Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – As the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) undergoes something of an identity shift, it is embracing artificial intelligence (AI) data centers on remediated land at federal nuclear sites. Robert Seifert, DOE’s EM director of infrastructure disposition and regulatory policy, told the audience at the Energy Technology and Environmental Business […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) federal workforce fell nearly 12% as the agency’s workload reached its highest level since the Cold War, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. NNSA’s federal workforce declined by 236 employees, from 1,991 in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 to 1,755 in the second quarter of […]

A slew of companies engaged in nuclear cleanup and related operations around the Department of Energy sites have earnings calls set in the coming days. Here is a rundown:E 02: Earnings call: BWX Technologies will hold its quarterly earnings call starting at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.  03: Earnings call: Leidos will hold its quarterly earnings […]

A little more than a year after Tim Walsh became the Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) the $8-billion office has reached key milestones in both nuclear cleanup and laying groundwork for future nuclear power, DOE said last week. Walsh was confirmed by the Senate on Oct. 7, 2025, the DOE Environmental […]

While it missed the start of the 2027 fiscal year, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is still working on appointing a new slate of members to the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB) for the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. “The membership package for DOE’s Hanford Advisory Board continues to make its way through […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –  With one year under his belt as Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM), Tim Walsh remains bullish about tapping remediated land at government nuclear installations for redevelopment. Walsh, joined by the principal deputy assistant secretary, or EM-2, Joel Bradburne, kicked off the Energy Technology and Environmental Business Association’s (ETEBA) […]

KNOXVILLE, TENN. — The Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) Tim Walsh said here Wednesday the nuclear cleanup branch is drawing closer to a deal with New Mexico over state permit modifications for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. “So, we completed our mediation and it’s just with our […]

Three large Lithium-Ion batteries from the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), near Carlsbad, N.M., are being shipped to Pittsburgh where government researchers will study potential mine-fire risks. DOE and WIPP prime Salado Isolation Mining Contractors have reached an Inter-Agency Agreement with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The batteries […]

An evening fire that led the Department of Energy to declare an emergency at the Savannah River National Laboratory near Aiken, S.C., was extinguished and the emergency alert lifted shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday, DOE said The emergency alert was terminated at 9;45 p.m,, DOE said Wednesday night. There were no detectable levels of contamination, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has set a $23.5 billion performance baseline for the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility’s (SRPPF) main processing building, with completion now estimated for December 2038, the agency told Exchange Monitor Monday. The estimate covers the main processing building at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, where NNSA plans […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced last week that after three decades of work, most radioactive soil cleanup at a Superfund site 12 miles west of New York City has been completed. A ceremony was held Oct. 5 to mark major soil cleanup of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) site in […]

Westinghouse plans to put $1 billion into building an advanced nuclear fuel factory at its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, the company said in a Wednesday press release.  Westinghouse said the proposed fuel factory will produce low enriched uranium plus (LEU+) fuel to support its AP1000 reactor fleet. The company hopes to have […]

AIKEN, S.C. – The Department of Energy wants to see eight large-scale nuclear reactors operating in South Carolina by 2036, and an advanced small modular reactor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in the foreseeable future, Tim Walsh, DOE’s Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management, said here Thursday.  Nationwide, Walsh wants to see 10 big new […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending Congress consider clarifying the roles of the Department of Energy and its regulators when remediated lands from Cold War and Manhattan Project sites are transferred to local communities. In a report released this month, GAO also urged DOE to “direct cleanup sites to evaluate cleanup costs and schedule […]

The Department of Energy’s disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste narrowly avoided two accidents in August, according to a September staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). There were two separate “near miss” episodes, one on Aug. 3 and one on Aug. 6, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), according to […]

Years after the Department of Energy canceled the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina, a company based in France is making ambitious plans for MOX at the nuclear complex. The original multi-billion-dollar MOX project, meant to convert weapons grade plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel that could be […]

Centrus Energy acquired one of its manufacturing suppliers, Westernman Holdings, in a transaction for nearly $116 million, Centrus said Monday. The near-$116 million acquisition was made up of a combination of $95 million cash that was on hand and $21 million of equity, Centrus said in its press release. Additionally, Westernman and all its business […]

The Washington state Department of Ecology is extending the public comment period on the sitewide Dangerous Waste Permit for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site until Jan. 15, 2027, the state announced this week. The prior comment deadline was Oct. 27. The draft renewal document is known as Revision 9A. The last big revision occurred […]

With less than three weeks to go before the Nov. 3 general election, here is a look at some of the key House of Representatives and Senate races around Department of Energy nuclear cleanup sites. The sites and races are listed alphabetically.  Energy Technology Engineering Center in California: Rep. Brad Sherman (D) is running for […]

Exchange Monitor is modernizing its web footprint and rebranding some newsletters to better reflect the markets we serve and the beats we cover. ExchangeMonitor.com is still the online home for the news and analysis you have come to rely upon over the years. Only now it has a dramatically better search ability and functionality. Exchange […]

The Department of Energy Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., has now converted 250,000 gallons of less radioactive tank waste into solid glass form. In September, over 39,000 gallons were vitrified into glass form at the WTP’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Facility, Bechtel National, which built the plant, […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch said Tuesday it has now reduced its inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) cylinders at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio by 20%. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management announced Tuesday its AtkinsRéalis-led contractor Mission Conversion Services Alliance (MCSA) has converted DUF6 from 4,500 cylinders at Portsmouth, into a safe […]

Seattle-based Avalanche Energy Designs, a fusion energy developer, signed an agreement last week with the Tri-City Development Council to cooperate on building a plant capable of manufacturing fusion power devices in Richland, Wash.  Richland is nestled next to the Department of Energy’s sprawling Hanford Site.  A big hurdle with fusion is that the power produced […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 53 shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste in September, marking its highest total since April and putting a strong end to a challenging fiscal year.  The September total is significantly more than the 29 shipments of TRU waste sent in August, and the […]

With dignitaries such as U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) on hand, Amentum Thursday formally opened what it calls its Global Nuclear headquarters in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The offices at 151 Lafayette Drive will house more than 150 staff and serve as a hub for Amentum’s international nuclear operations as well as providing the company a […]