Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

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 […]

North and South Dakota Sens. John Hoeven (R) and Mike Rounds (R), respectively, said the Northrop Grumman future intercontinental ballistic missile Sentinel will be under the Golden Dome project in upcoming defense bills. “The project itself, it will be a part of an Iron Dome project, or a Golden Dome Project,” Rounds told the Exchange […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) issued a request for information from “innovators” in artificial intelligence (AI) with aims to integrate AI into the agency’s critical operations, NNSA announced Monday. The request for information (RFI), entitled “Transformational AI Capabilities for National Security,” was released one week after President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order on […]

Emily Burdick, a former Congressional staffer who also held jobs at the Department of Energy during the first Donald Trump administration, has become the new chief of staff to the acting undersecretary of energy, Alex Fitzsimmons. Burdick said this past week on her LinkedIn page that she accepted the new post in October. She worked […]

The bow section of the first Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine arrived at General Dynamics’ Electric Boat South Yard assembly building in Groton, Conn. last week, where it will undergo final assembly. With this delivery, all of the major modules for the future USS District of Columbia (SSBN-826) are now at Electric Boat’s facility. The bow […]

A group that includes Deep Atomic and Parker Tide said this week it has submitted a proposal to the Department of Energy for a fully integrated nuclear-powered artificial intelligence (AI) data center at its Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Deep Atomic, the Austin-Texas-based small modular reactor (SMR) startup, proposes to initially start data center operations using […]

BWX Technologies has expanded its service offerings at Bulgaria’s New Build Kozloduy Nuclear Plant to help build units 7 and 8, the Virginia-based company said this week.  BWXT will provide owner’s engineer services at the Bulgarian plant as a part of a three-party consortium. The other parties are Laurentis Energy Partners and its subsidiary Canadian […]

In an email sent out to agency employees, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) head Brandon Williams warned of the consequences of disseminating classified or sensitive information. “It saddens me that this message is necessary,” Williams opened his Nov. 22 email viewed by Exchange Monitor, “but past actions by NNSA-affiliated personnel have undermined national leadership’s confidence […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has provided more information on land available for lease at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina for development of a data center powered by a small modular reactor (SMR). The online procurement notice published Monday in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) now lists 5 […]

EnergySolutions and the Omaha Public Power District have recently completed the demolition of the containment building at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station in Nebraska. In a Nov. 25 LinkedIn post, EnergySolutions congratulated its Fort Calhoun decommissioning team for dismantling the plant’s containment building ahead of schedule.  In a Monday emailed statement to Exchange Monitor, […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently launched a pilot school focused on regulating the emerging technology for small modular reactors (SMRs). In a Nov. 28 publication, IAEA said experts from 17 countries came together in Warsaw, Poland for the pilot session hosted by Poland’s National Atomic Energy Agency. During the event, attendees discussed SMR […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) approved Critical Decision-4, or the completion of the final stage of construction, for the Process Support Facilities subproject for the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at Y-12 National Security Complex. “With the completion of the Process Support Facilities [PSF] at UPF, the team is one step closer to delivering this […]

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 […]