Publications: Weapons Cleanup Monitor

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 […]

The foray into spent fuel recycling by the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) will take advantage of used nuclear fuel (UNF) from a test reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory. That is according to material issued with the request for applications (RFA) announced April 22.  DOE’s Environmental Management and Nuclear Energy (NE) […]

A 437-page justification for the Donald Trump administration’s request for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management adds more detail on White House priorities for nuclear cleanup. Overall, the roughly $8.2 billion Environmental Management (EM) budget would be $386 million less than the $8.56 billion enacted by Congress for fiscal 2026, according to the […]

Carlsbad, N.M. — A proposed overhaul of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) hazardous waste permit drew mixed reactions at Tuesday’s community forum, with stakeholders clashing over whether the changes would ease or create a bottleneck in federal cleanup efforts. The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is proposing revisions that would require DOE to prioritize […]

During a public meeting Tuesday in Carlsbad, N.M., most local residents voiced support for current operations of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and argued a state agency’s proposal to modify WIPP’s permit is unnecessary. Further, most said if the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) thinks too few shipments of legacy transuranic […]

The Department of Energy’s $8.2 billion budget request for its nuclear cleanup branch would help support everything from artificial intelligence (AI) to new emergency facilities. That is among the tidbits emerging from the DOE Office of Environmental Management’s (EM) 437-page budget justification posted online last week. DOE said an initiative, the AI Research and Development […]

A North Wind Group company said this week it has landed a share of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers business worth $275 million. North Wind Site Services said in an April 27 news release it has been awarded a seat on the Corps’ Northwestern Division Regional Pre-Placed Remedial Action Contract Multiple Award Task Order Contract […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy kicked off a new initiative Thursday centered around bolstering the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain by 2033. The new initiative “Nuclear Dominance – 3 by 33” has the federal government working with industry to build up the many aspects of the nuclear supply chain, including uranium enrichment, […]

Tim Walsh, who heads the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), said this week DOE’s Hanford Site in Washington state remains the program’s biggest nuclear cleanup challenge. But at the same time Hanford, which accounts for about 40% of EM’s budget, is primed for a “breakout year,” Walsh told a Senate Armed Forces […]