Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons complex, environmental cleanup program, and national laboratory system. Coverage here tracks DOE budget requests, contract awards, policy decisions, regulatory action, and leadership changes across the agency’s defense and civilian nuclear missions.
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Cleanup & Remediation
SRS chief seeks to reassure public on contaminated wasp nests
The top nuclear cleanup official at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site on Aug. 1 sought to ease public concern over radioactive wasp nests found last month at the federal complex near Aiken, S.C. “The U.S. Department of Energy is managing the discovery of four wasp nests with very low levels of radioactive contamination […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Back to the future: California startup plans enrichment facility at Paducah
The Department of Energy has signed a lease with a California-based nuclear startup for reuse of 100 acres of the Paducah Site in Kentucky for a new private-sector domestic uranium enrichment facility that could employ 140 people and be worth $1.5 billion. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said in a Tuesday press statement the project […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Savannah River cleans out another radwaste tank
The state regulator for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is satisfied workers have successfully cleaned out the high-level liquid radioactive waste from Tank 8, DOE said this week. The milestone marks the sixth tank in 13 months to receive preliminary cease waste removal designation from the South Carolina Department of […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Amentum execs bank on nuclear, defense growth
Earnings rose at Amentum, Chantilly, Va., during the past quarter, which the company attributed in part to the White House and congress prioritizing nuclear power and national defense. Net earnings for the quarter ended June 27 were $10 million, or $0.04 a share, up from a $26 million loss, or a loss of $(0.29) a […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
California enrichment startup signs DOE lease for 100 acres at Paducah
The Department of Energy has signed a lease with a California-based nuclear startup for reuse of 100 acres of the Paducah Site in Kentucky for a new private-sector domestic uranium enrichment facility that could employ 140 people and be worth $1.5 billion. DOE and its Office of Environmental Management announced the deal with General Matter […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
DOE taps Standard Nuclear for first advanced fuel pilot
The Department of Energy said Monday it has picked Standard Nuclear of Oak Ridge, Tenn., as the first company to participate in a Donald Trump administration pilot program to develop nuclear fuel production lines to support advanced reactors. In the Aug. 4 press release, DOE said Standard Nuclear has been “conditionally selected” as the first […]
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Interim Storage & Waste Disposal
NWTRB summer meeting set for Aug. 27
The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy will brief the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board later this month on DOE management of high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel. The hybrid summer meeting, announced recently by the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB), is scheduled Wednesday Aug. 27. The all-day session kicks off at 8 […]
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Budget & Policy
Coming Up:
Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: August 04: BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., will report its second quarter earnings on Aug. 4. BWXT plans to hold its conference call with analysts at 5 p.m. E.T. 05: Leidos, Reston, Va., will report earnings for the quarter ended July 4 on […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
SRS chief seeks to reassure public on contaminated wasp nests
The top nuclear cleanup official at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site Friday sought to ease public concern over radioactive wasp nests found last month at the federal complex near Aiken, S.C. “The U.S. Department of Energy is managing the discovery of four wasp nests with very low levels of radioactive contamination that have […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
DNFSB wants to know how smaller DOE will ensure safety
A federal safety panel wants to know how the Department of Energy will ensure nuclear safety given reduced staffing and restructuring. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) on July 25 formally requested DOE brief it within 30 days on continuing to ensure safety at the department’s nuclear cleanup and weapons stockpile branches. “Per statute, […]
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Transuranic Waste
NMED wants WIPP timetable on infrastructure fixes
New Mexico is citing the Department of Energy and its prime contractor at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) with violations and giving them until Sept. 24 to deliver a plan for fixing aging assets at the disposal site for transuranic waste. An order by a branch of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) gives […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Wrap Up: HII earnings dip; TVA nuke boss resigns; NRC panel takes shape; Texas SMR suit put on hold; Va. nuke board members appointed
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) on Thursday reported a drop in second quarter net earnings despite higher sales largely due to lower performance on the Virginia-class submarine program and aircraft carrier construction at the Newport News Shipbuilding segment. Net income fell 12% to $152 million, $3.86 earnings per share (EPS), from $173 million ($4.38 EPS) a […]
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Budget & Policy
GAO: DOE’s Inspector General needs better audit cost estimates
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last week the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General needs better cost estimates for audits of DOE’s big contractors. Four years ago, DOE’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) set up an Incurred Cost Audits Division in order to get a better handle on management and operating (M&O) contractors. […]
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Decommissioning
NNSA says old buildings taken down at Kirtland
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) says demolition and disposal has been completed at the old Albuquerque Complex on the grounds of the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. The $8.4 million demolition, started in March 2024, was overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alabama District through an interagency […]
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Budget & Policy
DOE selects CEO of energy security foundation
The Department of Energy announced Monday that Rick Stockburger was appointed as chief executive officer of the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI). FESI is the DOE’s first independent agency-related foundation, the press release said, and it aims to accelerate commercializing energy technology, including next-generator nuclear technology, and expand collaboration between the private and […]
