Department of Energy

The Department of Energy Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state has filled seven canisters with vitrified tank waste as of Friday Oct. 17, according to DOE. As of Friday morning, Oct. 17 at Hanford “7 containers were full, an 8th was almost complete, and the 9th was in the process […]

United Steelworkers (USW) representatives at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth and Paducah Sites say they are troubled by lack of information coming from DOE and its contractors during the government shutdown. In an online conversation Wednesday, union representatives told Exchange Monitor they are reaching out to elected officials from Kentucky and Ohio about confusion and […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) officially announced Saturday Oct. 18 that Acting Chair Thomas Summers has ended his service with the agency following the expiration of his five-year term. “Mr. Summers served the board with distinction, most recently as acting chairman, leading the agency during a period of significant transition and sustained operational […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) should stay open to shippers of defense-related transuranic waste from across-the-country, the Energy Communities Alliance told New Mexico’s Environment Secretary James Kenney in a letter Friday. The Washington, D.C.-based Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) wrote to Kenney in reaction to statements that the head of the New […]

Already offline for most of 2025, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, will remain out of service until early 2026, a DOE spokesperson said this week. After DOE and Amentum-led contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition returned the facility to operation July 17, the IWTU shut down five days […]

Already offline for most of 2025, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, will remain out of service until early 2026, a DOE spokesperson said this week. After DOE and Amentum-led contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition returned the facility to operation July 17, the facility shut down five days […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll announced a new nuclear reactor program Tuesday to deploy microreactors in the military. Called the Janus program, Wright and Driscoll announced the effort at the 2025 Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington.  The announcement heavily referred […]

Radiant Nuclear plans to build its first portable nuclear generator factory on land near the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the company announced this week.  The El Segundo, Calif. based microreactor developer company will invest $280 million in its new factory and create 175 new jobs in Roane County, according to Tennessee […]

With a new wave of advanced reactors on the way, the United States needs a strategy to utilize nuclear fuel recycling, former Department of Energy assistant secretary of Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff said in an opinion piece. “As a former assistant secretary for nuclear energy, I recently watched my successor, Ted Garrish, confirmed by the […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) officially announced Saturday Oct. 18 that Acting Chair Thomas Summers has ended his service with the agency following the expiration of his five-year term. “Mr. Summers served the board with distinction, most recently as acting chairman, leading the agency during a period of significant transition and sustained operational […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) should stay open to shippers of defense-related transuranic waste from across-the-country, the Energy Communities Alliance told New Mexico’s Environment Secretary James Kenney in a letter Friday. The Washington, D.C.-based Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) wrote to Kenney in reaction to statements that the head of the New […]

The Department of Energy Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state has filled seven canisters with vitrified tank waste as of Friday, according to DOE. As of Friday morning, Oct. 17 at Hanford “7 containers were full, an 8th was almost complete, and the 9th was in the process of being […]

Spent Fuel Solutions will hold a webinar Oct. 22 with the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council (USNIC) Back-End Working Group Chair Rod Baltzer to discuss the organization’s national waste management policy paper. The Wednesday webinar will be from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Pacific Time and can be viewed via Zoom. USNIC’s action plan “Action Plan […]

Following published reports that Preston Wells Griffith was being forced out as undersecretary of energy, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced Friday the appointment of Alex Fitzsimmons as acting undersecretary. Fitzsimmons, like Griffith, served in the first Donald Trump administration. Fitzsimmons has gained considerable clout so far at DOE under Wright. Already this year, Fitzsimmons […]

The federal shutdown enters its 20th day on Monday Oct. 20 and with no breakthrough expected soon, the Department of Energy has called off next week’s meeting of advisory board leaders for the Office of Environmental Management (EM). In an announcement emailed to Exchange Monitor late Friday, DOE said the EM Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM […]

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. ) October 22: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a business meeting where they’ll consider S.2130, […]

The American Nuclear Society (ANS) has written Energy Secretary Chris Wright with recommendations for the Department of Energy to implement in creating a national policy for nuclear waste management. Hash Hashemian, ANS president, and Craig Piercy, ANS executive director and CEO, outlined the spent fuel recommendations in an Oct. 9 letter. “ANS appreciates that your […]

The Department of Energy will consider the potential return to the government when it weighs proposals for developing data centers and power plants around the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, a DOE official said during a virtual meeting Wednesday. DOE will be looking at the “financial capability” of the applicants, Marla Larson-Williams of Oak Ridge […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll announced a new nuclear reactor program Tuesday to deploy microreactors in the military. Called the Janus program, Wright and Driscoll announced the effort at the 2025 Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington.  The announcement heavily referred […]

The Department of Energy will utilize public-private partnerships to help fund nuclear fusion while making use of artificial intelligence (AI), Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said at a think tank event this week. DOE has released its Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap, Wright said at a Tuesday event hosted by Special Competitive Studies Project. Under the […]

A federal district judge in California has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from laying off thousands of additional federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown, various news organizations reported Wednesday. Following a hearing, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco agreed to a request from unions, such as the American Federation of Government […]

Lawmakers from Washington state reacted this week to news that the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) has finally turned some of its less-radioactive tank waste in glass form for disposal at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. “It’s difficult to overstate how important this milestone is in the Hanford cleanup effort,” Washington Gov. Bob […]

“House of Dynamite,” a major motion picture about a potential nuclear strike on a major U.S. city, has opened in theatres and streams on Netflix Oct. 24. The thriller, directed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow, known for movies “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” centers around the U.S. Strategic Command, the White House Situation Room […]

A federal district judge in California has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from laying off thousands of additional federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown, various news organizations reported Wednesday. Following a hearing, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco agreed to a request from unions, such as the American Federation of Government […]

The Department of Energy will consider the potential return to the government when it weighs proposals for developing data centers and power plants around the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, a DOE official said during a virtual meeting Wednesday. DOE will be looking at the “financial capability” of the applicants, Marla Larson-Williams of Oak Ridge […]

The Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington is expected to start operations this week with only one melter in operation, an Oregon panel heard last week. The plant, designed to vitrify radioactive liquid tank waste into a glass-like solid, will start up this week operating only […]

Twenty-five years after the Department of Energy contracted Bechtel National to build a plant to vitrify radioactive sludge into a glass form, the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) began operation this week at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said Wednesday Hanford’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Facility (DFLAW) at WTP […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 61 shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste during September, marking its highest monthly total for the 2025 fiscal year and the calendar year thus far. Last month’s total is six more than the 55 shipments of TRU waste sent in August, and the […]

While sad to see what is designed as a five-person panel of experts fall to a lone member, the departing acting chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) feels cautiously optimistic about its future during a time of government cutbacks. During an interview Thursday with Exchange Monitor, DNFSB Acting Chair Thomas Summers said […]

The American Nuclear Society (ANS) has written Energy Secretary Chris Wright with recommendations for the Department of Energy to implement in creating a national policy for nuclear waste management. Hash Hashemian, ANS president, and Craig Piercy, ANS executive director and CEO, outlined the spent fuel recommendations in an Oct. 9 letter. “ANS appreciates that your […]