Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing
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Defense Low-Level Waste
EnergySolutions secures U.S. Department of Navy waste management contracts
EnergySolutions announced in a Tuesday press release it was awarded two government contracts that assist in nuclear waste management across prominent Naval sites in the United States. The Utah-based nuclear company was awarded new U.S. Navy Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts that support waste management operations across numerous Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program sites. IDIQ […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
BWXT acquires land for domestic uranium enrichment, NNSA signals intent for sole-source
BWX Technologies announced Tuesday it acquired 97 acres of land in Oak Ridge, Tenn. with the goal of rebuilding domestic uranium enrichment capabilities by manufacturing centrifuges. According to the emailed press release, the land acquisition would support DOE and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) deployment of Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment (DUECE) technology. […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
DIU selects eight possible companies for advanced microreactor program
The Defense Innovation Unit announced April 10 next steps in its Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program to deploy microreactor nuclear systems for power reliability at select military locations. The companies selected are: Antares Nuclear BWXT Advanced Technologies General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems Kairos Power Oklo Radiant Industries Incorporated Westinghouse Government Services X-energy These companies are […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP Records First Waste Shipments Since Annual Outage
The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) recorded 13 shipments in March, following an annual maintenance outage that kept it offline since January. The 13 shipments are the first since the facility accepted 29 shipments in December, and a scaledown from March 2024 when WIPP received 23 shipments, according to the site’s receipt […]
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
New SSBN 12-18 months late but trying to recover partial time, Navy tells lawmakers
A Navy official told a panel of senators last week that the lead Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine is currently running 12 to 18 months late, but they are trying to recover some of that delay time. In a written statement for the Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee hearing April 8, program executive officers for the […]
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
Trump administration support for Nuclear Triad may lead to Sentinel reprieve
The Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile may get a reprieve from President Donald Trump’s executive order as DoD re-baselined the program last year after a six-month Nunn-McCurdy review. President Donald Trump’s April 9 executive order, Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base, speaks of cancellations of Major Defense […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Two nuclear companies partner up to explore new nuclear fuel cycles
Orano USA and Curio announced on April 9 to have agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to partner up to create a new pathway in advanced nuclear fuel management. Orano USA, based in Maryland, and Curio, based in Washington D.C., both specialize in nuclear technology centered around nuclear waste management. Through the MOU, Orano […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
States, companies claim NRC rules stifle advanced reactor growth
A coalition of five states and three private nuclear companies filed a lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on April 7 in a federal district court in Texas. Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Utah joined with advanced nuclear companies Deep Fission, Valar Atomics and Last Energy in arguing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has inhibited […]
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Budget & Policy
Delaware lawmakers explore nuclear task force with new bill
Delaware lawmakers have proposed new legislation to establish a task force that will study nuclear energy and possible small modular reactor deployment in the state. In the bill, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 18, the task force will be tasked with multiple roles such as to assess the logistics of deploying SMRs in Delaware, to assess […]
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Life Extension Programs
B61-13 ‘significantly ahead of schedule,’ NNSA tells Fox News
The National Nuclear Security Administration will complete the First Production Unit of the B61-13 this fiscal year, according to Fox News April 9. With production complete in December for the B61-12 life extension program, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has now transitioned to producing the B61-13 gravity bomb, a new, higher-yield variant of the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Coming up:
Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: 16: Meeting: The Energy Technology and Environmental Business Association kicks off a two-day meeting on New Mexico Federal Business Opportunities starting at 8 a.m. Mountain Time at the Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort in Santa Fe. 22: Conference: Energy Communities Alliance holds new […]
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- Roger Jarrell to head up DOE nuclear cleanup office
- DOE to supply HALEU to five nuclear companies
- HASC Chair says ‘accelerate AUKUS’ to deter China, North Korea
- U.S. issues new sanctions on Iran on nuclear program
- Duke seeks license renewal for Robinson Plant
- Senate Energy votes to confirm Danly
- Supreme Court blocks district judge injunction for probationary employees
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
Duke seeks license renewal for Robinson Plant
Duke Energy has filed an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a second license renewal for its Robinson Nuclear Plant in Hartville, S.C., the company said this week. Robinson Nuclear Plant began operating in 1971 and has one unit, a pressurized-water reactor, that generates 759 megawatts. It is also the first commercial nuclear plant […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
DOE to supply HALEU to five nuclear companies
