Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

Greg Sosson, one of the top feds at the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office, took part this month in the ninth annual forum on decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan. The annual gathering brings together international cleanup specialists to discuss nuclear remediation and track the progress of remediation following the […]

Five companies were picked this week by the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office to receive basic ordering agreements to handle nationwide low-level and mixed low-level commercial waste treatment services. The companies announced Thursday by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management are: EnergySolutions of Salt Lake City, Utah; NAC Philotechnics Ltd. of Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Perma-Fix […]

The Reuters news service reported last week that President Donald Trump’s administration plans to tap plutonium left over from dismantled nuclear weapons to help power commercial nuclear reactors in the United States. The news service reported Trump could have the Department of Energy make 20 metric tons available for U.S. nuclear power plants. The article […]

The Department of Energy has turned to an executive with a contractor running an analysis laboratory to become the next manager of its Hanford Site in Richland, Wash. Ray Geimer, who manages Hanford’s 222-S laboratory for contractor Navarro-ATL, and will take over as the new permanent Hanford Site manager effective Sept. 7, DOE said this […]

A 2018 wildfire that burned large sections of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties did not spread large amounts of radiological contaminants beyond the Department of Energy’s portion of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California, according to a new report. DOE Radiological Assistance Program field teams took environmental samples during and after the Woolsey fire […]

The Department of Energy’s former chief of staff during President Joe Biden’s administration last week announced the formation of a new DOE alumni network. The group, which will hire an executive director, is being created following “hundreds of survey responses and many dozens of conversations” with ex-DOE feds, former DOE chief of staff Tarak Shah, […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch says it needs more time to put together a detailed response on infrastructure replacement and refurbishment at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. The current top executive at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management requested a 45-day extension to the current Oct. 16 due date in […]

Liquid waste work at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina resumed recently, following an annual maintenance outage.  While major waste treatment facilities at the 310-square-mile complex have resumed operations, some outage tasks have not yet been completed, according to DOE.  Liquid waste contractor Savannah River Mission Completion began the outage on […]

The Department of Energy said this week more than 1,000 cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) were converted into a more stable oxide form at two former gaseous diffusion plant sites during fiscal 2025. The work took place at DUF6 conversion plants located at the DOE’s Paducah Site in Kentucky and the Portsmouth Site in […]

Tim Walsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management, has taken a DOE adviser job while he awaits a Senate confirmation vote. “Mr. Walsh will begin working in the Office of Science in the coming weeks as a senior advisor,” a DOE spokesperson said by email Wednesday […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright joined several members of the South Carolina congressional delegation this week to officially open the Savannah River National Laboratory’s new offsite Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative. The national laboratory will operate the 63,000-square-foot research center although it will be located the university, DOE said in a Thursday press release. The $66-million project […]

Earnings rose at AtkinsRéalis Group Montreal, Canada in the second quarter, which the engineering company attributed to strong demand for nuclear services and an after-tax gain from the sale of its minority interest in an Ontario highway. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were (CAN) $2.3 billion (US $1.67 billion) or (CAN) […]

Earnings rose at Leidos, Reston, Va., in the second quarter, which the national security and technology company attributed to controlling expenses in a time of “uncertainty” and some new contract awards.  For this year’s second quarter, Leidos reported a net margin of 9.2% and net income of $393 million on sales of $4.25 billion, up […]

Earnings fell at Centrus Energy, based in Bethesda, Maryland, in the second quarter, which the uranium broker and enrichment technology developer attributed to a decrease in the volume of uranium sold. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $28.9 million, or $1.59 a diluted share, down from $30.6 million, or $1.89 a […]

With Congress out on recess this month, a busy September looms with authorization bills requests in both chambers to finalize by Oct. 1 and pending nominations in the Senate for the Department of Energy.  Lawmakers will return facing a looming government funding deadline at the end of September, with a continuing resolution, which has become […]

Earnings rose at Amentum, Chantilly, Va., during the past quarter, which the company attributed in part to the White House and congress prioritizing nuclear power and national defense.   Net earnings for the quarter ended June 27 were $10 million, or $0.04 a share, up from a $26 million loss, or a loss of $(0.29) a […]

Weapons Complex Monitor will not be published on Friday Aug. 15, 2025 and Friday Aug. 22, 2025, as part of the Exchange Monitor’s annual August recess.

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va. in the second quarter, which the company attributed to strong performances in government operations.  “We had exceptionally strong second quarter 2025 financial results driven by solid operational performance and pacing of work, particularly in Government Operations, which was complemented by robust bookings in both segments, leading to record […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy will brief the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board later this month on DOE management of high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel. The hybrid summer meeting, announced recently by the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB), is scheduled Wednesday Aug. 27. The all-day session kicks off at 8 […]

New Mexico is citing the Department of Energy and its prime contractor at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) with violations and giving them until Sept. 24 to deliver a plan for fixing aging assets at the disposal site for transuranic waste. An order by a branch of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) gives […]

A federal safety panel wants to know how the Department of Energy will ensure nuclear safety given reduced staffing and restructuring. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) on July 25 formally requested DOE brief it within 30 days on continuing to ensure safety at the department’s nuclear cleanup and weapons stockpile branches. “Per statute, […]

The top nuclear cleanup official at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site on Aug. 1  sought to ease public concern over radioactive wasp nests found last month at the federal complex near Aiken, S.C. “The U.S. Department of Energy is managing the discovery of four wasp nests with very low levels of radioactive contamination […]

The Department of Energy has signed a lease with a California-based nuclear startup for reuse of 100 acres of the Paducah Site in Kentucky for a new private-sector domestic uranium enrichment facility that could employ 140 people and be worth $1.5 billion.  Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said in a Tuesday press statement the project […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) on Thursday reported a drop in second quarter net earnings despite higher sales largely due to lower performance on the Virginia-class submarine program and aircraft carrier construction at the Newport News Shipbuilding segment. Net income fell 12% to $152 million, $3.86 earnings per share (EPS), from $173 million ($4.38 EPS) a […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico says a recent government watchdog report on rundown infrastructure at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) was mostly a “retrospective” on the former prime contractor. DOE Carlsbad field manager Mark Bollinger addressed a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found key […]

Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the second quarter, despite what the engineering and construction company described as hesitancy in world trade markets. Over the next 12 months, Fluor expects to pursue Department of Energy contracts for work at the Savannah River Plutonium Pits Project and to support high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) nuclear fuel […]

As if coping with South Carolina’s July heat isn’t bad enough, workers at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site recently encountered a radioactive wasp nest. On July 3, a radiological control staffer “discovered a wasp nest on a stanchion near 241-127F (adjacent to Tank 17) in a controlled area,” according to an occurrence report […]