Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

The Department of Energy has targeted disposal 425 shipments of transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico during fiscal 2025, and so far, there have been 151, a DOE official said Wednesday night. Mindy Toothman, the site operations and infrastructure division director for DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office, cited the numbers during […]

The Department of Energy and Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) announced late Tuesday they have agreed to a “targeted waiver” of certain aspects of a 1995 settlement agreement designed to expedite removal of old spent nuclear fuel from Idaho National Laboratory. The agreement, which was later modified in 2019, calls for removal of most spent […]

The National Academies’ Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board will discuss topics including the consequences of attacks on nuclear plants, during a two-day meeting starting May 15 in Washington, D.C. “The military threats to Ukrainian nuclear power plants as well as the Chernobyl shelter have raised renewed concerns about the vulnerability of these systems,” according to […]

With Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance having resigned from the Department of Energy, longtime federal supervisor Brian Harkins is now the highest-ranking fed at the former plutonium production complex in Washington state, a spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. Acting deputy manager Brian Harkins is currently leading the site, after Vance’s departure last week, a DOE spokesperson said […]

Greg Sosson is associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations for the DOE Office of Environmental Management. An initial version of the article: “EM senior exec Sosson lauds DOE staff amid retirements” (Weapons Complex Monitor, April 25) included an incorrect job title.

The Department of Energy has awarded a contract up to $74.8 million to a women-owned small business in Richland, Wash. to provide professional support services at the DOE’s Oak Ridge, Tenn. nuclear environmental cleanup site. The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) announced the contract with the company, Independent Strategic Management Solutions, Inc. (ISMSolutions), in […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to submit a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a small modular reactor at the Clinch River nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. by June 2025. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in an April 17 letter of notification of intent. TVA […]

Sam Altman, co-founder and chief executive officer of OpenAI, is stepping down as chairman of the board of nuclear power company Oklo, according to a company statement Wednesday. Jacob DeWitte, Oklo CEO and co-founder, will serve as chairman and board member in Altman’s place. “As Oklo explores strategic partnerships to deploy clean energy at scale, […]

A high ranking official in the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management (EM) office says leadership across DOE sites remains strong, following the departure of several agency officials departing under the federal Deferred Resignation Program (DRP). “With respect to staffing levels, certainly there’s been a number of people who chose to take the DRP program. But […]

President Donald Trump has nominated several officials to lead key Department of Energy branches serving nuclear energy and the weapons complex, and some are making progress through the confirmation process.  The nominees would report to the already confirmed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Exchange Monitor will update the nominees’ progress from time to time. James […]

The Office of Environmental Management awarded the Paducah Infrastructure Support Services contract to North Wind Dynamics in Idaho Falls, Idaho, a DOE press release from April 17 said. North Wind Dynamics will perform services such as maintenance, custodial services, property management, environmental safety and engineering for the Paducah site. The contract value is around $152.6 […]

According to an April 4 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board report, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management approved an exemption request to allow for critical decision 4 approval for the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System project at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The Environmental Management office approved the request on March 12, the report said. Critical […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Christopher Hanson, commissioner for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Monday he does not know where the future of the agency stands under the current Donald Trump administration, the executive order threatening diluting power, and the current lawsuit against the agency. “I don’t know,” Hanson said with a laugh in answer to a […]

Almost three months into the second Donald Trump administration a safety watchdog panel for Department of Energy nuclear installation still lacks a quorum. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), which is set up as a five-member panel, is down to two people and its lone Republican’s current term expires in October.  The Trump administration […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission regional administrator Laura Dudes has stepped away from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after 30 years of service. Dudes began in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 1994 as a reactor engineer intern and soon worked up to other positions such as Region I, Division of Reactor Safety inspector. In 2006, she was […]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s office of Environmental Management announced Tuesday it has completed construction of the fourth On-Site Waste Disposal Facility cell at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The fourth cell will be used to dispose of debris of uranium enrichment process buildings, Federal Project Director Jud Lilly said in the DOE press release. […]

House Democratic leaders of the Energy and Commerce committee demanded answers from Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on the effects of mass firing at DOE. The letter, released April 14, was signed by full committee ranking member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Energy subcommittee ranking member Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), and Oversight and Investigations subcommittee ranking member […]

BWX Technologies announced Tuesday it acquired 97 acres of land in Oak Ridge, Tenn. with the goal of rebuilding domestic uranium enrichment capabilities by manufacturing centrifuges. According to the emailed press release, the land acquisition would support DOE and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) deployment of Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment (DUECE) technology. […]

EnergySolutions announced in a Tuesday press release it was awarded two government contracts that assist in nuclear waste management across prominent Naval sites in the United States. The Utah-based nuclear company was awarded new U.S. Navy Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts that support waste management operations across numerous Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program sites. IDIQ […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) recorded 13 shipments in March, following an annual maintenance outage that kept it offline since January. The 13 shipments are the first since the facility accepted 29 shipments in December, and a scaledown from March 2024 when WIPP received 23 shipments, according to the site’s receipt […]

The DOE Hanford Site did not meet a technical safety requirement regarding the fissile mass of a waste box, according to a Feb. 28 report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Personnel at the site discovered the waste box with a fissile mass value exceeding the container limit in an outside storage area, according […]

In a Lifecycle report released every three years, the Department of Energy said costs to fully complete the nation’s biggest and most expensive nuclear cleanup in Washington State will be between $364 billion and $589.4 billion. The Hanford Lifecycle Scope, Schedule, and Cost Report, released April 15, also estimated that cleanup could not be complete […]

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and contractor UCOR recently finished removing legacy radioactive waste that was stored at the site for more than 50 years, according to a DOE press release. The material was used by Oak Ridge in the 1970s for experiments for scientists to understand the makeup of the atomic nucleus. […]

The city of Oak Ridge, Tenn., is studying alternative sites for a municipal airport with land cleaned up by the Department of Energy now earmarked by Orano USA for a major uranium enrichment project. Although a local airport has been long sought by the city of Oak Ridge, Exchange Monitor reported in October 2024 it […]

Two organizations serving the Department of Energy’s weapons complex will soon reduce staff levels at offices in Virginia. News of both layoffs were first reported April 4 by FFX Now, a local news service covering Fairfax County, Va. Reston, Va.-based Leidos, which has several DOE contracts and leads a partnership providing services at the Hanford […]

The Department of Energy is seeking feedback on how 16 installations, mostly in the weapons complex, stack up as potential spots to develop artificial intelligence data centers. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Thursday April 3 that DOE is issuing a request for information on how the 16 federal properties might work for permitting and construction […]

With key Democrats denouncing any possible mass firings at the Department of Energy, the deadline was before midnight April 8 for DOE staff to opt into the latest round of voluntary buyouts. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said April 4 they are troubled by reports by Associated Press and other media […]