Rik Geiersbach was just appointed chief strategy officer for BWX Technologies and will report directly to CEO Rex Geveden, the nuclear fuel company announced Monday on its website.
“As chief strategy officer, Rik will lead the development, execution and integration of BWXT’s enterprise strategy and merger and acquisition initiatives,” Geveden said in the release. “His deep experience in driving organic and inorganic growth initiatives will help secure our competitive positioning in the global security, clean energy, and nuclear medicine markets we serve, as well as align our strategic priorities going forward.”
Geierbach most recently worked at Boeing as the defense contractor’s vice president of strategy and corporate development, according to the release. His 30 years in the defense industry also includes time as the corporate director of strategic alliances at Northrop Grumman.Prior to his career, Geiersbach earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Anderson School of Management from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard University.
Urenco USA has started producing low-enriched uranium with its second new cascade of gas centrifuges at its enrichment facility in New Mexico, the company said Wednesday.
Urenco USA, an affiliate of the European Urenco Group, said it started the cascade ahead of schedule and on budget, according to its Wednesday press release.
The newest centrifuge comes as a part of Urenco USA’s expansion to increase uranium enrichment by 15%. The company said it has several more centrifuges expected to become operational by early 2027.
The company previously started up its first new gas centrifuge cascade at the National Enrichment Facility in Eunice, N.M. in May, which was the first capacity added in years. Plans for expanded capacity at the New Mexico facility were announced by Urenco USA in July 2023. The new centrifuges were installed in October 2024. Urenco USA is the only U.S. commercial producer of enriched uranium, according to the release.
The Department of Energy announced recently it will provide over $35 million toward 42 projects with aims to advance emerging energy technologies at DOE national laboratories related to nuclear energy and artificial intelligence.
The awards were made through DOE’s Technology Commercialization Fund, which has a program in fiscal 2025 called the Core Laboratory Infrastructure for Market Readiness Lab Call (CLIMR). The program aims to improve the United States’ energy competitiveness globally, the agency said.
The funding would total more than $57.5 million, as the projects would also leverage a cost-share of over $21 million from private and public partners.
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) will hold a fall meeting on Nov. 13 in Arlington, Va.
The hybrid meeting will take place from 8:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time at the Westin Crystal City Reagan National Airport Hotel at 1800 Richmond Highway in Arlington, Va.
The fall meeting will be replacing the summer meeting that was postponed in August, according to NWTRB’s Tuesday press release. The meeting will be focused on the Department of Energy’s activities, plans, and priorities for management of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The board, established through the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987, is an independent federal agency in the executive branch.
The Department of Energy and environmental prime United Cleanup Oak Ridge have finished taking down another old contaminated structure at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, DOE said in a Tuesday news release.
Demolition of Building 3003 began in June and workers finished removing debris from the graphite reactor support facility in recent weeks. Tearing down the facility cleared 10,000 square feet of space to support upcoming demolition of adjacent structures, DOE said.
The Department of Energy this week announced $134 million in funding towards two fusion energy-based technology programs.
DOE has allocated $128 million towards Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) collaboratives, according to the Wednesday press release. It also allocated $6.1 million for the Innovative Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program.
Nuclear fusion is a source of clean energy that involves fusing light nuclei to create energy and helium. Fusion could create large amounts of energy.