Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

The Department of Energy and its construction manager for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) said Tuesday the facility has now vitrified 100,000 gallons of liquid tank waste into a solid glass form. “Each gallon of immobilized waste brings us closer to a cleaner, safer environment and revitalized community,” Brian Hartman, WTP project director […]

Republican incumbents easily won their party primaries Tuesday in Idaho, where the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is based. Meanwhile in Kentucky, the GOP House of Representatives member representing DOE’s Paducah Site also won his primary easily.  Longtime House Appropriations Committee member and INL backer Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) carried more than 63% […]

LOS ALAMOS N.M. — Federal cleanup managers told the Los Alamos Board of Public Utilities on Wednesday that a hexavalent chromium plume migrating from beneath Los Alamos National Laboratory remains “uncontrolled” although there remains no threat to local drinking water. The situation around the lab and Pueblo de San Ildefonso tribal land was detailed by […]

While the House Appropriations Committee proposes to spend less in fiscal 2027 for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site than in fiscal 2026, or what was requested by the White House, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.)  said there is still enough to meet cleanup milestones. During a committee markup, Newhouse, the longtime incumbent who represents Washington’s […]

The Department of Energy has plenty of details to iron out when it comes to grouting low-level radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report Wednesday. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management plans to grout low-level, or what it also calls “low-activity,” radioactive waste, from […]

Earnings rose at AtkinsRéalis Group, Montreal, Canada, in the first quarter, which the engineering services and nuclear company attributed to better cashflow and lower net financial expenses. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31 were C$92.8 million (US $67.6 million) or C$0.56 a share (US $0.41) up from C$69.1 million (US $.49.5 million) […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Naval Reactors could save billions of dollars and 15 years of cleanup time partnering with the Office of Environmental Management to clean up retired nuclear propulsion facilities, says the Government Accountability Office (GAO).  A report from the agency last week said the Office of Naval Reactors, which is responsible […]

The Department of Energy said Tuesday the Idaho National Laboratory recently made its first shipment of remote-handled transuranic (TRU) waste to DOE’s underground disposal site in New Mexico for the first time since 2014. Workers from Amentum-led contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition made the remote-handled transuranic waste shipment on April 21, according to DOE. The shipments […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has exercised its second two-year option period with the Huntington Ingalls Industries-led legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a DOE spokesperson confirmed Monday. As a result, Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) will stay on the job through April 29, 2028, the spokesperson […]

AtkinsRéalis Group said Friday it is revamping its nuclear business in the United States, by setting up two operating divisions to better align with accelerating demand across the federal and commercial nuclear markets. “Jack Craig, Jr. will serve as senior vice president of Federal Services, where he will lead our federal nuclear portfolio, including our […]

The House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee passed by voice vote the fiscal 2027 funding bill that would give the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management $7.7 billion, according to a summary of the Energy & Water legislation.  That figure would represent less than the almost $8.2 billion proposed by the administration of President […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tim Walsh, the Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, told a Senate panel Wednesday that his office is serious about solidifying tank waste at the DOE’s Hanford State in Washington state. Walsh appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee alongside Secretary of Energy Chris Wright as well as National Nuclear […]

Ted Wyka, the manager at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos Field Office, is retiring at the end of June, sources told the Exchange Monitor at a hearing in Santa Fe, N.M. Prior to his manager role, Wyka was NNSA’s principal deputy associate administrator for safety, infrastructure and operations, and NNSA’s cognizant secretarial officer […]

Earnings rose at Amentum, Chantilly, Va., in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, which the engineering and technology company attributed to favorable trends in its key business lines. Amentum announced its earnings in a Monday press release, followed by a conference call with Wall Street analysts Tuesday morning. Net earnings for the quarter ended April […]

AtkinsRéalis US Nuclear this week announced the appointment of Paul Larsen to its senior leadership team at the Hanford Site’s Central Plateau Cleanup Company. Central Plateau is an Amentum-led partnership with Fluor and Atkins,   Larsen has more than three decades of executive experience in radioactive waste management, nuclear construction, and high-hazard facility operation, AtkinsRéalis said […]

President Donald Trump issued an executive order April 30 that seeks to shift government procurement toward greater use of firm-fixed-price contracts. It is a change that could have implications across the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex where “cost-plus” contracts are common.  When it comes to nuclear remediation contracts, vendors often don’t know the full […]

Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the first quarter, which the international engineering and construction company attributed to awards in nuclear and other sectors. Net earnings attributable to Fluor for the quarter ended March 31 were $160 million or $1.08 a share up from a $241 million loss, or a $1.42 loss per share […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies (BWXT), Lynchburg, Va., in the first quarter, which the Department of Energy contractor attributed to opportunities in nuclear manufacturing and the company’s recent acquisition. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31 were $91.2 million, or $0.99 a share, up from $75.5 million, or $0.82 a share, in the […]

Earnings fell for Centrus Energy, based in Bethesda, Md., in the first quarter, which the uranium broker and enrichment technology developer attributed to an increase in advanced technology costs and paying off debt. Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31 were $10 million, or $0.51 a share, compared to $27.2 million, or $1.60 […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) has plenty of facilities that are more than a half-century old and, since fiscal 2020, the cost of upkeep has more than doubled to $950 million yearly, according to a government watchdog. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Tuesday it is recommending several improvements to the […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office said Friday May 1 that crews have finished emptying radioactive waste from the 23rd underground storage tank at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The work is part of a long-running effort to move waste from old leak-prone single shell tanks to newer double-shell tanks. Hanford Tank Waste […]

While the head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), Tim Walsh, has publicly expressed hopes of accelerating cleanup of Cold War and Manhattan Project sites, no speedup is reflected in a fiscal 2027 budget justification. The estimated final remediation of the Hanford Site in Washington state is currently forecast to fall […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management (LM) said this week it has promoted both a scientist and engineer to new positions. In a Monday press release, LM reported that Physical Scientist Nicole Olin has been promoted to LM’s team lead for LM-25, which includes Environmental, Health, Safety and Quality programs The safety and […]

The Donald Trump administration has requested that Congress again budget $45 million for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) for fiscal 2027, partly due to increased nuclear weapons work. The $45 million was equal to the White House request for fiscal 2026, which ends Sept. 30, although Congress appropriated less, $42 million in fiscal […]

The deadline for a Genesis Mission solicitation was moved back to May 1 from April 28, according to the DOE Office of Science grants website. The solicitation from March invited interested parties from national laboratories, universities and the commercial industry to submit proposals for a $293-million requisition for application (RFA) for the Genesis Mission. Broken […]

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright were among the government officials evacuated from the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C. after an armed man forced his way into the event headlined by President Donald Trump. Hegseth’s presence was cited by Trump during a press conference about an hour after […]

Chantilly, Va.-based Amentum has hired two new vice presidents, one for investor relations and one for operations. Charles Grant, a longtime executive with roots in the Navy nuclear program, has been selected as senior vice president of operations for Amentum, he said this week on his LinkedIn page. Separately, Amentum announced in an April 22 […]