Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

A year after a new off-site research center opened, Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) management is planning to put robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies into motion to reduce the Department of Energy’s $500 billion environmental cleanup projection. In an interview with Exchange Monitor, SRNL Director Johney Green said the first year of operation […]

The technology company Nvidia said Monday it has reached a lease agreement for “land, power and shell” or LPS facilities for an artificial intelligence (AI) data center at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio. “Today, we are partnering with SB Energy to secure LPS capacity at the exceptional PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in […]

The Department of Energy has released the first set of revised and canceled directives under an initiative aimed at reducing burdensome processes at its national laboratories, plants and sites. DOE and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Institutional Contractor Assurance Office said Aug. 13 that the Modernizing DOE Operating Directives Initiative, formerly known as Project Velocity, revised […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office told a federal advisory committee last week that the potential annexation of several hundred acres by the city of Richland, Wash., would not slow nuclear cleanup at the former plutonium production site. “Absolutely not,” DOE Hanford Field Office Manager Ray Geimer said in response to […]

The Department of Energy and state of Washington plan a public meeting Sept. 2 on expanding cesium-removal facilities for liquid tank waste at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management kicked off a 60-day public comment period Aug. 14 on the planned Advanced Modular Pretreatment System (AMPS), which would double the […]

The Department of Energy has awarded Pacific Gas & Electric a $271 million award to help the company keep California-based Diablo Canyon Power Plant in operation, the department said last week.  The award was granted under DOE’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program, a $6 billion investment fund to support the continued operation of the existing nuclear […]

Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) is exploring the use of digital high frequency (DHF) nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) for the future Sentinel missile by Northrop Grumman. DHF would avoid electronic jamming and use of satellites and have high data rate transmission, according to an Air Force notice on its market research.  This […]

Former Department of Energy legal counsel official Seth Cohen joined Standard Nuclear’s board of directors, the company said Aug. 14 in a LinkedIn post. Cohen’s appointment comes after he left the federal government in June. When in the government, Cohen was DOE’s chief counsel for nuclear policy, a senior advisor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission […]

Fluor selected retired U.S. Navy Adm. James Caldwell to its board of directors as the engineering and construction company expands its work across nuclear energy and government markets. Caldwell, who joined the board Aug. 4, served as director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program from 2015 until his retirement from the Navy in January 2024, […]

Earnings rose at Centrus Energy, Bethesda, Md., in the second quarter, which the uranium broker and enrichment technology developer attributed to the timing and mix of nuclear fuel sales and continued progress on its uranium enrichment expansion. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were approximately $16.8 million, or about $0.85 a share, […]

A new report, commissioned by Deep Isolation, found that a growing number of Americans believe that finding a permanent disposal solution for high-level radioactive waste is a national priority.  The United States’ lack of a permanent waste repository has been a looming problem for decades. According to the 25-page report, 81% of the people surveyed […]

The BWX Technologies-led joint venture leading the liquid waste cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site awarded three subcontracts Tuesday that will handle future tank-side treated waste. EnergySolutions, PermaFix and Waste Control Specialists were the three companies selected for the subcontracts, Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) said in its press release. The […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site has submitted two permit modification requests to Washington State’s Department of Ecology that aim to speed cleanup and save funding, DOE said Monday. According to DOE’s press release, DOE contractor Bechtel National Incorporated’s request would allow tank-side treated low-activity waste from Hanford’s AP-106 to be sent to the Effluent […]

As the B-52 fleet of 75 bombers enters its seventh decade of service, most of the aircraft’s modernization efforts–worth more than $20 billion–are facing risks, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The report advises the Air Force to delay a production decision for the Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) until the program […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) on Thursday said its Newport News Shipbuilding division’s portion of the Navy’s latest multi-boat multi-year submarine contract deal is worth $25 billion. HII in a statement Wednesday evening following the government’s announcement said its portion specifically includes being the delivery yard for six of the Virginia-class submarines and constructing and delivering […]

A newly released JASON study says plutonium in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile is aging slowly and that observed degradation does not currently threaten weapons performance. The March 25 study, Plutonium Aging: Executive Summary, was conducted by JASON – a scientific advisory board for the U.S. military – at the request of Congress to assess […]

Ken Langdon has been named president and program manager of Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C), where he will lead the company’s work under the Department of Energy’s Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract. H2C is a BWX Technologies-led joint venture including Amentum and Fluor that serves as DOE’s prime contractor managing radioactive liquid waste […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has extended Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ contract to manage and operate the Savannah River Site through Sept. 30, 2027, as the agency evaluates proposals for the next contract. NNSA exercised the remaining option period on the Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ (SRNS) prime contract, an action with an estimated value […]

The Senate’s approval of a stopgap funding bill could give lawmakers time to resolve major differences over Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration fiscal 2027 budget requests, including a proposed 35% increase for nuclear weapons activities. The Senate voted 90-6 Aug. 8 to approve a continuing resolution (CR) funding the government through Dec. […]

X-energy and Centrus Energy have signed a definitive agreement for Centrus to supply low-enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for X-Energy’s advanced reactor fuel on Aug. 6. The Rockville, Md.-based advanced small modular reactor (SMR) said in a press release that the agreement would help de-risk its Xe-100 SMR projects and supply HALEU […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  August: 10: NRC Webinar: On NRC proposed changes to radiation protection rules, start at 1 p.m. E.T.  12: Meeting: The Hanford Advisory Board holds a hybrid meeting starting at 8 a.m. Pacific Time, originating from 2420 Stevens Center Place, Conference Room 153, […]

South Carolina Republicans can vote in a special primary Tuesday Aug. 11 to select the party’s nominee to fill the void created by the unexpected death of incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham last month at age 71. The winner of the Aug. 11 primary, or if necessary, Aug. 25 runoff, will be the Republican Party’s nominee […]

A Republican member of the Yakima County Commission and a Democrat who is a retired Air Force major who once worked at the Hanford Site were the top two finishers in Washington state’s open primary for the 4th congressional district. As a result, Amanda McKinney (R) and John Duresky (D) will go head-to-head in the […]

The Department of Energy said this week its nuclear cleanup branch has now removed radioactive waste from 24 of its single-shell tanks at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. It has only taken about seven months for DOE’s BWXT-led contractor, Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure (H2C), to move 79,000 gallons of waste from Single-Shell […]

California-based microreactor developer Valar Atomics raised $1 billion in a Series B financing round led by Sequoia Capital, the company said Tuesday. Additionally, the nuclear startup secured a $200 million credit facility and added Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire to its board of directors, according to Valar’s press release. Valar is developing the Ward 250, a […]

OMAHA, Neb. – Elbridge Colby, undersecretary of defense for policy, said here Wednesday the United States must pursue arms control while maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent, arguing future agreements must account for China’s rise and evolving proliferation pressures. Speaking at the U.S. Strategic Command’s (STRATCOM) annual Deterrence Symposium, Colby said the administration’s priority is preventing […]