Department of Energy

Top management for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office should use available information to identify the scope and cost of remediating contaminated soil and legacy landfills, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last week.  DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) should also use that information to prioritize work at nuclear sites, GAO said in […]

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will hold oral arguments at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Oct. 6 on challenges to Long Mott Energy’s construction permit application for a small modular reactor in Seadrift, Texas. The petitioner, San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (Waterkeeper), was certified for oral argument on Sept. 16 in […]

Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) created a state task force focused on advancing nuclear energy on Sept. 22 at a Western Governors’ Association’s workshop held at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The Idaho governor also said the new task force will replace the Leadership in Nuclear Energy (LINE) Commission. The commission formerly […]

ARLINGTON, VA — Perma-Fix has ratified an expanded labor agreement with Local 598. Building Trades Union that covers the company’s 35-acre treatment facility near the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., the company’s CEO said Thursday. Perma-Fix CEO Mark Duff made the announcement Thursday Sept. 25 at DOE’s annual National Cleanup Workshop here. […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: September 30 Fiscal 2025 ends at midnight which could trigger a federal government shutdown Oct. 1 unless a continuing resolution is agreed upon. October 06: Hearing: An NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will hear oral arguments on Long Mott’s construction permit […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is weighing a new strategy for moving transuranic waste stuck for years at Waste Control Specialists (WCS) in Texas, a federal manager said Thursday. The prior plan declared several acres inside the WCS property in Andrews, Texas a temporary “DOE island,” […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The new acting head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch reiterated here Wednesday DOE remains committed to start making glass in mid-October from the radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Following his address to the National Cleanup Workshop, Joel Bradburne, acting assistant secretary for DOE’s Office […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — Two Department of Energy cleanup properties are expected to issue solicitations for artificial intelligence (AI)-related data centers soon, federal officials said here Wednesday. The Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee could issue a request for proposals in early November for a potential data center, Rob Seifert, director of infrastructure disposition and regulatory policy […]

Ted Garrish, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, will be sworn in this Friday, according to a DOE Office of Nuclear Energy spokesperson. Garrish has held the lead role of the Office of Nuclear Energy once before during the Ronald Reagan administration in the late 1980s.  Garrish […]

The Department of Energy nuclear cleanup office has awarded $15-million in financial help to the Georgia-based Southern States Energy Board to provide technical assistance in moving transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The agreement, announced Thursday by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, starts Nov. 1 and runs five years through […]

Uncertainty over a potential government shutdown is rising after the Senate last Friday Sept. 19 rejected a House-passed stopgap funding bill that also included spending flexibility for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons activities.  After the House earlier in the day narrowly approved a GOP-led continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open through Nov. […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — Two Department of Energy cleanup properties are expected to issue solicitations for artificial intelligence (AI)-related data centers soon, federal officials said here Wednesday. The Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee could issue a request for proposals in early November for a potential data center, Rob Seifert, director of infrastructure disposition and regulatory policy […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., expects to meet its fiscal 2025 target of receiving 425 shipments of transuranic waste within days, a DOE manager said here Wednesday. As of this week, WIPP has received 419 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste from across the weapons complex, […]

Over the past seven-plus years, the Department of Energy’s legacy waste cleanup contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has shipped more than 20,000 cubic meters of waste offsite. That figure, which reflects the period between April 30, 2018 and Aug. 31, 2025, was posted as part of a Sept. 10 slide […]

The rules Department of Energy nuclear sites follow when transporting radioactive and hazardous wastes short distances can be confusing and sometimes contradictory, DOE recently told the Defense Nuclear Facilities and Safety Board (DNFSB). “Onsite transfers can vary widely depending on the materials, distance, routes, equipment, ability, to implement controls, and natural phenomena hazards at a […]

