Department of Energy

A month after starting up the long-awaited plant to turn liquid waste into glass form, crews at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., took another key step on an environmental project to protect the Columbia River. “Over the weekend, crews removed the first cesium capsules from the underground pool at the Waste Encapsulation and Storage […]

The Department of Energy told the Exchange Monitor Monday that, despite media outlets saying otherwise, President Donald Trump will not be meeting in the Oval Office with high-level nuclear weapons complex officials. News outlets such as CNN reported Friday that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) head Brandon Williams, and officials […]

The Army and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) are requesting bids to provide nuclear power plant energy solutions that would be demonstrated on a military installation within the U.S. by 2030. The goal of the effort, named the Janus program, is to develop prototype Microreactor Power Plants (MPPs) to provide power to “installations and non-permanent operations” […]

Jim Bernhard, who founded The Shaw Group and later Bernhard Capital Partners, has died at age 71, according to published reports. Bernhard died Sunday following a brief illness, the Shreveport Times reported Wednesday. The current and former governors of Louisiana lamented Bernhard’s passing in the article, as did the current Congressman from the New Orleans […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Thursday announced reorganization of the Department of Energy with a prominent role in the organizational chart for the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The reorganization is designed “to strengthen DOE’s ability to execute President Trump’s bold agenda to restore American energy dominance,” Wright said in a press release. “This […]

The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled the lawyers who successfully sued the Department of Energy over the Savannah River Site’s mismanaged Mixed Oxide (MOX) plutonium facility are entitled to $75 million of the $600 million settlement the state received.  The ruling was issued last Wednesday Nov. 12. South Carolina has litigation against DOE dating to […]

Ken Rueter, top executive for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, will retire in March 2026, the Amentum-led joint venture said Tuesday. Rueter, the president and CEO of United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), will retire effective March 30, UCOR said in a press release. He will remain […]

While much of the government was shut down, the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico stayed open and received 45 waste shipments in October based upon figures from DOE’s public website for the disposal site.  That’s a drop from the 61 shipments the plant received a month prior in September […]

Cleanup crews at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio have started tearing down another of the sprawling process buildings once used in uranium enrichment work at the property. DOE announced Tuesday that demolition is underway at the mammoth X-333 Process Building. It is the second of three massive process buildings being taken […]

Cleanup crews at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio have started tearing down another of the sprawling process buildings once used in uranium enrichment work at the property. DOE announced Tuesday that demolition is underway at the mammoth X-333 Process Building. It is the second of three massive process buildings being taken […]

While much of the government was shut down, the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico stayed open and received 45 waste shipments in October based upon figures from DOE’s public website for the disposal site.  That’s a drop from the 61 shipments the plant received a month prior in September […]

The Department of Energy has approved the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for Oklo’s Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The Nuclear Safety Design Agreement, the first under DOE’s nuclear fuel line pilot program, was approved by the Idaho Operations Office in under two weeks, according to Oklo’s Nov. 11 press release. The […]

The Army and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) are requesting bids to provide nuclear power plant energy solutions that would be demonstrated on a military installation within the U.S. by 2030. The goal of the effort, named the Janus program, is to develop prototype Microreactor Power Plants (MPPs) to provide power to “installations and non-permanent operations” […]

The Department of Energy said Tuesday it has approved a $1-billion loan to help Constellation Energy restart the former Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear facility, recently renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center. In a Tuesday press release, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said the DOE Loan Programs Office closed on a loan “to lower […]

Ken Rueter, top executive for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, will retire in March 2026, the Amentum-led joint venture said Tuesday. Rueter, the president and CEO of United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), will retire effective March 30, UCOR said in a press release. He will remain […]

The Department of Energy told the Exchange Monitor Monday that, despite media outlets saying otherwise, President Donald Trump will not be meeting in the Oval Office with high-level nuclear weapons complex officials. News outlets such as CNN reported Friday that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) head Brandon Williams, and officials […]

Companies in the United States and Canada said this week they have agreed to a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy in hopes of speeding development of $80 billion worth of Westinghouse Electric reactor technology. The nuclear power construction program was announced by Westinghouse, Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management along with the U.S. government. […]

The Department of Energy has issued another solicitation for a data center and accompanying power generation, with this project to be developed at the Paducah Site in Kentucky. The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management announced the request for offer (RFO) in a Nov. 4 press release. The online solicitation notice is available here. Responses to […]

Jocelyn Brown-Saracino, who spent 15 years with the Department of Energy, has been selected to head the DOE Alumni Network, Tarak Shah, former DOE chief of staff during the Joe Biden administration, announced last week on LinkedIn. “Having gotten to know Jocelyn over this search process, I am SO excited that she is going to […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking:  (With the federal shutdown still in effect at press time it is advisable to double-check with sponsors to see if government-related speakers/events are still scheduled. ) November  18: CANCELLED: A meeting of DOE’s Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board set for University […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy’s report on a national waste management plan is coming together, DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory senior policy advisor Bradley Williams said this week at the American Nuclear Society (ANS) conference. Driven by President Donald Trump’s executive order “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base,” DOE, in conjunction with other agencies, is […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – One or two advanced reactor pilot projects should reach criticality by next July Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said here this week at the American Nuclear Society conference. In June, the Department of Energy, sparked by President Donald Trump’s May 23 executive orders, created an advanced nuclear reactor pilot program. Under the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – One or two advanced reactor pilot projects should reach criticality by next July Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said here Monday at the American Nuclear Society conference. In June, the Department of Energy, sparked by President Donald Trump’s May 23 executive orders, created an advanced nuclear reactor pilot program. Under the program, […]

Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), the Department of Energy’s operations contractor for the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is on the lookout for potential office space around Idaho Falls, according to an online procurement notice. As it kicks off its market research, the prime contractor is asking for expressions of interest (EOI) from providers capable of leasing […]

Since Oct. 1, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has gained its first Senate-confirmed boss in years and the megadollar Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site finally started turning radioactive sludge into a solid glass form. Those are perhaps the two biggest headlines around the Environmental Management (EM) cleanup complex since DOE […]

Tank waste removal at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site jumped nearly two years ahead of schedule during fiscal 2025, based on milestones laid out in an agreement between site management and federal and state regulators.  In its 2022 Federal Facility Agreement (FFA), the Savannah River Site committed to the Preliminary Cease Waste Removal […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Contractors in the nuclear weapons complex have come out of the shutdown relatively unscathed, although it could take months to catch up on work around the Department of Energy sites, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) told the Exchange Monitor this week.  Fleischmann, chair of the House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee, shared his […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Contractors in the nuclear weapons complex have come out of the shutdown relatively unscathed, although it could take months to catch up on work around the Department of Energy sites, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) told the Exchange Monitor this week.  Fleischmann, chair of the House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee, shared his […]

Earnings rose at AtkinsRéalis Group Montreal, Canada in the third quarter, which the engineering company attributed to “sustained project execution and overhead control”, Ian Edwards, AtkinsRéalis president and CEO, said during a Thursday earnings call. Net earnings for the third quarter ended September 30 were (CAN) $146.7 million (US $104.6 million) or (CAN) $0.88 a […]

BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., has appointed Toby Smith as its new senior vice president and general counsel, replacing Ronald (Chip) Whitford, the company said last week. BWXT expects that Whitford will stay on in an advisory role through early 2026, the company said in a Nov. 6 press release. BWXT said Smith has logged more […]