Publications: Nuclear Energy & Radwaste Monitor

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, […]

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 […]

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. After graduating as a mechanical engineer, Parr […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

A bill agreeing to a continuing resolution to avert a shutdown and fund the U.S. government through the end of the fiscal year, passed the Senate 54-to-46 on Friday afternoon March 14  and was signed by President Donald Trump. A measure to allow the measure to proceed to a floor vote and the final vote […]

A member of the House Appropriation Committee from Tennessee and nuclear advocates took part in a think tank-sponsored webinar Thursday on the potential for developing advanced reactors in coal-heavy Appalachia.  The Atlantic Council’s Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative, which last month released a report dubbed “Atoms for Appalachia” after holding a series of workshops that explores […]

PHOENIX —— Canada is one of the first but won’t be the last nation to successfully use “consent-based siting” to select a deep underground repository location for used nuclear fuel, the CEO of Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization, said here Monday. A “decade of engagement” was key to Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) being […]

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday he intends to vote to advance a Republican-drafted stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government operating through the rest of fiscal 2025. Unless a continuing resolution was approved Friday, the government would partially shut down at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. A vote was expected Friday after the […]

Federal review of TerraPower’s advanced nuclear plant under construction in Wyoming is about two months ahead of schedule and remains on pace for completion in 2030, company officials announced at a nuclear conference on Wednesday.  TerraPower’s proposal to develop a nuclear plant in Wyoming coal country is meeting requirements outlined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission […]

A bipartisan group of four Senators last week urged Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair David Wright to prioritize streamlining the agency’s environmental reviews as called for under 2023 legislation. “We encourage the Commission to vote in a manner that fully reflects congressional intent to streamline the NRC’s licensing process, as directed in the Accelerating Deployment of […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy during President Donald Trump’s second term hasn’t focused on a Joe Biden administration effort to tap underused land at federal nuclear sites for carbon-free power, an Environmental Management official said Monday. With the administration being “new,” less than two months old, no decisions on the Cleanup to Clean Energy […]

A report the Energy Communities Alliance is rolling out this week at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix says existing Department of Energy nuclear installations and other electric power sites are increasingly being targeted for new reactors. The Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) report is titled “From the Atomic Age to New Nuclear: Energy Communities Ready […]

AtkinsRéalis has appointed Jeff Kendall as president of the company’s US nuclear business, the engineering services and nuclear company announced Wednesday. According to the company’s press release, Kendall had been with AtkinsRéalis for seven years, with his most recent position being interim president for the US business. In the seven years he also served as […]

The government of Canada announced this week it is entering into a four-year contract worth up to C$304 million with AtkinsRéalis to support the development and modernization of a new, large-scale, natural uranium–fuelled Canadian deuterium uranium (CANDU) nuclear reactor. The contract with AtkinsRéalis is meant to finance half of the design project, according to the […]

Kevin Dressman, a longtime federal manager who heads the Department of Energy’s Office of Health and Safety, said this week he has accepted a deferred resignation buyout and will leave government after more than 30 years. Dressman announced his departure Tuesday on his LinkedIn profile page. “After 33 years of federal service, I have elected […]

Whether Texas and Fasken Land and Minerals Co. waited too late to fight the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to license interim offsite private facilities for spent fuel, took up much of a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court. During the Wednesday NRC versus Texas hearing webcast from Washington, D.C., Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm Stewart argued […]

The Department of Energy issued a memo dated Thursday Feb. 27 saying telework and remote work agreements will be terminated, with exceptions, and all employees will return to in-person work. The memo, obtained by the Exchange Monitor on Feb. 28, said DOE was pursuing President Donald Trump’s executive order from his first full day in […]

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill last week with the aim of safeguarding and securing radioactive materials, and reducing the risk of bad actors developing a so-called “dirty bomb.”  The Securing our Radioactive Materials Act, would mandate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to implement recommendations on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report from September, […]

The House Financial Services Committee passed legislation Wednesday morning promoting international funding for nuclear power projects by a vote of 39 to 10.  The International Nuclear Energy Financing Act (H.R. 1474) would set up a nuclear trust fund at the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other financial entities. With dozens […]

A company called Last Energy announced Friday it hopes to build up to 30 micro-reactors on a 200-acre site in Northern Texas to help power data centers. The company, which bills itself as a technology developer for 20-megawatt reactors, said in a press release it has already applied to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas […]

Investigations, including whistleblower cases, at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Investigations increased during fiscal 2024, according to a recent report, cited this week by a Washington, D.C.,-based law firm. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) investigation office’s case inventory in fiscal 2024, ended Sept. 30, 2024, was 129, up from 119 in fiscal 2023, the […]

The Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management released a joint memo Wednesday detailing how federal agencies should develop agency reorganization plans to reduce their work force. The memo also said President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency directed agencies to draft the plans by March 13 and to […]

WASHINGTON — Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), chair of the energy and water appropriations subcommittee, told the Exchange Monitor Tuesday that he put “unique and robust funding” for nuclear power in the House budget proposal that passed that evening. “If you take a look at the energy and water bill, which I wrote for the House […]

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 […]