Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

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 […]

The United States will “take no shortcuts on safety” when it comes to accelerated deployment of new U.S. nuclear technology, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday at the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria. “We want the world to know that when you engage in civil nuclear cooperation with the […]

Crews at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state have relocated 430,000 gallons of liquid radioactive and chemical waste from an old single-shell underground tank into a newer double-shell one, DOE said Tuesday. BWX Technologies-led contractor Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) oversaw the transfer to a newer double-shell tank from Single-Shell […]

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) filed cloture Monday on 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominations “en bloc,” meaning in a large batch, to include nominees involved in the nuclear weapon’s complex. The Senate adopted the resolution Monday 51-44 to restore en bloc consideration of nominees at a sub-cabinet level. The Senate schedule said cloture […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) prime at the Savannah River Site is seeking to speed construction on the plutonium pits facility in South Carolina. Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) said in a Monday press release it is working with its partners to accelerate the major NNSA project. The release said crews are opening […]

Nuclear energy deals are expected this week between the United States and the United Kingdom during President Donald Trump’s visit to the UK that could stimulate a “golden age” of nuclear power, the countries said.  Trump departed Tuesday morning for the UK, according to the official White House schedule. The agreements between the UK and […]

With being on the verge of restarting, Holtec’s Palisades nuclear plant has been awarded its sixth reimbursement loan by the Department of Energy worth $155.9 million. The sixth loan portion comes a month after the fifth loan guarantee was distributed, which was worth $83.2 million. DOE has now issued $491 million to the Palisades plant […]

The House of Representatives fiscal 2026 national defense authorization bill, passed last week, would require the U.S. Air Force to submit to lawmakers a plan to sustain aging components on Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. The annual plan would need to be submitted on LGM-35A Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) by Boeing until the […]

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) is the latest official from her state to urge Secretary of Energy Chris Wright to stick with an Oct. 15 target for starting to convert radioactive sludge at the Hanford Site in a stable glass form. In a Senate floor statement on Friday Sept. 12 should not be “walking back” the […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) will actively monitor Los Alamos National Laboratory’s controlled capture of tritium that was scheduled to start Saturday, Sept. 13. NMED has “strict safeguards and oversight in place to ensure public safety,” the state agency said Sept. 12. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is venting and capturing tritium from […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 55 waste shipments in August.  That’s slightly more than the 50 shipments sent to the facility in August 2024, and the 48 WIPP received in July. The figures are according to DOE’s public website for the underground salt mine disposal site.  Of […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has selected John Tappert as director of its Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. Tappert, who has been serving as the acting office director and previously as the office’s deputy director, was promoted to this role effective Sept. 7, according to a NRC’s Sept. 10 press release.  Tappert has been the acting […]

TerraPower and KBR have agreed to cooperate in seeking potential deployment of an advanced nuclear reactor in the United Kingdom. The two companies will jointly perform studies and evaluate potential sites for development of TerraPower’s Natrium reactor and energy storage system, according to TerraPower’s Monday press release. A Natrium reactor is a 345-megawatt sodium fast […]

The Air Force inventory of silos able to launch Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) is in no immediate danger of dropping below the threshold of 400 established by Congress in the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. This information comes as the Air Force transitions from the 1970s-era Boeing LGM-30G Minuteman III to the […]

Holtec International, EDF UK and Tritax Management have agreed to collaborate to deploy a data center and small modular reactor at a retired coal site in Nottinghamshire, England. According to a joint press release, the three companies intend to formalize their collaboration through a memorandum of understanding. The three companies intend to develop a one […]