Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

WASHINGTON — Teresa Robbins, acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, told the Exchange Monitor Tuesday that everyone whose firing was rescinded at the agency was successfully contacted and has returned to work. Robbins spoke to the Monitor on the sidelines of a panel on Capitol Hill hosted by Washington forum Advanced Nuclear Weapons […]

The Congressional Research Service sent and updated a report to Congress Feb. 12 on the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile. “Despite the [Joe Biden] Administration’s objections, Congress has provided continued funding for the missile and the associated warhead,” the “In Focus” report said.  The fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) required the National Nuclear Security […]

The prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Pantex nuclear weapons plant near Amarillo, Texas is in the market for a subcontractor to provide three “canine detection teams” capable of sniffing out explosives, according to an online procurement notice. BWX Technologies-led PanTeXas Deterrence, the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) management contractor, posted the notice […]

Chantilly, Va.-based Parsons said recently it has bought TRS Group, an environmental remediation firm, in a cash deal valued at $36 million. Parsons, a major contractor for the Department of Energy and other agencies, announced the deal in a press release dated Feb. 4. TRS was formed in 2000 and is considered a leader in […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recently welcomed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright to the weapons complex with a summary of safety issues including waste drums and transportation. “On behalf of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), I extend our warmest congratulations and welcome you to this pivotal role,” DNFSB Acting Chair Thomas Summers […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the fourth quarter, and 2024 as a whole, which the company chalked up partly to Department of Energy contracts and rising interest in commercial nuclear power. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 were $71.1 million, or $ 0.77 a share up from $ 66.3 […]

The B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb’s life extension program has “fully transitioned into the stockpile” after its last production unit was produced in December, Sandia National Laboratories announced Monday in a press release. With production complete for the B61-12 life extension program, the gravity bomb can now enter the stockpile for “sustainment,” the press release said, […]

Jennifer Granholm, former secretary of energy for President Joe Biden, is joining the boards of directors for Edison International and its regulated electric utility, Southern California Edison, the companies said last week in a press release. Granholm, who is also a former governor of Michigan (D), will join the boards for both companies effective April […]

A plant built to solidify sodium-bearing liquid radioactive waste at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory is offline for maintenance until June, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). According to a DNFSB staff report dated Feb. 7 and recently posted on the board’s website, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) started […]

The congressional nuclear security working group, chaired by Reps. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) and Bill Foster (D-Ill.), will host a panel discussion with Bechtel and the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance Deterrence Center on the Capitol Tuesday. Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., will give the […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has advised Department of Energy employees to “please pause” on responding directly to an email from the Office of Personnel Management entitled, “What did you do last week?” “The Department of Energy is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and will conduct any review in accordance with its […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week: February 24: Earnings call: BWX Technologies will discuss quarterly financial results in a conference call with Wall Street analysts starting at 5 p.m. E.T.  27: Earnings call: NuScale Power will discuss quarterly financial results in a conference call with analysts […]

Effective this week, BWX Technologies-led Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) is taking over as the contractor in charge of about 56 million gallons of liquid radioactive and chemical waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. “H2C leads the nation’s largest and most complex radioactive waste cleanup, including closure of the […]

The Defense Department last week said it expects to cut its civilian workforce between 5-8%, adding that beginning this week it will start to lay off 5,400 probationary workers followed by a hiring freeze.  The department is “re-evaluating our probationary workforce” as it complies with President Donald Trump’s direction for a more efficient and productive […]

The Senate early on Feb. 21 voted 52-48 to pass a budget resolution that sets a blueprint for passing Trump administration priorities via the reconciliation process, to include spending $150 billion on defense over four years.  “This budget resolution directs other Senate committees to find spending cuts to fully pay for the much-needed funding for […]

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who represent the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, Friday sought details on recent terminations of personnel at DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration. The Nevada lawmakers issued a statement and letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright and acting National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator […]

Soon-to-retire Department of Energy senior executive Jim Owendoff is not worried about there being enough management talent around the nuclear cleanup complex to make up for seasoned hands departing in the near future. In a Friday afternoon telephone interview with Exchange Monitor  Owendoff confirmed he plans to leave government, after about a half-century of combined […]

Jeffrey Baran, a former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who more recently worked at the Department of Energy, has taken a deferred resignation offer from the Office of Personnel Management and is leaving the federal government. Baran joined DOE last September as deputy assistant secretary for waste and materials management at the Office of […]

U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command said Wednesday it conducted a routine reliability flight test of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile at 1 a.m. Pacific time from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. As in previous tests, the reentry vehicle traveled about 4,200 miles to the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s Ronald […]

Lynchburg, Va.-based BWX Technologies has been awarded U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program contracts, worth a total of $2.1 billion, to manufacture reactor components, the company announced Wednesday.  The BWXT Nuclear Operations Group will manufacture naval nuclear reactor components and procure materials for Columbia and Virginia-class submarines, according to the company’s press release. The lifespan of […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week dismissed a bid protest by a Bechtel-led group over a potential $2.3-billion Department of Energy contract awarded to an Atkins Nuclear Secured-led team, — but that might not be the final word, sources said. Sources told Exchange Monitor GAO’s dismissal of the protest by Bechtel-led Mission Operations Alliance […]

Earnings rose at Parsons, Chantilly, Va., in the fourth quarter and the full year of 2024, the company reported early Wednesday. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 were $54 million or $ $0.49 a share, up from $49 million, or $ $0.39a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was $1.7 billion […]

Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the fourth quarter as well as for the full year ended Dec. 31, 2024, which the company attributed Tuesday to projects ranging from data centers to Department of Energy nuclear cleanup. The numbers were also affected by the “equity method” of accounting for Fluor’s investment and “de-consolidation” from […]

John (Jay) Mullis, who heads the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management office at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, will retire at the end of March, Exchange Monitor confirmed Tuesday afternoon. Mullis is not taking a White House Office of Personnel Management deferred resignation, just a “regular federal retirement,” a DOE representative said Tuesday. The […]

An explosion early Valentine’s Day morning caused a fire overnight at the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on X. “Ukrainian firefighters have been working around the clock in freezing weather to completely extinguish small fires that still smoulder after Friday’s drone strike on the building containing […]