National Laboratories

A New Mexico state Senate panel on Friday unanimously approved a bill that would ensure even nonprofit managers of Department of Energy national laboratories in the state would pay a gross receipts tax. Following approval by the New Mexico Senate’s Corporations and Transportation Committee, the next and last committee stop in the chamber before a […]

The Department of Energy’s plan for plutonium pit manufacturing will be made clearer in the Donald Trump administration’s 2019 budget request in February, agency officials told members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board last week. That is according to a presentation uploaded to the board’s website Jan. 19 after a briefing with Department of […]

The University of California and its mystery teammates have submitted a “clever” bid to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for the next 10 years, the regent in charge of the institution’s national lab activities said in a public meeting late Wednesday. “We do have the most excellent bid,” Ellen Tauscher, the incoming chair […]

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos said Wednesday it has received notice from the Department of Energy to start the transition into its $1.39 billion contract for cleanup services at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The Stoller Newport News Nuclear-BWX Technologies team, which was named as the contract winner in December over two […]

The Department of Energy’s plan for plutonium pit manufacturing will be made clearer in the Donald Trump administration’s 2019 budget request in February, agency officials told members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board last week. That is according to a presentation uploaded to the board’s website Friday after a briefing with Department of Energy […]

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos said Wednesday it has received notice from the Department of Energy to start the transition into its $1.39 billion contract for cleanup services at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The Stoller Newport News Nuclear-BWX Technologies team, which was named as the contract winner in December over two […]

The University of California and its mystery teammates have submitted a “clever” bid to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for the next 10 years, the regent in charge of the institution’s national lab activities said in a public meeting late Wednesday. “We do have the most excellent bid,” Ellen Tauscher, the incoming chair […]

A third South Carolina jurisdiction has officially called on the Department of Energy to move production of plutonium pits — the fissile hearts of nuclear warheads — to the Savannah River Site from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. On Tuesday, the city of North Augusta, which neighbors the Savannah River Site, passed a […]

While no one was hurt and no special nuclear material was damaged, the outgoing prime contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory lost about $3 million in award fees in fiscal 2017 because it broke Department of Energy rules and shipped plutonium by plane instead of by truck. In June 2017, Los Alamos National Security […]

The Department of Energy praised the prime contractor at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for on-time work on nuclear warheads and bombs in fiscal 2017, but clipped some award fee dollars because of delays with electrical upgrades at the California weapons lab. Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS) earned about $40 million in fees for 2017: […]

A $100-million-plus project to dramatically increase the computing power available for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s simulated nuclear weapons tests has cleared its final environmental hurdle, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. In a regulatory document called a supplement analysis, the agency’s National Nuclear Security Administration said “no further NEPA [National Environmental Protection Act] documentation is required” […]

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) injected a bit of drama into an otherwise routine confirmation hearing Thursday by saying he would not support the nomination of Anne Marie White to be assistant secretary of energy for environmental management until the Energy Department agrees to discontinue its “uranium barter” program. Barrasso made his comments during a Senate […]

It is time for Congress to take a look at the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories and their contribution to the agency’s mission, according to Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas). During a Jan. 9 House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee hearing on DOE modernization, Barton said he plans to draft a bipartisan reauthorization bill for […]

A $100-million-plus project to dramatically increase the computing power available for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s simulated nuclear weapons tests has cleared its final environmental hurdle, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. In a regulatory document called a supplement analysis, the agency’s National Nuclear Security Administration said “no further NEPA [National Environmental Protection Act] documentation […]

It is time for Congress to take a look at the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories, and their contribution to the agency’s mission, according to Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas). During a House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee hearing on DOE modernization last week, Barton said he plans to draft a bipartisan reauthorization bill for […]

Local governments near the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina this week said they would be glad if the facility took over manufacturing plutonium pits for the National Nuclear Security Administration. On Tuesday, the nine-member Aiken County Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution “Supporting and Encouraging the Department of Energy/National Nuclear […]

The comment period on a draft environmental assessment (EA) for a planned above-ground storage facility at the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., has been extended by two weeks, DOE said recently. The original 30-day comment period, from Dec. 15 through Jan. 15, will now end Jan. 29, DOE said in a […]

President Donald Trump plans to nominate consultant Anne M. White of Michigan to head the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management, which oversees cleanup of DOE’s Cold War nuclear complex, the White House announced Wednesday. The intent to nominate declaration was issued nearly a year into Trump’s presidency. The position of assistant energy secretary for […]

As of Thursday, the Government Accountability Office had not ruled on protests filed against the Energy Department’s award of a $4.7 billion liquid waste management contract at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. It also appears the GAO has not to date received any bid protests on the $1.39 billion award for legacy […]

The New Mexico State Auditor’s Office has questioned whether the state Environment Department (NMED) went too easy on the Department of Energy during legal settlements in recent years over cleanup problems and violations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. In a Nov. 21 letter to New Mexico Environment Secretary Butch Tongate, […]

The prime contractor for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California did not properly document more than $1 million worth of work it did in 2015 under a number of interagency agreements, the Department of Energy’s inspector general reported just before the new year. The roughly $1.26 million in costs the Inspector General’s Office tagged were […]

As of midday Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office had not ruled on protests filed against the Energy Department’s award of a $4.7 billion liquid waste management contract at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. It also appears GAO has not to date received any bid protests on the $1.39 billion award for legacy […]

A team comprised of Stoller Newport News Nuclear and BWX Technologies has been awarded a $1.39 billion contract for legacy cleanup operations at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. This will be Stoller’s first major operational contract at the nuclear weapons lab, where BWXT is an old hand as a partner […]

Incoming Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Director Terry Wallace plans a wave of personnel changes, including elevating an associate director to the No. 4 post at the Department of Energy facility in New Mexico, a spokesperson said this week. Carolyn Zerkle will be promoted to executive director at LANL effective Jan. 1. The executive director […]

A recently leaked study that claims it would be cheaper to manufacture nuclear-weapon cores in South Carolina than New Mexico is full of holes, and an internal National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) document proves it, U.S. lawmakers from the Land of Enchantment wrote this week in letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. In a so-called […]

A team comprised of Stoller Newport News Nuclear and BWX Technologies has been awarded a $1.39 billion contract valued for cleanup of legacy wastes at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. This will be Stoller’s first major operational contract at the nuclear weapons lab, where BWXT is an old hand as […]

Incoming Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Director Terry Wallace is planning a wave of personnel changes, including elevating an associate director to the lab’s No. 4 post, a spokesperson said Monday. Carolyn Zerkle will be promoted to executive director at LANL effective Jan. 1. The executive director “leads institutional initiatives and provides oversight for Lab […]

Federal and New Mexico officials have scheduled a public meeting on Jan. 16 to discuss planning issues connected with a 2016 settlement agreement to revamp the approach to legacy cleanup at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory. The New Mexico Environment Department will host the meeting, and DOE’s Environmental Management (EM) Los Alamos […]

A recently leaked study that claims it would be cheaper to manufacture nuclear-weapon cores in South Carolina than New Mexico is full of holes, and an internal National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) document proves it, U.S. lawmakers from the Land of Enchantment wrote in a Monday letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. In a so-called […]

While some details remain to be worked out, Energy Secretary Rick Perry has approved a five-year extension for Battelle Energy Alliance to continue as the management and operations contractor for the Idaho National Laboratory through Sept. 30, 2024. Battelle Energy Alliance LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Battelle Memorial Institute, manages the laboratory with integrated […]