Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

On the same day a federal district judge in Massachusetts lifted his earlier restraining  order against the Donald Trump administration’s deferred retirement program for government workers, the Office of Personnel Management closed out the program. “The Deferred Resignation Program is now closed,” according to a notice Wednesday on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website. […]

Revenue rose at Centrus, Bethesda, Md., in the fourth quarter, which the uranium broker and enrichment technology developer attributed to the low-enriched uranium segment and higher uranium prices, even though net income was down. For the full year, Centrus experienced a rise in revenue at $442 million compared to $320.2 million in the prior year, […]

Staffers at the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other agencies now have the weekend to consider taking up the Donald Trump administration offer on buyouts, as a federal judge will hear arguments Monday on the deferred resignation program. The Thursday ruling from U.S. District judge George O’Toole, Jr. in Massachusetts held up the […]

Alex Fitzsimmons, who previously held executive jobs at the Department of Energy and the private sector has been appointed DOE chief of staff under Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Fitzsimmons announced his chief of staff job last week on his LinkedIn page and introduced Wright Wednesday morning when the energy secretary gave his first address […]

Earnings rose at Amentum, Chantilly, Va., in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, which the company that recently combined with the government contracting wing of Jacobs attributed to strong core businesses linked with national security. In response to questions from Wall Street analysts during a Wednesday morning conference call, CEO John Heller said Amentum management […]

The day after being sworn in as secretary of energy, self-described nerd Chris Wright said updating the U.S. nuclear arsenal, increasing civilian nuclear power and cleaning up Manhattan Project sites are among his priorities at the Department of Energy. It is vital to “modernize America’s nuclear stockpile,” Wright told DOE staffers during a Wednesday introductory […]

With the retirement of chair Joyce Connery on Friday, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is down to two members and no longer has a quorum. The five-member panel with a mission to provide independent safety analysis and advice to the Department of Energy, now has only two members: Acting Chair Thomas Summers and […]

Representatives from eight non-governmental organizations signed a letter Wednesday asking for a 45-day extension to provide “informed public comments” about Los Alamos National Laboratory’s site-wide environmental impact statement. “This extension is necessary to ensure the public and Tribes may thoroughly review and analyze the extensive and complex information contained in the draft document, which exceeds […]

The Senate voted 59-to-38 Monday evening to confirm Chris Wright as the 17th secretary of energy. Wright is CEO and founder of Liberty Energy, a publicly-traded company that provides services and technology to the oil and natural gas industry. Wright’s confirmation was expected given he was not considered one of the more controversial picks so […]

Crews at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina are continuing a program started in 2016 to save storage space by double-stacking canisters of vitrified high-level waste. Employees started the latest double-stacking phase, inside Glass Waste Storage Building 2 in December 2024. Crews have already modified 150 positions there so far, […]

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators are reintroducing a bill to reauthorize and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation (RECA) Act. A similar bill passed the Senate last session but never made it to a vote in the House of Representatives. On Thursday Jan. 23, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced he and Sen. Ben Ray Luján […]

The White House this week invited employees of the federal government, including those connected with nuclear energy, weapons and cleanup, to take something akin to a buyout, by submitting a “deferred resignation.” . In a memo dubbed “fork in the road” the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said federal employees can submit deferred resignations by […]

Joel Spangenberg, a career fed who logged several years as a manager around the Department of Energy’s weapons complex, has retired from the federal government and accepted a post with the U.S. branch of a nuclear company based in the United Kingdom. “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Vice President […]

Jeff Avery, the No. 2 officer at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, is moving over to the National Nuclear Security Administration, according to a memo distributed Monday. An “EM Colleagues” memo Monday from Environmental Management office senior adviser Candice Robertson detailed Avery’s move. Robertson also announced Roger Jarrell is returning to the […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Dennis Carr, the president and CEO of the prime contractor for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina says he is not seeking to head the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy, although “if asked I would consider it.” “People keep coming up and asking me that,” Carr told Exchange Monitor Tuesday […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Fluor-led prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is drawing up a “master campus plan” for the 310-square-mile site to present to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The plan, required for NNSA sites, is a major undertaking, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) President and […]

A top manager at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina expects upcoming modifications to the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) should help the plant meet its elusive production goals.  When it started hot operations in October 2020, SWPF was expected to treat between four million and six million gallons of salt […]

The Senate overwhelmingly voted Thursday evening to confirm former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to be secretary of interior, and also took a step closer to a confirmation vote on Secretary of Energy nominee Chris Wright.  Burgum, who would also lead President Donald Trump’s National Energy Council, easily won confirmation to head the Interior […]

The Donald Trump administration is replacing most members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, sources told Exchange Monitor late last week. Two sources within the Department of Energy weapons complex told the Monitor the White House asked for the resignation of nearly all members of the 11-member board charged with independent scientific peer reviews […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization appointed by former President Joe Biden has departed the post. “Today marks my last day at the Dept of Energy as director,” Ron Pierce, announced on his LinkedIn page Jan. 16. “It was an honor to be appointed and serve in the […]

Thom Mason, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said Tuesday that the lab cannot rely on wind and solar power for its capabilities or to power its supercomputers. “That was part of a pretty extensive analysis on how to get more power on site,” Mason said in response to a question about the Electric Power […]

The Department of Energy has posted the times and coordinates for a pair of February public scoping meetings on soil cleanup plans at the Energy Technology Engineering Center section of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory Site in Simi Valley, California. An online or virtual meeting regarding a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on cleanup of contaminated […]

Joyce Connery, who is departing as a nuclear safety watchdog after nearly a decade, would not be shocked to see the President Donald Trump (R) administration revive then-President Joe Biden’s (D) nomination of a former Department of Energy cleanup boss to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board —only this time paired with one or more […]

Among the flurry of executive orders President Donald Trump signed Monday after being sworn in are measures to implement a federal hiring freeze and telling government staff to return to in-person work. “Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate […]

The Department of Energy is putting the brakes on most contract solicitations, reports and personnel moves, Acting Secretary of Energy Ingrid Kolb said this week. In a Monday memo, viewed by Exchange Monitor, Kolb said most contract procurements of $100,000 or more were to be put on hold as were most loan guarantees, hirings, promotions […]

The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday endorsed the nomination of Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright to be secretary of energy by 15-to-5, with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) being one of the five Democrats to vote against the executive. The nominations of both Wright and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to […]

The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday endorsed the nomination of Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright to be secretary of energy by 15-to-5, with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) being one of the five Democrats to vote against the executive. The nominations of both Wright and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to […]