Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

The Department of Energy said Monday it has picked Standard Nuclear of Oak Ridge, Tenn., as the first company to participate in a Donald Trump administration pilot program to develop nuclear fuel production lines to support advanced reactors. In the Aug. 4 press release, DOE said Standard Nuclear has been “conditionally selected” as the first […]

A California-based environmental group wants Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) to fight the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s recent decisions to forgo additional seismic risk evaluation at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California. Diablo Canyon is a two-unit nuclear plant based in San Obispo, Calif. and operated by Pacific Gas and Electric. The company submitted a license […]

While the Senate’s appropriations bill for the Department of Defense includes a $21.7 billion topline increase, many nuclear modernization programs in the DoD got a reduction. The Senate Appropriations Committee last Thursday voted to advance its $852.5 billion fiscal 2026 defense spending bill, approving a $21.7 billion topline increase that boosts funds for shipbuilding, munitions […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy will brief the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board later this month on DOE management of high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel. The hybrid summer meeting, announced recently by the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB), is scheduled Wednesday Aug. 27. The all-day session kicks off at 8 […]

After President Donald Trump ordered two nuclear submarines moved near Russian waters, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded with a warning in the Russian state news agency Tass Monday. Trump’s submarine repositioning was in response to former Russian president and current Russian deputy chair of the security council Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev was responding to what […]

Mark Sautman, the acting deputy technical director of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has retired after 31 years with the agency. “I was really fortunate to spend 26 of those years as a resident inspector at the Savannah River Site, Hanford and Rocky Flats,” Sautman said July 31 on his LinkedIn page.

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: August 04: BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., will report its second quarter earnings on Aug. 4. BWXT plans to hold its conference call with analysts at 5 p.m. E.T.  05: Leidos, Reston, Va., will report earnings for the quarter ended July 4 on  […]

The Air Force has not divulged how much it reprogrammed in fiscal 2024 funds from the Sentinel to modify the Qatari jet for use as a stand-in Air Force One by President Donald Trump. The Qatari gift of a Boeing 747-8i luxury airliner to the U.S. for use as Air Force One was a gift […]

After being confirmed by the Senate on July 28, David Wright was sworn in as chairman of the the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Friday afternoon. Wright’s prior term expired at the end of June.  In an Aug. 1 emailed statement to ExchangeMonitor from a NRC spokesperson, Wright said: “Earlier this afternoon, I was sworn in […]

The top nuclear cleanup official at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site Friday sought to ease public concern over radioactive wasp nests found last month at the federal complex near Aiken, S.C. “The U.S. Department of Energy is managing the discovery of four wasp nests with very low levels of radioactive contamination that have […]

A federal safety panel wants to know how the Department of Energy will ensure nuclear safety given reduced staffing and restructuring. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) on July 25 formally requested DOE brief it within 30 days on continuing to ensure safety at the department’s nuclear cleanup and weapons stockpile branches. “Per statute, […]

New Mexico is citing the Department of Energy and its prime contractor at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) with violations and giving them until Sept. 24 to deliver a plan for fixing aging assets at the disposal site for transuranic waste. An order by a branch of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) gives […]

Tennessee lawmakers recently modified certain tax laws related to nuclear facilities, including Orano USA’s multi-billion dollar uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge.  In Senate Bill 885/House Bill 1133, sponsored by state senator Shane Reeves (R) and   state representative Clark Boyd (R), expanded the definition of “certified green energy production facility” to include nuclear energy […]

As if coping with South Carolina’s July heat isn’t bad enough, workers at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site recently encountered a radioactive wasp nest. On July 3, a radiological control staffer “discovered a wasp nest on a stanchion near 241-127F (adjacent to Tank 17) in a controlled area,” according to an occurrence report […]

Sandia National Laboratories has developed a high-security mobile vault to be rapidly deployed and safeguard critical minerals in remote locations, according to a July 15 press release by the lab. The project is in response to a request by the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Stockpile Responsiveness Program, and is led by Sandia’s Transportation Safeguards […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) says demolition and disposal has been completed at the old Albuquerque Complex on the grounds of the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. The $8.4 million demolition, started in March 2024, was overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alabama District through an interagency […]

Ontario Power Generation has received approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to construct and operate the Pickering Component Storage Structure at the Pickering Waste Management Facility. The Pickering nuclear plant is located near Toronto.  The Pickering Component Storage unit is required for storage of low- intermediate-level waste that results from refurbishment of Pickering Nuclear […]

Northrop Grumman said on Tuesday that the company and the U.S. Air Force completed the first qualification test of a stage-two solid rocket motor for the LGM-35A Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The test was completed at the Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tullahoma, Tenn., and “conducted in a vacuum chamber simulating flight conditions, […]

The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Wednesday morning in an 11-to-nine vote advanced the nomination of Tim Walsh to head the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management. Ranking member Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) led the committee Democrats in voting against Walsh and two other nominees, in an identical partisan split in something […]

Earnings rose at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Knoxville, Tenn., in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, which the federal utility attributed to higher rates and sales. The net earnings of the third quarter of fiscal 2025 ended June 30 were $212 million, up from $181 million, in the third quarter of fiscal 2024. Quarterly […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last week the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General needs better cost estimates for audits of DOE’s big contractors. Four years ago, DOE’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) set up an Incurred Cost Audits Division in order to get a better handle on management and operating (M&O) contractors. […]

Australia and the United Kingdom signed a treaty July 26 with aims to deepen long-term cooperation on developing nuclear-power submarines under the AUKUS agreement, a statement by both defence ministries said. The Geelong Treaty, which Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and U.K.’s Secretary of State for Defense signed in Victoria, puts a 50-year commitment to collaborate […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said Pantex management and operating contractor PanTeXas Deterrence concluded reviewing nuclear explosive operations in one of its weapons programs, according to a July 4 report. The prime contractor at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, is a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) site, has a number of issues […]

Second-term commissioner Annie Caputo has decided to resign from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an NRC spokesperson confirmed Tuesday morning.  Caputo’s resignation announcement comes the day after David Wright was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on NRC for a new five-year term.  “It has been my honor and privilege to serve as a commissioner, […]

The U.S. Senate confirmed David Wright’s nomination to serve a new five-year term with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after a 50 – 39 vote Monday night. Nearly all Republican senators voted in support of Wright’s confirmation, Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) did not vote. All 39 votes against Wright’s confirmation […]

The full Senate voted Monday evening to limit debate on the renomination of David Wright to serve a new five-year term with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In a key procedural vote that concluded after 6 p.m. Eastern Time with an unofficial tally of 51-to-45, the Senate invoked cloture, or limited debate on the Wright nomination. […]