National Laboratories

A dispute about the magnitude of a former employee’s theft from Sandia National Laboratory prompted an assistant U.S. attorney to refuse a request from the defendant’s lawyers that the U.S. District court knock two months off the former lab hand’s potential jail sentence. Joshua Cordova’s lawyers were seeking a 10-month sentence, on the basis that […]

A dispute about the magnitude of a former employee’s theft from Sandia National Laboratory prompted an assistant U.S. attorney to refuse a request from the defendant’s lawyers that the U.S. District court knock two months off the former lab hand’s potential jail sentence. Joshua Cordova’s lawyers were seeking a 10-month sentence, on the basis that […]

Mark Anthony will move to New Mexico from Lund, Sweden, where he directed construction of a multibillion neutron source, to lead the new plutonium infrastructure directorate at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the lab said this week. Anthony’s appointment, effective Nov. 1, follows a four-month search for someone to head the plutonium infrastructure directorate, which […]

Mark Anthony will move to New Mexico from Lund, Sweden, where he directed construction of a multibillion neutron source, to lead the new plutonium infrastructure directorate at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the lab said this week. Anthony’s appointment, effective Nov. 1, follows a four-month search for someone to head the plutonium infrastructure directorate, which […]

It was not clear exactly how many people showed up Tuesday in Los Alamos, N.M., to protest a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for Los Alamos National Laboratory employees, though local media reported that they observed several hundred people, some of whom worked for the laboratory. The Local Los Alamos Reporter put the size of the crowd […]

A group opposed to COVID-19 vaccination mandates and mask mandates in schools urged Los Alamos National Laboratory workers to show up Tuesday to protest lab contractor Triad National Security’s decision to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for all employees. The group, New Mexico Freedoms Alliance, urged Los Alamos employees to show up from 11 a.m. to 1 […]

Shortly after the House and Senate united to protect the Department of Energy’s inertial confinement fusion program from some proposed austerity next fiscal year, the program’s emblematic National Ignition Facility shattered its own record for neutron yield. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced the milestone this week, about a week after the Aug. 8 shot […]

Shortly after the House and Senate united to protect the Department of Energy’s inertial confinement fusion program from some proposed austerity next fiscal year, the program’s emblematic National Ignition Facility shattered its own record for neutron yield. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced the milestone Tuesday, about a week after the Aug. 8 shot in […]

Bradley Wallin will lead Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s nuclear weapons programs, settling a succession that began when Kim Budil was promoted to lab director earlier this year, the design lab announced this week. Separately, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that Jeff Harrell, the federal manager for the agency’s Sandia Field Office, retired in […]

Bradley Wallin will lead Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s nuclear weapons programs, settling a succession that began when Kim Budil was promoted to lab director earlier this year, the design lab announced Monday. Separately, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that Jeff Harrell, the federal manager for the agency’s Sandia Field Office, retired in July. […]

Five new-to-the-organization faces will join the new Los Alamos directorate in charge of turning the lab into the first national center for plutonium pit production since Rocky Flats ceased production in 1989. Three of these five managers were to be on the job Monday, with two colleagues to follow later this month and next, according […]

Some 200 craft workers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California wrapped up a three-day strike on Thursday to protest what they called the lab management contractor’s unwillingness to bargain over a mandatory on-call policy. The Society of Professionals, Scientists and Engineers (SPSE) Local 11 – University Professional and Technical Employees, Communications Workers of […]

Some 200 members of the Society of Professionals, Scientists and Engineers were scheduled to begin a three-day strike Tuesday at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California to protest what they call unfair labor practices, the union said Monday. “The 200 strikers will spread out across the lab’s gates,” the union wrote in a press […]

An auxiliary manufacturing space, known as Kansas City East and Building 23, should be christened in the fall, the president of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s main non-nuclear parts maker said this week. The headcount at the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC) is “currently around 5,500 with plans growing to 6,000 here before the […]

