Department of Energy

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 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 […]

Bechtel and an organized labor group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to revamp apprenticeship programs supporting nuclear power projects. Bechtel and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) announced the MOU in a Tuesday press release. The longtime builder of nuclear infrastructure and NABTU, a large confederation of construction unions, will look to modernize […]

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 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 […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  MAY: 04: Earnings call: BWX Technologies (BWXT) will discuss its quarterly financial performance with financial performance starting at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.  05: Earnings call: Huntington Ingalls Industries holds its quarterly conference call with Wall Street analysts on its financial performance starting […]

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 […]

Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities have entered into an agreement with Rockville, Md.-based X-Energy to explore building X-Energy’s small modular reactors in the Bluegrass State.  The three companies have already started early project feasibility work and will explore ways for using X-Energy’s Xe-100 SMR deployments to support Kentucky’s long -term energy goals, […]

Fermi America has officially fired former CEO Toby Neugebauer from its board of directors on April 30, according to a company Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. Neugebauer’s firing comes weeks after he was removed as CEO on April 17. According to the April 30 SEC filing, Neugebauer was fired for cause “as a result […]

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 […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear and the National Reactor Innovation Center have made their first selections for DOE’s recently established Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative. Previously announced on March 5, the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad aims to create a hub to speed up advanced nuclear technology deployment using technical and regulatory frameworks on […]

The Department of Energy released a request for information (RFI) last week seeking input from the industry to assess the United States’ readiness to deploy up to four nuclear reactors into space within five years. DOE’s solicitation, published April 21, looks for additional information to evaluate potential challenges or gaps related to reactor design, workforce […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 and the National Reactor Innovation Center have made their first selections for DOE’s recently established Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative. Previously announced on March 5, the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad aims to create a hub to speed up advanced nuclear technology deployment using technical and regulatory frameworks on […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 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) […]

The Department of Energy released a request for information (RFI) last week seeking input from the industry to assess the United States’ readiness to deploy up to four nuclear reactors into space within five years. DOE’s solicitation, published April 21, looks for additional information to evaluate potential challenges or gaps related to reactor design, workforce […]

Jay Mullis, a longtime executive around the Department of Energy’s nuclear sites, has been appointed senior vice president for nuclear and waste management operations for United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR). Mullis announced his new title over the weekend on LinkedIn. UCOR, a joint venture of partners Amentum and Honeywell, is the environmental prime for the […]

In recent years, work crews at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina have removed 640 tons of scrap metal and 617 tons of asbestos from the D Area, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) said last week. Going back to the 1950s, facilities in the D Area made heavy water for […]

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 […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  APRIL: 28: Meeting: The Department of Energy and its Bechtel-led prime for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) host a community meeting starting at noon Mountain Time at the Skeen-Whitlock Building, Wendell Weart Auditorium, 4021 National Parks Highway, Carlsbad, NM.  27-29: Conference: […]

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 […]