The Department of Energy has conditionally agreed to provide five companies with high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for advanced nuclear projects. The five companies awarded are: Kairos Power based in California; Radiant Industries based in California; TerraPower based in Washington; TRISO-X, a Tennessee-based nuclear fuel subsidiary of X-Energy; and, Westinghouse Electric based in Pennsylvania. HALEU is […]
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Non-Proliferation
U.S. issues new sanctions on Iran on nuclear program
The United States on Wednesday sanctioned five entities and one individual that it says support entities overseeing Iran’s nuclear program, the State Department said in a press release. The entities sanctioned include the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and its subordinate Iran Centrifuge Technology Company as part of President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Roger Jarrell to head up DOE nuclear cleanup office
Roger Jarrell, a senior adviser at the Department of Energy, was appointed Wednesday to serve as DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary for Environmental Management. Jarrell’s appointment to the position, sometimes referred to as EM-2, means he will lead the DOE Office of Environmental Management until whatever point an assistant secretary for Environmental Management (EM-1) is […]
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Budget & Policy
Senate Energy votes to confirm Danly
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 13 to 7 Wednesday to advance the nomination of James Danly to be deputy secretary of energy. The Danly nomination to be the No. 2 official in the Department of Energy can now go to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. No date for such a […]
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International
HASC Chair says ‘accelerate AUKUS’ to deter China, North Korea
In opening remarks at a hearing Wednesday on military posture in the Indo-Pacific region, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said to “accelerate AUKUS” to strengthen deterrence against China and North Korea. “China now has the world’s largest Navy—and a shipbuilding capacity over 200 times greater than our own,” Rogers, chair of the House Armed Services Committee, […]
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Budget & Policy
Supreme Court blocks district judge injunction for probationary employees
In a Tuesday emergency order, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a preliminary injunction by a U.S. District Judge in California ordering federal agencies including the Department of Energy to rehire 16,000 probationary employees. The March 13, preliminary injunction entered by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California is stayed pending the […]
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- NNSA nominee Williams promises to stand up for workforce
- Real money: Administration planning $1 trillion defense budget request
- Senate Energy to vote on No. 2 DOE exec, more
- Draft RFPs for Portsmouth, Paducah could be out in July
- WIPP annual outage winds down, waste disposal resumes
- Indiana plans nuclear retreat this summer
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Budget & Policy
Real money: Administration planning $1 trillion defense budget request
President Donald Trump said Monday his administration’s forthcoming defense budget proposal will have a topline of around $1 trillion, a record first for the Pentagon. “$1 trillion and nobody’s seen anything like it,” Trump said in remarks from the Oval Office. In an email to investors, a TD Cowen analyst noted that while the majority […]
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Budget & Policy
Senate Energy to vote on No. 2 DOE exec, more
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday morning on the nomination of James Danly to be deputy secretary of energy. Danly, nominated by President Donald Trump on Jan. 22 to be the second-ranking person at the Department of Energy, told the committee last week if confirmed he would try to […]
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Budget & Policy
Indiana plans nuclear retreat this summer
With Indiana looking to encourage nuclear power projects, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) announced Monday the state of Indiana will host an informational retreat on the issue. The retreat is sponsored by the Department of Energy and National Governors Association and will be held this summer. No specific date has been set. The goals of […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP annual outage winds down, waste disposal resumes
The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., is winding down its maintenance outage to the point it has resumed disposal of defense-related transuranic waste. DOE and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) prime, Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, began the outage for refurbishment in January. The weeks-long outage, conducted for repair and […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA nominee Williams promises to stand up for workforce
WASHINGTON – Former Rep. Brandon Williams, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the National Nuclear Security Administration, told a Senate panel Tuesday he would “speak up” for the “men and women” that work for the agency. “If confirmed, I commit to you that I will stand up for the men and women of NNSA [National […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Draft RFPs for Portsmouth, Paducah could be out in July
The Department of Energy could issue draft solicitations for key contracts at the Paducah Site in Kentucky and the Portsmouth Site in Ohio as soon as July, according to a recent notice. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said last month draft requests for proposals (RFPs) could come as early as July for Paducah environmental […]
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- Amid layoff anxiety, signup deadline looms for voluntary DOE exits
- Deep Fission, Deep Isolation sign disposal technology MOU
- Russia announces ZNPP restart plans despite Ukraine position
- House Armed Services to hear from STRATCOM on Strategic Forces Posture
- Texas lawmakers push for advanced nuclear deployment
- Public weapons complex companies hit by stock market decline
- Leidos, MITRE making layoffs in Virginia
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Contracts & Procurement
Public weapons complex companies hit by stock market decline
Several key publicly-traded companies serving the Department of Energy’s weapons complex have seen their share prices decline over the past week. The stock market has been in a nosedive over much of the past week after President Donald Trump announced aggressive tariffs on goods from other nations. Below is a brief look at where key […]












