President Donald Trump is reportedly expected to sign executive orders on Friday meant to speed nuclear power reactor licensing through expedited regulatory reviews and other changes.
According to a Thursday report by Reuters, Trump could sign the executive orders “as soon as” Friday. Reuters also reported Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said Trump will sign the nuclear orders then. The president evidently will use the Defense Production Act as the basis for the changes.
As of Friday 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, the White House has not announced any signings of the reported nuclear executive orders.
President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a tax bill, was passed in the House in the middle of the night Wednesday into Thursday 215-214 largely on party lines with Republicans Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Warren Davidson (Ohio) voting against and Freedom Caucus chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) voting “present.”
The Senate will take up the bill when it returns, and Republican leaders in the House have said they hope to get the bill, which includes nuclear energy provisions, signed into law by July.
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has transferred 32 more acres of remediated land to local authorities from DOE’s Oak Ridge Site.
The 32-acre land transfer to the Industrial Development Board of Oak Ridge from the Oak Ridge’s former Gaseous Diffusion Plant complex was announced Tuesday by the Environmental Management office.
It brings the total amount of land DOE has transferred to the local for economic reuse to 1,832 acres, Environmental Management said in a news release. The department and contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge finished major field work last year at what it now calls the East Tennessee Technology Park.
BWX Technologies, based in Lynchburg, Va., announced Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of Kinectrics, a provider of lifecycle management services for the electric industry, including CANDU nuclear reactors.
The deal closed Tuesday May 20, BWXT said in a press release. BWXT announced the purchase in January. No purchase price was announced for the Toronto-based company.
Thanks to the purchase, the workforce for BWXT’s Commercial Operations group will nearly double. Kinectrics will become a BWXT subsidiary and its CEO David Harris will continue to report to lead the organization, reporting to BWXT Commercial Operations President John MacQuarrie.
Amentum has appointed Helen Simms as its vice president for international technology and innovation.
Simms will join Amentum from Xodus, a global energy advisory firm, where she served as the chief operating officer and has over 20 years of experience in executive roles. Simms will succeed Greg Willetts, who is retiring after 33 years in the business and served the past 16 years in a senior leadership rolem according to a Thursday press release.
U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has died at age 75, only weeks after publicly announcing his cancer had returned.
Connolly died early Wednesday morning, according to a family statement posted on his Congressional website. “It is with immense sadness that we share that our devoted and loving father, husband, brother, friend, and public servant, Congressman Gerald E. Connolly, passed away peacefully at his home this morning surrounded by family,” the statement says.
Connolly was in his ninth term representing Virginia’s 11th District, which includes Fairfax, according to his online biography. Before being elected to Congress, Connolly was a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for 14 years.
The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration has awarded a $4-million contract to an Alaskan native corporation subsidiary for maintenance and support services in Nevada.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) facility maintenance and support services contract for Chenega Reliable Services at the Nevada National Security Site field office in Las Vegas was announced in a May 16 online procurement notice.
According to its website, Chenega is a Small Business Administration 8(a)-certified staffing company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Chenega Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation. The parent company is based in Anchorage and its subsidiary, which was awarded the NNSA work, has an office in San Antonio, Texas.
In observance of the Memorial Day holiday, Exchange Monitor staff will be off on Monday May 26. No Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will be published that day.
