Department of Energy

ARLINGTON, VA – Proposals are being assessed for contractors looking to build and power artificial intelligence (AI) data centers at the De[artment of Energy’s Savannah River Site, the site’s field manager said in a panel on a snowy first day of Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. In September 2025, DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

The Huntington Ingalls Industries-led legacy waste contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico won 95% of its total available fee from the Department of Energy in fiscal 2025. Newport News Nuclear BWXT)-Los Alamos (N3B) earned more than $15.8 million out of a potential $16.7 million in fee for its 12 months of […]

After New Mexico again in November suspended certain Department of Energy efforts to control a hexavalent chromium plume at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the manager of federal legacy cleanup there said last week the parties are looking for solutions. On Nov. 18, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) withdrew its temporary authorization for continuation […]

ARLINGTON, VA -The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and its contractors must modernize key infrastructure quickly, a Kiewit Nuclear executive said here Monday. “We are at an inflection point,” Mike Rinehart, president of Kiewit Nuclear Solutions, told Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit Monday afternoon. “The nuclear security enterprise is expected […]

ARLINGTON, VA –The Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) solidified 40,000 gallons of low-level radioactive tank waste into glass form and filled 26 canisters during the facility’s first quarter of operation at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. This is one of the chief takeaways from an Exchange Monitor conversation with Brian Hartman Wednesday Jan. […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Centrus Energy has signed contracts worth $2.3 billion to provide low-enriched uranium to electric utilities and virtually all of it involves traditional LEU rather than the high-assay-low-enriched uranium (HALEU) Centrus CEO Amir Vexler said here Tuesday. “The existing market is LEU,” Vexler told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit, “There is no existing […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Tuesday issued the much-anticipated draft solution for management and operation of the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. The draft request for proposals (RFP) said bidders will be encouraged to offer updated technical approaches to making plutonium pits at the complex. According to a Jan. 27 procurement document, […]

ARLINGTON, VA – To garner support for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers on federal land, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should “state its value propositions” early on, Senior Director at Microsoft Federal Bryan Lopez said here Wednesday. Lopez told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit that this goes a long way in helping hyperscalers consider […]

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 Hanford Advisory Board (HAB) is looking for new members to help provide nuclear cleanup advice for the former plutonium production complex at Richland, Wash. Formed in 1994, HAB predates most other DOE Office of Environmental Management Advisory Boards. The panel provides “informed recommendations” to not only DOE but also the U.S. […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Tuesday issued the much-anticipated draft solution for management and operation of the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. The draft request for proposals (RFP) said bidders will be encouraged to offer updated technical approaches to making plutonium pits at the complex. According to a Jan. 27 procurement document, […]

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 […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Centrus Energy has signed contracts worth $2.3 billion to provide low-enriched uranium to electric utilities and virtually all of it involves traditional LEU  Amir Vexler said here Tuesday. “The existing market is LEU,” Vexler told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit, “There is no existing market for HALEU.” While HALEU is considered the […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Proposals are being assessed for contractors looking to build and power artificial intelligence (AI) data centers at Savannah River Site, the site’s field manager said in a panel on a snowy first day of  Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Due to inclement weather, Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration […]

The Huntington Ingalls Industries-led legacy waste contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico won 95% of its total available fee from the Department of Energy in fiscal 2025. Newport News Nuclear BWXT)-Los Alamos (N3B) earned more than $15.8 million out of a potential $16.7 million in fee for its 12 months of […]

United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), the Amentum-led environmental contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, suspended onsite operations Monday Jan. 26 while ice removal takes place from recent inclement weather. “Only essential personnel who have been notified are to report to the worksite,” UCOR said in a Sunday night LinkedIn post. “Employees authorized to […]

Like much of the country, communities around the Department of Energy’s nuclear complex are coping with extreme winter weather as of Sunday afternoon. Based on a search of publicly available weather sites, DOE nuclear locales with some form of winter storm watches or advisories included Washington, D.C., the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  January 26: Conference: Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit is set for Jan. 26 through 28 in Arlington, Va.  27: Meeting the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board meets starts at 9 a.m. Eastern Time at Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, 4345 Trolley Line Road, […]

After New Mexico again in November suspended certain Department of Energy efforts to control a hexavalent chromium plume at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the manager of federal legacy cleanup there said last week the parties are looking for solutions. On Nov. 18, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) withdrew its temporary authorization for continuation […]

AtkinsRéalis US Nuclear has appointed Jack Craig to serve as its senior vice president of energy and environment. In Craig’s new role, he will oversee AtkinsRéalis’ major projects portfolio and work with current and prospective partners to expand AtkinsRéalis footprint with the Department of Energy, Department of Defense and National Nuclear Security Administration, according to […]

The United States and Slovakia have entered into an intergovernmental agreement to bring new electric generation to the Slovakian civil nuclear program. The agreement, announced by the U.S. Department of Energy Jan. 16, includes the development of a new state-owned American 1,200-megawatt unit at the Jaslovské Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant. Bohunice has two operating pressurized […]

Congress stands ready to work with the Donald Trump administration on a long-term nuclear waste management program, Reps. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and August Pfluger (R-Texas) said in a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The Jan. 12 letter was sent to Wright as the Department of Energy should be nearing completion of a nuclear waste […]

The Donald Trump administration is reportedly considering offering economic incentives for states to consider taking on nuclear waste, according to a Wednesday article from Politico. The Trump administration intends to introduce a program soon addressing  nuclear waste, Politico reported. Governors would receive incentives in exchange for hosting spent nuclear fuel. The federal government is expected […]

The Department of Energy last week denied it has done away with long-time radiation safety standards as reported by a Washington, D.C.-based publication earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it is continuing to review its radiation standards as directed by the White House.  In a Friday Jan. 16 email reply […]

Workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site have successfully moved the first batch of cesium and strontium capsules from wet to dry storage, the Washington state Department of Ecology said Thursday. Within the next few years, all 1,936 of the highly-radioactive capsules, which make up a third of the total radioactivity at the Hanford […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received fewer shipments of transuranic waste (TRU) in 2025 than it did during 2024, according to data from the facility’s public website. WIPP took in 33 shipments in December, to cap off the 2025 calendar year with 441 shipments, which is down from […]

The Department of Energy last week denied it has done away with long-time radiation safety standards as reported by a Washington, D.C.-based publication earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it is continuing to review its radiation standards as directed by the White House.  In a Friday Jan. 16 email reply […]

Despite its dwindling number of board members, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) kept busy as a safety watchdog for the Department of Energy during fiscal 2025, according to a recent report. Set up 35 years ago by Congress as a five-member panel, DNFSB is down to a single member, Patricia Lee. Nevertheless, work continues […]

Salas O’Brien, an international employee-owned engineering and technical services firm, announced Wednesday it is purchasing Los Alamos-based TechSource, a government contractor that does work with the Department of Energy. “Salas O’Brien has strengthened its ability to deliver solutions for the most complex federal government and infrastructure challenges with the addition of TechSource, a leading scientific […]

Work crews at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico will start demolition of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) old Ion Beam Facility this year, a DOE cleanup manager said Wednesday. “We are going to tear down the ion beam and remove the slab” starting in 2026, Jessica Kunkle, who […]