Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing
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Budget & Policy
Former Rep. Mia Love dies at 49
Former Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah), the first black Republican Congresswoman, died at age 49 on Sunday following a battle with brain cancer. Love, who represented the 4th Congressional district of Utah from 2015-2019, passed away on Sunday in Saratoga Springs, Utah, according to her X account where her family announced it. Love served as a […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
This Week
24: Earnings call: Oklo reports on financial results in an earnings call with analysts scheduled for 2 p.m. Pacific Time, 5 p.m. Eastern Time. 26: A federal court hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. ET in Baltimore on a potential preliminary injunction request that could put restrictions on future mass reductions in force at the […]
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Budget & Policy
Claims office for sick DOE nuclear workers targeted by DOGE
The lease for a Department of Labor office set up in Richland, Wash., to handle claims from workers made ill from nuclear weapons-related work at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, could be on the chopping block, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said last week. In addition to the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, the White […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Oklo inks INL agreement on plans for first commercial powerhouse
Oklo Inc. has lined up a key agreement with the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory to assist the company’s plans to build its first advanced nuclear plant at the site. The agreement ensures that Oklo, an advanced nuclear technology company based in California, will commit to follow the “strict environmental guidelines” throughout the various […]
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International
Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant highlighted in Ukraine peace talks
President Donald Trump has his eyes on the coveted Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant as part of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an Oslo press conference Thursday. The two leaders have been discussing a limited ceasefire for the past week focused on energy infrastructure, after Russian president Vladimir Putin […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Ian Bennitt to lead Trump’s new shipbuilding office, lawmaker says
Ian Bennitt, a special assistant to President Donald Trump and senior director for White House shipbuilding and maritime initiatives, is leading the administration’s new Office of Shipbuilding, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) said this week. Wittman, vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters, including Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily, following remarks at this […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
Nuclear board urges waste repository, does not say how
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) has recommended Congress and the Department of Energy (DOE) formally start planning for a permanent geologic repository for nuclear waste. The Technical Review Board said it is seeking a “workable pathway” to site, license, build and operate the facility for spent fuel and high-level waste, but is not […]
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News & Analysis
Correction:
The story “Livermore crews prepare to remove slab at Building 251” [Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, March 19, 2025] should have said that the University of California System is a member of the Lawrence Livermore National Security contractor team.
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Cleanup & Remediation
Amentum appoints Parr international development VP
CHANTILLY, VA – Amentum has announced Corhyn Parr as its vice president of international development on Tuesday. Parr previously served as the CEO of Nuclear Waste Services, a subdivision of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and was the director of Integrated Waste at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. “I am thrilled to join Amentum at […]
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National Laboratories
Santa Fe commissioners leery of LANL expansion into Northern New Mexico
In response to a recent environmental report, Santa Fe County commissioners reportedly plan to raise concerns about impacts of a potential expansion of the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory on regional resources. According to an article last week in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, the county commissioners are preparing to respond to […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
GAO focuses on mitigating NNSA explosives supply chain risk
The Government Accountability Office last week said the National Nuclear Security Administration could do more to develop a resiliency strategy to mitigate risks to its explosives supply chain, manufacturing and infrastructure. According to a report published March 12, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found 66 total risks, identified by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), […]
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Contracts & Procurement
GAO says NNSA at ‘fraud risk’ for awarding money to not-small businesses
The Government Accountability Office said last week that the National Nuclear Security Administration and six of its management and operating contractors incorrectly reported small business contracts awarded in fiscal 2018-2022. According to a report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) March 13, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awarded $1.1 billion of its $16.8 […]
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Decommissioning
Livermore crews prepare to remove slab at Building 251
