Department of Energy

PHOENIX – The chair of an industry working group on waste management hopes sponsors of new nuclear projects will soon start sharing details on how they plan to deal with the resulting waste. “We have got SMRs [small modular reactors] … popping up, micro reactors, uranium enrichment, spent fuel recycle, “ said Firewater President and […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold  a hearing Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time to review the Department of Energy’s  implementation of President Donald Trump’s May 23, 2025 executive orders. Testifying at the hearing will be DOE Office of Nuclear Energy head Ted Garrish, DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory Director John Wagner and Kairos […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy has unveiled a new effort to add 2,500 megawatts of nuclear power to the grid by 2027 through uprates to existing plants and restarting some closed reactors. The Utility Power Reactor Incremental Scaling Effort (UPRISE) program aims to bring 2,500 megawatts of additional power by 2027 and […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  March:  16: Ukraine Nuclear Briefing: The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe holds a briefing on “Nuclear Power and Nuclear Powers: Lessons from Ukraine” starting at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time at Cannon House Office Building, Room 360 in Washington, D.C.  19: […]

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has released over 700 acres in a land transfer to support economic and energy development.  Oak Ridge said in its Monday press release that this is the office’s largest land transfer to date. The latest transfer includes two parcels from DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation: Self-Sufficiency […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled a new initiative focused on accelerated development of new advanced nuclear technology. DOE said in its March 5 press release the new initiative, Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, will create a hub to speed up advanced nuclear technology deployment using technical and regulatory frameworks on federal and non-federal lands. […]

March 11 marked the 15th anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami that caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to melt down.  In the aftermath of the Fukushima accident, Japan temporarily shut down all 54 of its commercial reactors. Since then, several of the reactors have been permanently shut down and are […]

PHOENIX— A Genesis consortium of public, private partnerships has already identified more than two dozen national science challenges, Kristen Ellis, a longtime DOE supervisor who is currently the associate principal deputy undersecretary for science, said here Tuesday. The Genesis Mission is designed to be a joint effort by industry and the Department of Energy’s national […]

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has released over 700 acres in a land transfer to support economic and energy development.  Oak Ridge said in its Monday press release that this is the office’s largest land transfer to date. The latest transfer includes two parcels from DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation: Self-Sufficiency […]

March 11 marked the 15th anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami that caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to melt down.  In the aftermath of the Fukushima accident, Japan temporarily shut down all 54 of its commercial reactors. Since then, several of the reactors have been permanently shut down and are […]

 The annual outage at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico could end in the coming week, following significant replacement work and upgrades to infrastructure that a watchdog deemed “substandard or inadequate.”  “The annual winter maintenance outage began on Jan. 5 this year and is scheduled to end in mid-March, […]

PHOENIX — David Brunnert, the new chief operating officer at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, will focus much of his attention on the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Waste Management Symposia heard hear Monday. “He and I served in the first Gulf War together,” the head of Environmental Management (EM) Tim […]

PHOENIX – One year after organizers of the Waste Management Symposia experienced a slew of last minute attendee cancellations sparked by federal layoffs the annual gathering here in Downtown Phoenix seemed to enjoy a comeback. During the Monday keynote session, Fluor executive and Waste Management official Greg Meyer announced this year’s attendance was 2,800. That’s […]

PHOENIX – The Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management will soon change its name, DOE Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Tim Walsh told the 52nd annual Waste Management Symposia here Monday morning. The new name will be something along the lines of the Office of Nuclear Restoration and Revitalization, Walsh said at the […]

PHOENIX — Installation of two major infrastructure projects at Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plan in New Mexico ended up costing about $770 million due to the pandemic, replacement of a major subcontractor and other factors, officials said here Wednesday. The cost of the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS), renamed the Underground Ventilation […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., is scheduled to start shipping defense-related transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in 2028 and could start as early as 2027, a DOE contractor boss said here Wednesday. Michael Douglas, the head of waste projects for Amentum-led Central Plateau Cleanup Company, made […]

PHOENIX – The land-constrained Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco, Calif. must demolish decaying old buildings covering a third of its footprint over the next 16 years, Livermore manager Mark Costella said here Tuesday. Livermore’s main Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) campus takes up only one square mile, Costella said. As […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is restarting HB-Line operations in order to recycle surplus plutonium and produce uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for advanced reactors. DOE announced the restart in a Friday March 6 press release. It did not reveal a specific date for the restart driven by President Donald […]

PHOENIX— A Genesis consortium of public, private partnerships has already identified more than two dozen national science challenges, Kristen Ellis, a longtime DOE supervisor who is currently the associate principal deputy undersecretary for science, said here Tuesday. The Genesis Mission is designed to be a joint effort by industry and the Department of Energy’s national […]

PHOENIX— A Genesis consortium of public, private partnerships has already identified more than two dozen national science challenges, Kristen Ellis, a longtime DOE supervisor who is currently the associate principal deputy undersecretary for science, said here Tuesday. The Genesis Mission is designed to be a joint effort by industry and the Department of Energy’s national […]

PHOENIX — David Brunnert, the new chief operating officer at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, will focus much of his attention on the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Waste Management Symposia heard here Monday. “He and I served in the first Gulf War together,” the head of Environmental Management (EM) Tim […]

PHOENIX – The increased interest in using Department of Energy nuclear sites for new power generation does not mean the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) is putting cleanup on the backburner, EM officials said here Monday. Dutch Conrad of Mid-America Conversion Services kicked off the afternoon session by asking how Environmental Management can reassure […]

PHOENIX – The Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management will soon be changing its name, DOE Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Tim Walsh told the 52nd annual Waste Management Symposia here Monday morning. The new name will be something along the lines of the Office of Nuclear Restoration and Revitalization, Walsh said at […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled a new initiative focused on accelerated development of new advanced nuclear technology. DOE said in its March 5 press release the new initiative, Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, will create a hub to speed up advanced nuclear technology deployment using technical and regulatory frameworks on federal and non-federal lands. […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is restarting HB-Line operations in order to recycle surplus plutonium and produce uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for advanced reactors. DOE announced the restart in a Friday March 6 press release. It did not reveal a specific date for the restart driven by President Donald […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy’s head of nuclear cleanup, the CEO of Longenecker & Associates and officials connected with Finland’s spent nuclear fuel program will help kick off the 52nd Waste Management Symposia (WMS) here Monday morning. Tim Walsh, DOE’s assistant secretary for environmental management, will be part of the morning plenary session as […]

March:  08-12: Conference: Waste Management Symposia kicks off at Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix. 10: Conference The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Regulatory Information Conference kicks off at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel in Rockville, Md.  12: Webinar: Tennessee Valley Authority will host a webinar on its integrated resource plan starting at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.   

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a new rule that would streamline its Atomic Safety and Licensing Board adjudicatory hearings on most license applications, which include new reactors and license renewals. “This rulemaking would enable the NRC to meet these deadlines for applications even when they are the subject of hearing requests by reforming its […]

The federal government needs to figure out a spent nuclear fuel [SNF] management strategy for new reactors instead of leaving it for future generations to deal with, two authors said in a commentary piece this week. Former Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy official during the Barack Obama administration Matt Bowen and research associate […]

The Department of Energy’s recent solicitation for nuclear lifecycle hubs creates opportunities to better address the back-end of the fuel cycle, several nuclear officials said during a Thursday webinar. The solicitation, published Jan. 28 meant to gauge states’ interest in hosting what DOE calls a “nuclear lifecycle campus” that could include fuel fabrication, uranium enrichment […]