John “Devin” Biniaz was appointed deputy associate administrator for defense nuclear security, the National Nuclear Security Administration said this week. In his new role at headquarters, Biniaz wil backstop Jeffrey Johnson, the head of the office responsible for physical and information security at the agency’s labs, plants and sites. Biniaz was most recently assistant manager […]

An auxiliary manufacturing space, known as Kansas City East and Building 23, should be christened in the fall, the president of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s main non-nuclear parts maker said Tuesday. The headcount at the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC) is “currently around 5,500 with plans growing to 6,000 here before the end […]

The Secretary of Energy recognized three National Nuclear Security Administration projects that demonstrated significant results in completing projects under budget and ahead of schedule, the agency announced this week. The Secretary’s Project Management Achievement Awards at the NNSA went to the Exascale Class Computing Cooling Equipment project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New […]

While nobody had walked off the job at deadline for Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, some 240 people were set to go on strike at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California over what the union called the management’s refusal to negotiate terms of a mandatory on-call policy for some craft workers. The Society of Professionals, […]

Some 240 people were set to go on strike at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California over what the union called the management’s refusal to negotiate terms of a mandatory on-call policy for some craft workers. The Society of Professionals, Scientists and Engineers Local 11 – University Professional and Technical Employees, Communications Workers of […]

Terry Wallace retired from the Los Alamos National Laboratory last week after a nearly 20-year lab career, which he capped by running the site on an interim basis in 2018, during the transition to non-profit management and operations contractor Triad National Security. Wallace’s last day was June 30, the lab announced in a retrospective published last […]

Terry Wallace retired from the Los Alamos National Laboratory last week after a nearly 20-year lab career, which he capped by running the site on an interim basis in 2018, during the transition to non-profit management and operations contractor Triad National Security. Wallace’s last day was June 30, the lab announced in a retrospective published […]

A group composed of Battelle and a quintet of universities from two states is now operating the Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. The Battelle Savannah River Alliance (BSRA) took over management of the lab Monday, officially announcing the news via Twitter: “Proud to be @Battelle’s newest national laboratory! Our team […]

A group composed of Battelle and a quintet of universities from two states is now operating the Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. The Battelle Savannah River Alliance (BSRA) took over management of the lab Monday, officially announcing the news via Twitter: “Proud to be @Battelle’s newest national laboratory! Our team […]

The Department of Energy expects to hand over control of the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina early next week to Battelle Savannah River Alliance. The DOE is “working toward” Monday June 21, an agency spokesperson said by email Tuesday. That is when operations of the national laboratory will shift to the Battelle-led group […]

The Department of Energy expects to hand over control of the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina early next week to Battelle Savannah River Alliance. The DOE is “working toward” Monday June 21, an agency spokesperson said by email Tuesday. That is when operations of the national laboratory will shift to the Battelle-led group […]

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published new research about how near-surface detonations can affect nuclear-weapon yields, the California-based design lab said Monday. The findings, summarized in a paper titled “the reflection of a blast wave by a very intense explosion,” were published last week in Proceedings A of the Royal Society Publishing. The authors are […]

It will take about a month longer than previously thought for personnel at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to certify that a key component of the site’s planned plutonium pit factory can safely accept the higher volumes fissile material required to support the pit mission. The Radiological Laboratory/Utility/Office Building (RLUOB) will be recategorized as a […]

A proposed testing program for an experimental, 20-kilowatt nuclear reactor — and its eventual dismantling and defueling after a planned two-year run — won’t harm the environment, the Department of Energy reiterated this week in a final environmental review for the project. In a proposed finding of no significant impact notice published Tuesday on its […]

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published new research about how near-surface detonations can affect nuclear-weapon yields, the California-based design lab said Monday. The findings, summarized in a paper titled “the reflection of a blast wave by a very intense explosion,” were published last week in Proceedings A of the Royal Society Publishing. The authors are […]

National Engineering and Technology Solutions of Sandia, the Honeywell-owned prime for the Sandia National Laboratories, agreed to a $152,000 settlement with the Department of Energy over the unauthorized disclosure of classified information at the lab some time around 2019. The fine was not the only penalty Sandia paid, but other details of the enforcement were […]