Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Viewers did not need to stay up late Tuesday night to hear most major national news outlets had declared that the Democratic Party had won control of both the U.S. House of Representatives as well as the Senate as that was determined by 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time.  CBS News reported early Wednesday morning that Democrats […]

Urenco USA said Monday it has produced its first cylinder of low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+) at its plant in Eunice, N.M. “Through the coordinated efforts of teams from across our site and company, we can now supply an innovative fuel option for our customers and support the next generation of nuclear fuel technologies,” Jody Blackshear, […]

Rockville, Md.-based small modular reactor developer X-energy has contracted Fluor to provide design and engineering services for its proposed SMR project in Richland, Wash. at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. Under the agreement, Fluor will work closely with X-energy to provide design development, supply chain and other project related services for the SMR project, […]

As the Democrats flip both the House and Senate in the midterm elections, the leadership of several committees will change drastically.  As of Thursday evening, the Associated Press and other national media outlets have projected the Democrats to win more than 250 seats in the House and hold at least 54 seats. The new session […]

Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the third quarter, which the engineering and construction company with extensive government contracts, attributed to strong markets for energy and infrastructure. Net earnings for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 were $158 million or $1.16 a share up from a loss of $697 million or a loss of […]

A watchdog group is pressing the Department of Energy for clarity on its remediation plans at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California, saying a proposed change in approach could delay work and leave contamination in place. Melissa Bumstead, founder of Parents Against SSFL, told Exchange Monitor that DOE is moving away from the background […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory plans to demolish roughly one-third of its primary Livermore, Calif. footprint over the next 16 years as it clears space and reduces infrastructure risk to make way for new mission capabilities. Mark Costella, transition and disposition program manager at LLNL, said at the Energy Technology and Environmental Business […]

Bethesda, Md.-based uranium broker Centrus Energy reported mixed results in its earnings for the third quarter, seeing a gain in its quarterly income, but a decrease in net revenue. Net income for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 was $31.6 million, or about $1.53 a share, up from $3.9 million, or $0.21 a share, in […]

Earnings rose at Lynchburg, Va.- based BWX Technology (BWXT) in the third quarter, which the company attributed to trends in energy security challenges requiring nuclear solutions. Net earnings for the third quarter ended were $102 million, or $1.11 a share, up from $82.2 million, or $0.89 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according to the […]

Betty Huck has taken over as manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Savannah River Field Office, overseeing more than $2.9 billion in annual contracts at the South Carolina site, according to a Nov. 2 press release. Huck succeeds Michael Mikolanis as field office manager, after Mikolanis announced in September he was moving back to […]

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 […]