Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Nuclear waste management in the United States is not a technical issue but a political one due to differing energy priorities from administration to administration, a panel said Monday at City College of New York in New York, N.Y. The hybrid panel for “What Now, What Next: Tackling Spent Nuclear Fuel for a Sustainable Future” […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a meeting with his security council Monday that Moscow will respect the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for one year past its expiration date. Putin said Moscow would adhere to the limits of the nuclear arms reduction treaty for one more year if the United States does […]

The prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has finished its $15-million overhaul of the so-called “salt pocket” at the Department of Energy’s underground transuranic waste disposal site in New Mexico. The DOE Office of Environmental Management and Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors began the work in January. Completion of the project means […]

Oklo held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory to mark the start of work for its first Aurora powerhouse project. “This opportunity positions us to build our first plant more quickly,” Oklo CEO and co-founder Jacob DeWitte said in a Monday press release. “We have been working with the […]

Over the past seven-plus years, the Department of Energy’s legacy waste cleanup contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has shipped more than 20,000 cubic meters of waste offsite. That figure, which reflects the period between April 30, 2018 and Aug. 31, 2025, was posted as part of a Sept. 10 slide […]

Joel Bradburne, the Department of Energy’s acting head of its $8-billion nuclear remediation branch, will help kick off the National Cleanup Workshop Wednesday in Arlington, Va. Bradburne was appointed this month to oversee DOE’s Office of Environmental Management following the forced departure of Roger Jarrell. Jarrell apparently differed with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on […]

Amentum announced plans to create 3,000 new jobs over the next four years to support the growth of the United Kingdom’s nuclear power and defense industry. The engineering solutions company’s announcement came as a part of a handful of deals between UK and U.S. nuclear companies following President Donald Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom […]

President Donald Trump’s Department of Energy nominees for undersecretary of science and general counsel were among those winning confirmation in a 51-to-47 Senate floor vote last week. Dario Gil, the White House nominee for DOE undersecretary of science, and Jonathan Brightbill, the general council nominee, were both among those winning confirmation Sept. 18. Gil had […]

The U.S. needs to revise its anti-proliferation strategy by creating new compacts with allies, pursuing diplomacy with peer adversaries and revitalizing nuclear exports, the Task Force on Nuclear Proliferation and U.S. National Security said in a report. The bipartisan task force, consisting of former senior government officials and experts on national security, published the report […]

The story “NNSA needs plan to continue ops in event of UPF delay, GAO says” [Morning Briefing, September 22, 2025] should have said the contractor at UPF estimated to safely continue operations in Building 9212 until 2035, a year after the new facility is expected to be operational, it will cost $463 million.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Every stage of the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile has been tested at this point by the Air Force and Northrop Grumman, a company executive said here Monday.  Ben Davies, corporate vice president and president of Defense Systems at Northrop Grumman made the remark during a panel discussion on modernizing the nuclear […]

Deep Fission has selected sites in Kansas, Texas and Utah as potential locations for its underground nuclear reactors. The Berkeley, Calif. based advanced nuclear technology company has signed letters of intent with partners at each location to pursue joint development projects, according to its Sept. 18 press release. Specific locations of deployment in each state […]

The Citizen Task Force for the West Valley Demonstration Project in Ashford, N.Y., meets this Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time at Ashford Town offices. The Citizen Task Force is scheduled to hear an update from BWX Technologies-led West Valley Cleanup Alliance, the new remediation contractor at West Valley. Peggy Loop, a West […]

Tritium venting is complete on two of four flanged waste containers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Sunday Sept. 21. After some glitches, work was paused Sunday prior to resuming depressurization of the third flanged tritium waste container (FTWC), NNSA said in […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: September 23: Meeting of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board starts at 9 a.m. Eastern Time at the new Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative building, located at 4345 Trolley Line Road, Aiken, SC. The meeting will be carried over youtube.    24: National Cleanup […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to work with a fusion company based in Knoxville to deploy a commercial fusion plant within a decade at an old coal-fired power plant in Tennessee.  TVA issued a letter of intent to the fusion technology Type One Energy seeking how the two entities would work together to develop a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) does not have a plan to safely continue operating in an aged uranium processing facility until the new one is ready, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said. The Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) next-generation factory for nuclear-weapons secondary stages at the Oak Ridge […]

Uncertainty over a potential government shutdown is rising after the Senate last Friday rejected a House-passed stopgap funding bill that also included spending flexibility for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons activities.  After the House earlier in the day narrowly approved a GOP-led continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open through Nov. 21 with […]

The rules Department of Energy nuclear sites follow when transporting radioactive and hazardous wastes short distances can be confusing and sometimes contradictory, DOE recently told the Defense Nuclear Facilities and Safety Board (DNFSB). “Onsite transfers can vary widely depending on the materials, distance, routes, equipment, ability, to implement controls, and natural phenomena hazards at a […]

Technology provider Parsons announced Wednesday the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awarded the company a $13 million multiple award contract for deploying systems for counter-nuclear smuggling in the Indo-Pacific. The task order calls to deliver “end-to-end” support for counter-nuclear smuggling systems in 18 countries in the region, the press release said. Support could come in […]

A new org chart from the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management makes it official – longtime DOE hand Joel Bradburne now heads the $8-billion nuclear cleanup branch. The new chart lists Bradburne, most recently manager of the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, as acting assistant secretary of Environmental Management, or EM-1. The chart dated Sept. […]

Global Laser Enrichment said this week it has completed its large-scale enrichment demonstration testing at its Test Loop facility in Wilmington, N.C. After beginning its demonstration testing in May, GLE said its SILEX laser-based uranium enrichment process is ready for commercial use, according to its Tuesday press release. “We believe the enrichment activities conducted over […]

A Congressional panel will hear from a panel of experts testifying on nuclear fusion research Thursday at 10 a.m. Eastern Time at 2318 Rayburn House Office Building. The House Science Subcommittee on Energy is scheduled to address “Igniting America’s Energy Future: The Promise and Progress of Fusion Power”. Witnesses scheduled to testify are Oak Ridge […]

The Australian government Sunday committed to providing $8 billion (U.S.) to a shipbuilder project in Western Australia with aims to maintain and build conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) under the AUKUS deal with the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The Australian government specifically called this $8 billion investment a “significant down payment” to bolster the shipbuilding […]

The Department of Energy is continuing its own brand of urban renewal at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, with plans to tear down more dilapidated, contaminated structures. In a Tuesday news release, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and its Amentum-led prime United Cleanup Oak Ridge announced plans to demolish aging infrastructure at the Oak […]

BWX Technologies (BWXT) announced Tuesday the award of a contract valued at $1.5 billion to support national defense-focused domestic uranium enrichment for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Lynchburg, Va.-based nuclear company will begin tackling the list of requirements for building the Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment (DUECE) pilot plant, the […]