that DOE/NNSA contracting activities have resumed,” the notice said Nov. 13. “DOE/NNSA appreciates the patience and cooperation of our contractor community and […]

An AtkinsRéalis-led Department of Energy contractor has donated $1.5-million to help renovate the Advanced Manufacturing Center at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio. Shawnee State is designated as an “opportunity college” by the Carnegie Foundation and is Ohio’s only open-access public university, according to the school’s website.  Shawnee State is located near DOE’s Portsmouth Site […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  December 03: Confirmation hearing: Starts at 10 a.m. Eastern Time when the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee takes up the nomination of Douglas Weaver to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 09: Conference: The second South Carolina Nuclear Summit […]

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Nuclear Regulatory Commission nominee Douglas Weaver on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Eastern Time in room 562 in the Senate Dirksen Office Building. Weaver will also be joined by Tennessee Valley Authority board nominee Lee Beaman. Weaver, the fifth potential commissioner for NRC, […]

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, the California-based defense and technology company, has finished the conceptual design of a new helium gas-cooled fast reactor, the Department of Energy said last week. The advanced reactor is one of three early-stage projects supported by the department, DOE said in a Nov. 25 press release. The General Atomics company is […]

As the Air Force considers when to hold its first flight test in its Northrop Grumman-developed Sentinel missile, Lockheed Martin has received a nearly $454 million contract add-on from the Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The add-on is for the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile’s (ICBM) Mk21A re-entry vehicle. […]

Earnings rose at Amentum, Chantilly, Va., in the past quarter, which the company attributed to “tailwinds” in nuclear power and defense. This is Amentum’s first year as a publicly traded company. Net earnings for the quarter ended Oct. 3 were $3.9 billion, or $0.16 a share, up from $3.5 billion, or $0.28 a share, in […]

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published Wednesday through Friday. Your next edition of Morning Briefing will be Monday Dec. 1. 

Work crews for an Amentum-led joint venture have taken down a 37,000-square-foot office building at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The 4710 Building, as it was known, provided offices for managers and staff for the former Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), which was a test reactor used for nuclear research, DOE […]

Australia’s HMAS Sterling naval base, which will house U.S.-made Virginia-class submarines as part of the AUKUS program in 2027, will be connected to three undersea internet cables, according to Reuters. The cables, which will be developed by Google and Australian digital infrastructure company SUBCO, would reportedly connect Australia’s East and West Coast, Reuters said Nov. […]

Energy Communities Alliance will hold a virtual meeting on Dec. 4 to discuss colocating nuclear reactors with artificial intelligence data centers. The webinar, “Advancing New Nuclear with Datacenter Development”, will also explore concerns local officials must address, such as community engagement, regulatory considerations and siting. The session will discuss issues on co-locating nuclear power reactors […]

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on website X Congress would revisit a bipartisan bill that would sanction Russian imports, which could include uranium. “I am very pleased that with President Trump’s blessing, Congress will be moving on the overwhelmingly bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that will provide President Trump with more tools to end the bloodbath […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  November  25: Earnings Call: Amentum to report quarterly earnings at  8:30 AM Eastern Time. 25: Meeting: Northwest Interstate Compact On Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management meets at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time to discuss Energy’s proposal to dispose of Canadian waste in Utah.  

The Department of Energy is inviting expressions of interest (EOI) from vendors interested in providing mature technology to potentially recycle 9,700 tons of volumetrically contaminated nickel stored at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. DOE’s Portsmouth-Paducah Project office announced the nickel reuse EOI in a Friday Nov. 21 press release. This EOI comes more than two […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rescheduled its three-judge panel’s oral arguments until Dec. 8 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on challenges to Long Mott Energy’s construction permit application. The oral arguments, originally scheduled for Oct. 6, were previously postponed due to the government shutdown. NRC published a press release on Nov. 20 of the updated […]

Austal USA recently announced an agreement with Australia’s government-owned Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) to share its 3D printing and additive manufacturing technology in another move to aid Australia’s industry as the AUKUS agreement proceeds. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) specifically covers collaboration on additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and workforce development via training and upskilled in […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) on Nov. 21 announced its Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) Division has delivered the future USS Massachusetts (SSN-798) Virginia-class fast-attack submarine to the U.S. Navy.  The company noted this is the 12th Virginia-class boat NNS has delivered to the service. SSN-798 was first christened in May 2023 and is the fifth Navy […]

Cleanup crews at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio have started tearing down another of the sprawling process buildings once used in uranium enrichment work at the property. DOE announced Tuesday that demolition is underway at the mammoth X-333 Process Building. It is the second of three massive process buildings being taken […]

While much of the government was shut down, the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico stayed open and received 45 waste shipments in October based upon figures from DOE’s public website for the disposal site.  That’s a drop from the 61 shipments the plant received a month prior in September […]

The Department of Energy has approved the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for Oklo’s Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The Nuclear Safety Design Agreement, the first under DOE’s nuclear fuel line pilot program, was approved by the Idaho Operations Office in under two weeks, according to Oklo’s Nov. 11 press release. The […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended its comment period on the draft environmental impact statement for TRISO-X’s special nuclear material license application for its proposed fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Public comments on the draft environmental review were initially due by Nov. 17, but will now be due on Dec. 8, according to […]

Lightbridge said Wednesday it has begun irradiation testing of its enriched uranium-zirconium alloy fuel at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The Reston, Va.-based nuclear fuel company said in its press release that this milestone is a step forward in its fuel development and testing program under its cooperative research and development […]

The U.S. Senate voted 66 to 32 to confirm Ho Nieh to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Wednesday afternoon. Democratic Sens. Chris Coons (Del.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), John Fetterman (Penn.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Jack Reed […]

The Navy on Monday awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $2.28 billion cost-only modification covering additional advance procurement and advance construction of five more Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine hulls. The contract announcement noted this award also supports additional program execution in accordance with a Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement focused on “Obligations in Advance of […]

The Army and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) are requesting bids to provide nuclear power plant energy solutions that would be demonstrated on a military installation within the U.S. by 2030. The goal of the effort, named the Janus program, is to develop prototype Microreactor Power Plants (MPPs) to provide power to “installations and non-permanent operations” […]