National Laboratories

A “bulging drum” of non-radiological waste resulted in a partial evacuation of the Sigma Complex at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico on Monday. The Los Alamos Fire Department responded to the Sigma facility, on the main LANL campus, at about 2:30 p.m. Monday, a lab spokesperson said by email. The plastic drum […]

The bid team that includes Texas A&M University has submitted its final offer on a contract to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the next 10 years, a university spokesperson said Thursday. “Best and final have been submitted and we believe NNSA [the National Nuclear Security Administration] will announce an award in the May […]

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on Wednesday pressed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to ensure that a focus on particular projects at the Hanford Site does not come at the expense of others. Perry and other Energy Department officials appeared before the Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee to discuss the agency’s $30.6 billion budget request for […]

John Sarrao will replace Alan Bishop as principal assistant director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Science, Technology, and Engineering branch, a lab spokesperson said Monday. In his new role, Sarrao will run the lab’s fundamental science programs, which include research applicable to nuclear weapons, among other things. The directorate’s four sub-branches are: chemistry, life, […]

The Department of Energy and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration are seeking bids on a new series of exascale supercomputers, including one at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that would cost up to $600 million and switch on early next decade, according to a request for proposals released Monday. Funding for the proposed Livermore […]

Purdue University on April 6 confirmed it teamed with Bechtel National, of Reston, Va., on a bid to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico — a teaming arrangement first reported by Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor in February. The confirmation came Friday from Mitch Daniels, president of the Indiana-based university. Daniels spoke to the […]

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on Wednesday pressed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to ensure that a focus on particular projects at the Hanford Site does not come at the expense of others. Perry and other Energy Department officials appeared before the Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee to discuss the agency’s $30.6 billion budget request for fiscal […]

John Sarrao will replace Alan Bishop as principal assistant director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Science, Technology and Engineering branch, a lab spokesperson said Monday. In his new role, Sarrao will run the lab’s fundamental science programs, which include research applicable to nuclear weapons, among other things. The directorate’s four sub-branches are: chemistry, life […]

The Department of Energy and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration are seeking bids on a new series of exascale supercomputers, including one at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that would cost up to $600 million and switch on early next decade, according to a request for proposals released Monday. Funding for the proposed Livermore […]

Purdue University on Friday confirmed it teamed with Bechtel National, Reston, Va., on a bid to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico — a teaming arrangement first reported by Weapons Complex Morning Briefing’s sister publication in February. The confirmation came Friday from Mitch Daniels, president of Indiana-based Purdue University. Daniels spoke to […]

Laying out the annual weapons budget for some of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) major sites over the last decade yields little in the way of surprise: generally, the weapons budget is going up. Source: DOE Congressional Budget Requests (Laboratory Tables). Link: Interactive Version of Chart. Figuratively speaking, these trends were written on […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory contracted out just shy of 60 percent of its total procurement dollars to small businesses in fiscal 2017, handily exceeding the Department of Energy’s goal for the nation’s oldest nuclear-weapon lab. In the penultimate year of Los Alamos National Security’s (LANS) management and operations contract, the northern New Mexico weapons […]

The former head of an advocacy group for communities around the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico said Tuesday she has repaid $800 in questioned expenses in an effort to resolve a public dispute that marred the end of her tenure. The contract between Andrea Romero Consulting and the Regional Coalition of […]

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) is on schedule at the end of April to take over as the new legacy cleanup contractor for the Energy Department’s Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory in New Mexico. “We are ready to get started,” Nick Lombardo, president and project manager for the joint venture between Stoller Newport News Nuclear […]

The former head of an advocacy group for communities around the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico said Tuesday she has repaid $800 in questioned expenses in an effort to resolve a public dispute that marred the end of her tenure. The contract between Andrea Romero Consulting and the Regional Coalition of […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is taking steps to address a recent series of errors in waste handling and keep them from recurring, a spokesman said Wednesday. Among other things, LANL voluntarily suspended all waste shipments from Dec. 18 through Feb. 28, while it investigated how it had mislabeled a container of […]

The former head of an advocacy group for communities around the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico said Tuesday she has repaid $800 in questioned expenses in an effort to resolve a public dispute that marred the end of her tenure. The contract between Andrea Romero Consulting and the Regional Coalition of […]

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) is on schedule at the end of April to take over as the new legacy cleanup contractor for the Energy Department’s Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory in New Mexico. “We are ready to get started,” Nick Lombardo, president and project manager for the joint venture between Stoller Newport News Nuclear […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory contracted out just shy of 60 percent of its total procurement dollars to small businesses in fiscal 2017, handily exceeding the Department of Energy’s goal for the nation’s oldest nuclear-weapon lab. In the penultimate year of Los Alamos National Security’s (LANS) management and operations contract, the northern New Mexico weapons […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) plans to penalize the U.S. Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory for mishandling certain waste earlier this year, a move that could entail a $10,000 daily fine for each instance of noncompliance. “Los Alamos National Laboratory self-reported a violation earlier this year, which involved five stored hazardous waste containers […]

Organizations bidding to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory met with National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) officials last week, marking one of the final steps in the competition for a 10-year, $20-billion-plus management and operations contract. The meetings in Washington, D.C., between government officials and an undisclosed number of bid teams keep the Department of […]

Organizations bidding to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory met with National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) officials last week, marking one of the final steps in the competition for a 10-year, $20-billion-plus management and operations contract. The meetings in Washington, D.C., between government officials and an undisclosed number of bid teams keep the Department of […]

Vahid Majidi, a former Pentagon and national-lab hand who most recently worked in industry, is scheduled today to replace the departing Terry Michalske as director of the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. Majidi will be executive vice president at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), which runs the lab and the Savannah River Site’s […]

Vahid Majidi, a former Pentagon and national-lab hand who most recently worked in industry, is scheduled today to replace the departing Terry Michalske as director of the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. Majidi will be executive vice president at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), which runs the lab and the Savannah River Site’s non-liquid-waste-cleanup mission for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to host the teams bidding to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the next 10 years for face-to-face meetings next week, an official with one bidder said late Wednesday. “[B]idders will be receiving feedback on their proposals this week,” Kim Budil, vice president for national laboratories for the University […]

Vahid Majidi, a former Pentagon and national-lab hand who most recently worked in industry, is scheduled today to replace the departing Terry Michalske as director of the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. Majidi will be executive vice president at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), which runs the lab and the Savannah River Site’s non-liquid-waste-cleanup mission for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to host the teams bidding to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the next 10 years for face-to-face meetings next week, an official with one bidder said late Wednesday. “[B]idders will be receiving feedback on their proposals this week,” Kim Budil, vice president for national laboratories for the University […]

University of California regents were scheduled to hear an update today in Los Angeles about the institution’s bid to run the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory for the next 10 years. One piece of news to watch for: whether the department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has hosted the university and its […]

Next year, the Department of Energy wants to start extracting desirable national-security and nonproliferation isotopes from material stored at the Savannah River Site since the early 1970s, according to an environmental filing published Thursday. The agency wants to take 65 Mark-18A targets out of storage at the Aiken, S.C., site’s L-Basin and chemically process them […]

In a blow to local interest groups that backed the measure, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have increased taxes for nonprofit entities that operate Department of Energy national laboratories in the state. Martinez vetoed the measure — which would have levied the states gross receipts tax on nonprofit […]