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Transuranic Waste
Carlsbad boss dubs GAO report on WIPP infrastructure old news
The head of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico says a recent government watchdog report on rundown infrastructure at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) was mostly a “retrospective” on the former prime contractor. DOE Carlsbad field manager Mark Bollinger addressed a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found key […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
Fluor expects SRS pits contract out in coming months
Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the second quarter, despite what the engineering and construction company described as hesitancy in world trade markets. Over the next 12 months, Fluor expects to pursue Department of Energy contracts for work at the Savannah River Plutonium Pits Project and to support high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) nuclear fuel […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Radioactive wasp nest turned up at SRS
As if coping with South Carolina’s July heat isn’t bad enough, workers at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site recently encountered a radioactive wasp nest. On July 3, a radiological control staffer “discovered a wasp nest on a stanchion near 241-127F (adjacent to Tank 17) in a controlled area,” according to an occurrence report […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
EM nominee Walsh advanced by panel despite partisan split
-=The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Wednesday morning in an 11-to-nine vote advanced the nomination of Tim Walsh to head the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management. Ranking member Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) led the committee Democrats in voting against Walsh and two other nominees, in an identical partisan split in something […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford Site gets until Oct. 15 to start making glass
The Department of Energy and Washington state have agreed to grant federal and contract managers a 75-day extension until Oct. 15 to start making glass from some of the less-radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. The prior deadline was Aug. 1 and DOE officials announced this latest extension in a Monday […]
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Budget & Policy
GAO: DOE’s Inspector General needs better audit cost estimates
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last week the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General needs better cost estimates for audits of DOE’s big contractors. Four years ago, DOE’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) set up an Incurred Cost Audits Division in order to get a better handle on management and operating (M&O) contractors. […]
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Decommissioning
NNSA says old buildings taken down at Kirtland
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) says demolition and disposal has been completed at the old Albuquerque Complex on the grounds of the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. The $8.4 million demolition, started in March 2024, was overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alabama District through an interagency […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
EM nominee Walsh advanced by panel despite partisan split
The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Wednesday morning in an 11-to-nine vote advanced the nomination of Tim Walsh to head the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management. Ranking member Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) led the committee Democrats in voting against Walsh and two other nominees, in an identical partisan split in something […]
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Budget & Policy
GAO: DOE’s Inspector General needs better audit cost estimates
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last week the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General needs better cost estimates for audits of DOE’s big contractors. Four years ago, DOE’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) set up an Incurred Cost Audits Division in order to get a better handle on management and operating (M&O) contractors. […]
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Budget & Policy
DOE selects CEO of energy security foundation
The Department of Energy announced Monday that Rick Stockburger was appointed as chief executive officer of the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI), FESI is the DOE’s first independent agency-related foundation, the press release said, and it aims to accelerate commercializing energy technology, including next-generator nuclear technology, and expand collaboration between the private and […]
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Vitrification & Grout
Hanford Site gets until Oct. 15 to start making glass
The Department of Energy and Washington state have agreed to grant federal and contract managers a 75-day extension until Oct. 15 to start making glass from some of the less-radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. The prior deadline was Aug. 1 and DOE officials announced this latest extension in a Monday […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Oswego interested in hosting New York’s next nuclear plant
The Nine Mile Point Nuclear Plant in Oswego, N.Y. is being considered as a potential deployment site for an advanced nuclear reactor, a New York television station WSTM reported July 25. Last month New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), announced plans to deploy an advanced nuclear plant that can produce at least 1,000 megawatts. She […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
EM nominee Walsh scheduled for committee vote
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee could vote Wednesday morning on whether to advance the nomination of Colorado developer Tim Walsh to be assistant secretary of energy for Environmental Management. The business meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time at 366 Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Barring a postponement, the committee […]
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Budget & Policy
Coming Up
Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking: July: 28: Senate could vote on nomination of David Wright to serve on another term on Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 29: Quarterly update by the Tennessee Valley Authority starts at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. 30: Waste Isolation Pilot Plant community forum available online starting […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Slew of hurdles could hamper nuclear resurgence
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite projected rising power demand, pro-nuclear White House orders and increased investor interest, many challenges remain for a “nuclear renaissance” to take place in the United States, an expert panel said here Wednesday. The nuclear industry has at best a “mixed” record on cost and schedule performance on nuclear power plants, said […]














