Department of Energy

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. In a Friday Jan. 16 email reply to Exchange Monitor, a DOE spokesperson denied an earlier report by Politico’s E&E News that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright was ending […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management has hired a longtime federal hand, Lara Beasley, to be its deputy director.   Beasley comes to DOE Legacy Management from DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Legacy Management office announced in a December press release. A native of the Chicago area, Beasley has worked with […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  January 20: NRC meeting: The meeting on license renewal issues starts at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.  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 […]

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 […]

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) has issued an executive order to establish a state nuclear energy task force to explore adding new reactors to the state’s current electricity portfolio. The Missouri Advanced Nuclear Energy Task Force will assist in providing recommendations to Missouri’s State Energy Office’s Department of Natural Resources’s new energy plan, which will […]

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 […]

The Senate Thursday passed a minibus bill 82-15 that includes appropriations for Energy and Water development, that provides funding for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Department of Energy. The Office of Management and Budget issued a statement of support for the minibus, indicating President Donald Trump will sign the bill when it reaches his […]

The Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have signed a renewed memorandum of understanding, joining efforts to develop a nuclear power reactor on the moon by 2030. The Tuesday interagency MOU affirms President Donald Trump’s space goals, outlined in the Dec. 18 executive order “Ensuring American Space Superiority”, and its collaboration […]

The Senate Thursday passed a minibus bill 82-15 that includes appropriations for Energy and Water development, which would provide more than $8.4 billion to the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management and $25.4 billion in funds to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The measure includes $3.2 billion for ongoing remediation of DOE’s Hanford […]

The Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management kicked off its 2026  procurement activity Wednesday by seeking proposals on a new five-year Portsmouth Infrastructure Support Services contract in Ohio.  The final  request for proposals (RFPs) issued for the Portsmouth landlord contract includes overseeing roads, grounds and other day-to-day infrastructure essential services at the former […]

A bipartisan panel of radioactive waste experts issued a study Thursday urging formation of a corporation of nuclear reactor owners to manage disposal of spent nuclear fuel from power plants and high-level waste from weapons production. The NuCorp, or Nuclear Corporation, would be required by federal legislation and set up by reactor owners, according to […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has agreed to give the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office a 90-day extension to answer board questions about welding issues for containers at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. As a result, the DOE Office of Environmental Management will have until March 16 to address DNFSB questions […]

An annual environmental report released last month on the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico shows the facility is complying with key regulatory standards for air and water, DOE said. The 2024 Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Los Alamos was released in December. The 300-page report shows the lab’s air […]

Standard Nuclear, which bills itself as a “reactor-agnostic” maker of advanced nuclear fuel, has received a shipment of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) feedstock at its facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn, the company said last week. This makes Standard Nuclear the first company to get both Department of Energy authorization as well as physically receive HALEU […]

A Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve) subsidiary said Tuesday it has hired Steven Downing to be program director overseeing the company’s Technical Support Services contract at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office (PPPO). Pro2Serve subsidiary Enterprise Technical Assistance Services (E-TAS) said in the release the company hired Downing, who was formerly with Battelle.  Downing, who […]

Reinhard Knerr, acting manager of the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Paducah Project Office (PPPO) in Lexington, Ky., is retiring from federal service, he told co-workers in a Tuesday email. Knerr is apparently leaving DOE to pursue another professional opportunity, which he did not reveal in an email to colleagues. ` “It is with bittersweet excitement […]

A bipartisan panel of radioactive waste experts are releasing a study today calling for an independent nuclear reactor owner-led corporation to be formed to oversee disposal of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear plants and high-level radioactive waste from  weapons production. The NuCorp, or Nuclear Corporation, would be required by federal legislation and established by reactor […]

The Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management could be active on new contract solicitations this month, according to a recent procurement update. According to a notice posted online during the week before Christmas, a final  request for proposals (RFPs) could come out this month for  the Portsmouth Infrastructure Support Services contract in Ohio. […]

The Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have signed a renewed memorandum of understanding, joining efforts to develop a nuclear power reactor on the moon by 2030. The Tuesday interagency MOU affirms President Donald Trump administration’s space goals, outlined in the Dec. 18 executive order “Ensuring American Space Superiority”, and its […]

Reinhard Knerr, acting manager of the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Paducah Project Office (PPPO) in Lexington, Ky., is retiring from federal service, he told co-workers in a Tuesday email. “It is with bittersweet excitement that I am sharing my decision to leave federal service and take a postponed retirement on January 24,” Knerr said in […]

A Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve) subsidiary said Tuesday it has hired Steven Downing to be program director overseeing the company’s Technical Support Services contract at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office (PPPO). Pro2Serve subsidiary Enterprise Technical Assistance Services (E-TAS) said in the release the company hired Downing, who was formerly with Battelle.  Downing, who […]

The full Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday evening on the motion to invoke cloture, or end debate, on a fiscal 2026 appropriations minibus for the Department of Energy for various other agencies. The Senate voted 80-to-13 on the motion to invoke cloture and force a vote on H.R.  6938, the three-bill appropriations minibus for Energy Water […]

Standard Nuclear, which bills itself as a “reactor-agnostic” maker of advanced nuclear fuel, has received a shipment of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) feedstock at its facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn, the company said last week. This makes Standard Nuclear the first company to get both Department of Energy authorization as well as physically receive HALEU […]

An annual environmental report released last month on the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico shows the facility is complying with key regulatory standards for air and water, DOE said. The 2024 Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Los Alamos was released in December. The 300-page report shows the lab’s air […]

Lisa Burtenshaw was sworn in Jan. 8 as the new mayor of Idaho Falls, the city of 69,000 where the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory is based. The swearing-in of the newly-elected Burtenshaw and other members of Idaho Falls City Council, was reported both by local news outlets and the city’s municipal website. 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, […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has agreed to give the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office a 90-day extension to answer board questions about welding issues for containers at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. As a result, the DOE Office of Environmental Management will have until March 16 to address DNFSB questions […]