Brandon Williams, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the National Nuclear Security Administration, was sworn into his role Thursday morning, according to James McConnell, NNSA’s associate principal deputy administrator.
McConnell announced the news during a panel discussion shortly after 10 a.m. Eastern Time at the Department of Energy’s National Cleanup Workshop in Arlington, Va.
Williams was confirmed by the Senate last Thursday, Sept. 18, along with other DOE picks like Ted Garrish, who will head the Office of Nuclear Energy.
Fluor announced this month the Defense Threat Reduction Agency awarded the engineering and construction company a position on the Cooperative Threat Reduction Integrating Contract IV.
Fluor is one of six companies selected for this indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract, and can compete for task orders for a potential combined value of $3.5 billion maximum for up to 10 years. The contract requires services for a broad range of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threat reduction capabilities, Fluor’s release said.
Among other energy contracts, Fluor heads the Savannah River Missions Solutions management and operations contract for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said this week a potential conflict of interest exists between Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Oklo, a company where Wright previously served on the board of directors.
“I am concerned that your [Trump’s] administration is moving forward with plans to transfer plutonium to Oklo and allow it to build a reprocessing plant not because these proposals make sense for the United States, but because Oklo stands to benefit financially and Secretary Wright is acting in his former company’s interest,” Markey said in the letter.
Wright formerly served as a board member of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based advanced nuclear technology company prior to his confirmation as secretary of energy in February. The letter comes after the Department of Energy supported Oklo’s 1.68 billion recycling facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. and in talks of plans to transfer plutonium to the company for commercial use, which Markey mentioned in the letter. In response to the letter, DOE emailed the Exchange Monitor saying Wright “remains compliant with all ethics and financial disclosure requirements.”
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) issued a new Golden Dome-related solicitation on Sept. 15 for High Altitude Infrared Search and Track (HAIRST).
The project seeks proposals for delivery and demonstration of infrared sensor prototypes hosted on high-altitude platforms. MDA wants the prototype sensors to be capable of searching a large volume of incoming missile threats and generating high-resolution tracks. The notice underscored this falls under the Disruptive Technologies topic area in the NOBLE contracting vehicle, which is one of MDA’s mechanisms to address the Trump administration’s Golden Dome initiative.
Proposals are due by Oct. 30. MDA said it will use an Other Transaction for Prototype agreement to make awards.
Amentum announced plans to create 3,000 new jobs over the next four years to support the growth of the United Kingdom’s nuclear power and defense industry.
The engineering solutions company’s announcement came as a part of a handful of deals between UK and U.S. nuclear companies following President Donald Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom last week. Amentum was also awarded a four-year contract worth £26 million ($35 million US) to provide services to the UK’s Nuclear Waste Services to assist in the country’s nuclear waste management.
“The U.S. State visit reflects the unique strength of the UK-U.S. partnership and our shared determination to drive economic growth and prosperity,” Amentum CEO John Heller said in Amentum’s Sept. 18 press release. “Commitments by both governments to back and invest in these industries help drive Amentum’s continued growth and investment in innovation, jobs and skills on both sides of the Atlantic.”