Environmental health officials reemphasized Tuesday that the radioactive wasp issue at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, one that made national headlines last month, is not currently considered a concern to the public. During a bimonthly meeting with the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB), site officials fielded questions about the July 3 discovery of […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — Two Department of Energy cleanup properties are expected to issue solicitations for artificial intelligence (AI)-related data centers soon, federal officials said here Wednesday. The Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee could issue a request for proposals in early November for a potential data center, Rob Seifert, director of infrastructure disposition and regulatory policy […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., expects to meet its fiscal 2025 target of receiving 425 shipments of transuranic waste within days, a DOE manager said here Wednesday. As of this week, WIPP has received 419 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste from across the weapons complex, […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The new acting head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch reiterated here Wednesday the department remains committed to start making glass in mid-October from the radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state. Following his address to the National Cleanup Workshop, Joel Bradburne, acting assistant secretary for DOE’s […]

The prime contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has finished its $15-million overhaul of the so-called “salt pocket” at the Department of Energy’s underground transuranic waste disposal site in New Mexico. The DOE Office of Environmental Management and Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors began the work in January. Completion of the project means […]

Over the past seven-plus years, the Department of Energy’s legacy waste cleanup contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has shipped more than 20,000 cubic meters of waste offsite. That figure, which reflects the period between April 30, 2018 and Aug. 31, 2025, was posted as part of a Sept. 10 slide […]

Joel Bradburne, the Department of Energy’s acting head of its $8-billion nuclear remediation branch, will help kick off the National Cleanup Workshop Wednesday in Arlington, Va. Bradburne was appointed this month to oversee DOE’s Office of Environmental Management following the forced departure of Roger Jarrell. Jarrell apparently differed with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on […]

President Donald Trump’s Department of Energy nominees for undersecretary of science and general counsel were among those winning confirmation in a 51-to-47 Senate floor vote last week. Dario Gil, the White House nominee for DOE undersecretary of science, and Jonathan Brightbill, the general council nominee, were both among those winning confirmation Sept. 18. Gil had […]

The Citizen Task Force for the West Valley Demonstration Project in Ashford, N.Y., meets this Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time at Ashford Town offices. The Citizen Task Force is scheduled to hear an update from BWX Technologies-led West Valley Cleanup Alliance, the new remediation contractor at West Valley. Peggy Loop, a West […]

Tritium venting is complete on two of four flanged waste containers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Sunday Sept. 21. After some glitches, work was paused Sunday prior to resuming depressurization of the third flanged tritium waste container (FTWC), NNSA said in […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: September 23: Meeting of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board starts at 9 a.m. Eastern Time at the new Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative building, located at 4345 Trolley Line Road, Aiken, SC. The meeting will be carried over youtube.    24: National Cleanup […]

The rules Department of Energy nuclear sites follow when transporting radioactive and hazardous wastes short distances can be confusing and sometimes contradictory, DOE recently told the Defense Nuclear Facilities and Safety Board (DNFSB). “Onsite transfers can vary widely depending on the materials, distance, routes, equipment, ability, to implement controls, and natural phenomena hazards at a […]

With being on the verge of restarting, Holtec’s Palisades nuclear plant has been awarded its sixth reimbursement loan by the Department of Energy worth $155.9 million. The sixth loan portion comes a month after the fifth loan guarantee was distributed, which was worth $83.2 million. DOE has now issued $491 million to the Palisades plant […]

Amentum has been awarded £26 million ($35 million US) under a four-year contract to provide specialist services for the UK’s nuclear waste management association. Amentum will be one of the suppliers on all four lots of the United Kingdom’s Integrated Waste Management Specialist Nuclear Services Framework, according to Amentum’s Tuesday’s press release.  Under the framework, […]

Most of President Donald Trump’s picks to be leaders in the Department of Energy nuclear complex were finally confirmed Thursday 51-47, some after waiting on the bench since May after being voted through at the committee level. The nuclear complex nominees confirmed en bloc this week are: Ted Garrish, the nominee to head DOE’s Office […]