Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) voted against David Wright’s re-nomination to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week citing concerns that NRC is losing its independence.  Wright’s nomination passed out of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in a 10 to 9 vote on July 9.  All of the Republicans on the committee voted yes, […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office could issue a draft solicitation as early as next month for a contractor to perform landlord services at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The draft request for proposals (RFP)  for the Portsmouth Infrastructure Support Services could be issued in August, the DOE Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in […]

July: 15: Hearing: House Armed Services Committee will mark up H.R. 3838, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2025 starting at 10 a.m. The markup will be streamed online. 16: Virtual meeting: The Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board for Northern New Mexico meets online starting at 1 p.m. Mountain Time.  22: Meeting: A meeting […]

TerraPower awarded three U.S. based supplier contracts Wednesday in an effort to support its advanced nuclear project in Kemmerer, Wyo. The Bill Gates-backed advanced nuclear company based in Bellevue, Wash. said this was the fifth round of procurement awards for the Kemmerer Natrium project, according to its Wednesday press release. The suppliers that were awarded […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Timothy Walsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary of energy for environmental management, or EM-1, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Wednesday his military and business background has prepared him to lead the world’s largest nuclear cleanup. An Army veteran and company commander in the 82nd Airborne Division […]

Vistra Corp’s Perry Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 operating license has been renewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission through November 2046. The 1,268-megawatt nuclear plant in Perry, Ohio is a single-unit plant. The plant first began operation in 1986 and is currently operating under its initial 40-year license. Perry was initially planned to be a […]

The Senate on Environment and Public Works Committee voted 10 to 9 along party lines Wednesday to advance the re-nomination of David Wright to be a commissioner on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. With the slim passing of Wright’s re-nomination, he will be due to go to the full Senate for a confirmation vote at a […]

President Donald Trump signed into law last week the massive reconciliation bill that would appropriate millions in extra funds to the National Nuclear Security Administration. The funds, part of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that includes $150 billion for defense purposes, would be available in fiscal 2025 through the end of fiscal 2029. The National […]

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday said the White House can go ahead with plans for major layoffs and restructuring of the federal government while legal challenges play out, according to media reports. The Washington Post  and other media outlets reported Tuesday afternoon that the high court elected not to block planning for mass layoffs at […]

Several nuclear and energy groups urged Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Tuesday to undertake federal action to address the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle in the United States. The Nuclear Energy Institute, Energy Communities Alliance, Nuclear Industry Council, American Nuclear Society, Decommissioning Plant Coalition, Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, National Association of Regulatory Utility […]

The Bonneville Power Administration, a regional authority for the Department of Energy, and DOE’s Office of Environmental Management have flipped the switch on a major new 18-mile electric transmission line at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The new 230-kilovolt transmission line connects two substations at the nuclear cleanup site and replaces an 80-year-old line, […]

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) signed two bills into law last week designed to further nuclear research and deployment in the state. Senate Bill 124, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 11, will create a board to advance in-state nuclear power and fusion technology and host a Wisconsin nuclear summit. Senate Bill 125, now 2025 Wisconsin Act […]

Montreal-based AtkinsRéalis said recently Chief Operating Office Philip Hoare is leaving the company this summer to pursue other opportunities and his exit leads to the return of a former AtkinsRéalis executive. On Aug. 23, Louis Véronneau will return to AtkinsRéalis and succeed Hoare as chief operating officer, the company announced in a June 17 press […]

Several publicly-traded companies doing business within the Department of Energy weapons complex are scheduled to report earnings in the coming weeks. Here is a rundown of currently scheduled earnings releases and conference calls.  Fluor, Irving, Texas, is scheduled to report its financial performance for the quarter ending June 30 on Aug. 1. Fluor will webcast […]

U.S. Navy shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and enterprise AI application software company C3.ai, Inc. have expanded their partnership aimed at accelerating shipbuilding throughput. In a June 30 announcement, the companies said the new agreement expands their preexisting partnership to now integrate artificial intelligence (AI) solutions across shipbuilding operations like planning, operations, supply chain, labor […]

The Virginia Department of Energy this week announced plans to explore deployment of an advanced nuclear reactor in southwest Virginia, which is the state’s traditional coal mining region.  “Southwest Virginia has powered our Commonwealth for generations, and now we have the chance to invest in that legacy with the technologies of the future,” Gov. Glenn […]

Global Laser Enrichment has submitted its full license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility in Paducah, Ky., the company said last week. The Wilmington, N.C. based company that licenses laser enrichment technology owned by Australia’s Silex Systems recently filed in its safety analysis report to complete its full license […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has asked the Department of Energy for a briefing on plans to refurbish an old shaft and hoist relied upon for emergency evacuation of underground workers at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). “Despite long-standing recognition of underlying problems, age-related degradation and technical obsolescence issues with the shafts […]

The House last Thursday voted 218-214 to pass the massive reconciliation bill with $150 billion for defense that the Pentagon has built into its fiscal year 2026 spending plans. After consideration of the tax and spending bill went through the night in the lower chamber, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed by President Trump […]

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency departed from Iran on July 4 to return to headquarters in Vienna, the agency said on website X that day. The inspectors had been in Tehran “throughout the recent military conflict,” the post said. The agency’s director general Rafael Grossi also “reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA […]

Three months after he was nominated to head the Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup office, Colorado developer Timothy Walsh will undergo a hearing this week before the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. Walsh, nominated in March to head DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, is one of four people nominated to the Department of […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has pivoted to a 19-month review schedule of TerraPower’s construction permit application for its Natrium plant in Kemmerer, Wyo. TerraPower’s Kemmerer Unit 1 project’s construction permit application review is to be completed by Dec. 31, according to the NRC July 1 letter to the company. The agency expects to have TerraPower’s […]

The House Appropriations Committee and its Energy and Water subcommittee have postponed both subcommittee and full committee markups for this week. “Due to the recently announced change in the House calendar, markups originally planned for the week of July 7th are postponed,” according to House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) said in a July […]

The Department of Energy’s underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste is still well behind its shipment rate from before a major accident in 2014, but things are gradually rebounding, according to the Government Accountability Office. “According to DOE officials, WIPP [the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.] had been receiving as many as […]

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is scheduled to vote Wednesday morning at 8:45 a.m. on the renomination of David Wright to be a commissioner on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Wright was renominated by President Donald Trump on June 16. He was previously appointed to serve on the NRC in May 2018, during […]

The Senate could vote this week on the nomination of Preston Griffith to be undersecretary of energy. The Senate is expected to vote Monday July 7 at 5:30 p.m. on whether to invoke cloture, effectively ending debating, on the Griffith nomination, clearing the way for a floor vote. Griffth’s nomination was passed out of the […]