Department of Energy

Nano Nuclear and Ameresco have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore collaborating to deploy Nano’s KRONOS microreactor at commercial and federal sites. Nano Nuclear is currently developing the KRONOS modular microreactor, which is made to be portable and produce up to 15 megawatts of electricity and 45 megawatts of thermal energy.  Ameresco, headquartered […]

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday denied a petition by the advocacy group Beyond Nuclear seeking to challenge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license approval for a Holtec International Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF). Beyond Nuclear hoped the high court would invalidate an NRC license that would allow Holtec to construct an interim waste storage in […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  February  10: Earnings call: Amentum will hold its quarterly financial results conference call starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.  10: House Cleanup Caucus: Invitation-only  event starts at 5 p.m. E.T. at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.  11: Earnings call: […]

William (Ike) White who led the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management for five years has been appointed to the advisory board for the Department of Energy alumni network. White’s appointment, along with two other advisory board members, was announced in a Friday LinkedIn post by the DOE alumni network, an organization formed in […]

BWX Technologies said it has made “significant progress” in the production of tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) for Antares Nuclear and is on track to have it completed by the July 4 deadline. Antares is one of 10 companies that were selected for DOE’s advanced reactor pilot program. The program seeks to have at least three reactors […]

The Department of Energy has awarded over $19 million to five nuclear companies to research and develop fuel recycling technology for spent nuclear fuel. According to DOE’s Feb. 5 press release, the five selected companies were: Chicago-based Alpha Nur will research and validate a process that recovers highly enriched uranium from used fuel by domestic […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has launched an agency-wide reorganization to streamline decision-making in an effort to create more efficient licensing procedures. NRC said it will reorganize around core business lines of new reactors, operating reactors and nuclear materials and waste, according to the agency’s Wednesday press release.  Within the overhaul, “licensing and inspection functions […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has established a categorical exclusion from certain National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures for approving and constructing advanced reactors. The exclusion is a “category of actions that the agency has determined, as established in its agency NEPA procedures, normally does not significantly affect the quality of the human environment and […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has overhauled and hollowed out much of its nuclear safety regulations, according to a recent National Public Radio report.  According to the Jan. 28 NPR article, over the course of fall and winter, DOE has slashed hundreds of pages of requirements for security at the reactors, loosened protections for groundwater […]

ARLINGTON, VA — Two sister entities within the Department of Energy, the Office of Environmental Management and the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), are setting the stage for future work at the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, Tenn. That’s according to NNSA Y-12 field office manager Mary Helen Hitson at Exchange Monitor’s […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management field  office in Tennessee, Eric Olds, is also temporarily overseeing DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. While Olds remains the manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, he now is also serving as the interim acting manager for the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO), a department spokesperson […]

The Department of Energy said Wednesday it will resume uranium recovery operations at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, utilizing the H-Canyon facility. The uranium recovery work will help recover key isotopes that are currently hard to obtain in the United States and support scientific research as well as medical applications and commercial uses, […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy this week tapped longtime nuclear complex supervisor Josh Jarrell to become deputy assistant secretary for nuclear fuel cycle. Separately two industry sources have told Exchange Monitor in the past week that Office of Nuclear Energy executive, Paul Murray, is moving over to DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.  […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy this week tapped longtime nuclear complex hand Josh Jarrell to become deputy assistant secretary for nuclear fuel cycle. Separately two industry sources have told Exchange Monitor in the past week that Office of Nuclear Energy executive, Paul Murray, is moving over to DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.  […]

The Department of Energy said Tuesday a California-based company that plans a major enrichment plant in Paducah, Ky., will use a longtime nuclear facility at the Hanford Site in Washington state as part of its efforts.  In a Tuesday press release, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said it has teamed up with the nuclear fuel […]

ARLINGTON, VA – For sites in the Department of Energy’s nuclear complex recruiting electricians and skilled craftspeople is a big task – and keeping them can be another. This was a key theme to emerge during a Tuesday Jan. 27 panel discussion here at Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit.  Senior managers from National Nuclear […]

The Department of Justice recently launched an online portal for radioactive waste survivors to submit claims for assistance through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). “GREAT NEWS – the DOJ has launched the online portal for radioactive waste survivors to submit their RECA claims,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), one of the bipartisan advocates for RECA, […]

The Department of Energy said Wednesday it will resume uranium recovery operations at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, utilizing the H-Canyon facility. The uranium recovery work will help recover key isotopes that are currently hard to obtain in the United States and support scientific research as well as medical applications and commercial uses, […]

ARLINGTON, VA – For sites in the Department of Energy’s nuclear complex recruiting electricians and skilled craftspeople is a big task – and keeping them can be another. This was a key theme to emerge during a Tuesday Jan. 27 panel discussion here at Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit.  Senior managers from National Nuclear […]

The Department of Energy said Tuesday a California-based company that plans a major enrichment plant in Paducah, Ky., will use a longtime nuclear facility at the Hanford Site in Washington state In a Tuesday press release, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said it has teamed up with the nuclear fuel company General Matter for potential […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has established a categorical exclusion from certain National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures for approving and constructing advanced reactors. The exclusion is a “category of actions that the agency has determined, as established in its agency NEPA procedures, normally does not significantly affect the quality of the human environment and […]

With the recent retirement of Reinhard Knerr, April Ladd has become the acting deputy manager of the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. That is according to a website for the office that oversees the DOE’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio as well as the Paducah Site in Kentucky. Ladd is a certified project director with […]

Non-essential employees at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina were to report to work three hours later than usual on Monday, following Winter Storm Gianna, which caused significant damage, traffic crashes and fatalities across several states over the weekend. The city of Aiken, where SRS is located, saw about three inches […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  February  10: Earnings call: Amentum will hold its quarterly financial results conference call starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.  17: Earnings call: Fluor will discuss quarterly financial results in a call with analysts starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

Sean Musick, formerly a general manager at Chalk River within the Canadian National Laboratories, has taken a new post at Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) in South Carolina. At SRNS, the prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, Musick will be deputy senior vice president for strategic planning and integration. Musick, […]

The Department of Energy issued a request for information (RFI) Wednesday seeking states interested in hosting Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses. The proposed campuses must support capabilities of the full nuclear fuel cycle, such as fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and disposal of waste, according to DOE’s press release. The approach could be more […]

The Department of Energy has approved Antares Nuclear’s Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for its demonstration reactor under DOE’s reactor pilot program. Under the program, DOE has set out a goal of at least three reactors reaching criticality by July 4. Antares, founded in 2023, was one of the 10 companies selected for the program. The […]

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) shut down Unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station, one day after restarting it, due to a technical malfunction.  According to a Jan. 22 New York Times article, the alarm went off in the power plant while technicians were adjusting Unit 6’s control rods, the cylinders used to regulate […]

The Department of Energy issued a request for information (RFI) Wednesday seeking states interested in hosting Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses. The proposed campuses must support capabilities of the full nuclear fuel cycle, such as fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and disposal of waste, according to DOE’s press release. The approach could be more […]

The Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management has selected David Brunnert  as its new chief operating officer. Brunnert is vice president of operations of Black Knight Energy LLC and a co-founder and board member at Confluence Energy Consolidated. California-based Black Knight is devoted to acquiring and developing valuable oil and gas properties in […]