Work crews at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California will soon start removing the concrete slab from the site of Building 251, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said Tuesday. Once the slab is gone, Building 251 or the Heavy Elements Facility will become available for future work by DOE and its […]
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Budget & Policy
Key weapons complex Dems slam DOGE after NNSA contractors targeted
Reps. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) criticized the Department of Government Efficiency last week, around the time DOGE began reviewing contractors to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s franchise. According to publication Semafor, which broke the story last week, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created by President Donald Trump and led by Trump […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
Updated digest covers all things NRC
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently published the 2024-2025 edition of its Information Digest. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been publishing the digest since 1989 and it now comes out every two years. The Digest includes information pertaining to the agency’s activities, responsibilities and offers general information on nuclear-based topics. In addition to NRC […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
Locals still have fingers crossed on major Hanford solar project
Local development officials in the Tri-Cities area of Washington state remain cautiously optimistic a major new solar power project envisioned for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site will happen despite a change in administrations. Officials at DOE and the Chicago-based developer, Hecate Energy, both declined comment last week. Also last week, Roger Jarrell, a DOE […]
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Recommissioning & Restarts
Holtec awarded second tranche of DOE loan money for Palisades
The Department of Energy said Monday it is awarding Holtec the second phase of a federal loan, this chunk worth nearly $57 million, to go toward reviving the closed Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan. Providing it wins the necessary Nuclear Regulatory Commission approvals, the 800-megawatt facility would effectively become the nation’s first restart of […]
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Budget & Policy
Arizona House member Grijalva dies at age 77
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) who served on the House Natural Resources Committee has died at age 77 apparently from complications from lung Cancer treatments, media outlets reported recently. “Representative Grijalva was like no other — an exceptional, unforgettable human being shaped by hardscrabble economic struggle long before he ever was elected to Congress,” Rep. Marcy […]
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Budget & Policy
Former House Appropriations chair Lowey dies at 87
Former U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), the first woman to control Congressional purse strings, died over the weekend at age 87 after a battle with breast cancer, major news outlets reported over the weekend. Lowey, a former chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, spent several terms in Congress, but decided not to seek re-election […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Lawmakers introduce bill to create shipbuilding commission
Three House members on Thursday introduced a bill that would create a new maritime industrial base commission to study and make recommendations on the U.S. maritime industry. The Save Our Shipyards (SOS) Act of 2025, would specifically “investigate the condition of the U.S. maritime industry and impediments to its growth. With a laser focus on […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
GAO recommended NNSA improve ‘decentralized’ reporting on risks to industrial base
The Government Accountability Office said in a report last week that the National Nuclear Security Administration “does not clearly communicate” its needs to Congress on risks to its industrial base. The industrial base includes the supply chain, facilities, transportation and workforce “that combine to maintain the stockpile,” the highlights of the report said. Teresa Robbins, […]
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International
Ukraine nuclear issues draw interest at Waste Management
PHOENIX — More than 100 people showed up and gave a standing ovation March 11 at the conclusion of the first of two presentations here at the Waste Management Symposia on the status of nuclear power plants in Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion. “We are talking about a sovereign nation that is a member […]
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Contracts & Procurement
EM contracts go under magnifying glass in search of DOGE savings
Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup field bosses and top brass have until Friday to review existing contracts and recommend which ones should be retained, tweaked or terminated, according to an Office of Environmental Management memo. This “review of covered contracts and grants” is implemented under President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14222, according to the March […]
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Budget & Policy
With passage of six-month funding, government stays open through Sept. 30
A bill agreeing to a continuing resolution to avert a shutdown and fund the U.S. through the end of the fiscal year, passed the Senate 54-to-46 on Friday afternoon and was signed by President Donald Trump. A measure to allow the measure to proceed to a floor vote and the final vote itself occurred […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Amentum boss lauds Oak Ridge for cleanup, bid development
PHOENIX —The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee is an example of where remediation successfully cleared the way for new nuclear and other business ventures, an Amentum executive told the Waste Management Symposia here last week. The former Oak Ridge gaseous diffusion “plant has been transformed into a clean, modernized, multi-use industrial park, […]













