Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

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 […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., shipped low-level waste to the Nevada National Security Site in May for the first time in nearly two years after the desert site reinstated a certification that was yanked in 2019 following disclosure that Y-12 had sent 32 containers worth of improperly labelled waste to the […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., shipped low-level waste to the Nevada National Security Site in May for the first time in nearly two years after the desert site reinstated a certification that was yanked in 2019 following disclosure that Y-12 had sent 32 containers worth of improperly labelled waste to the […]

The Department of Energy has named Brian Stickney deputy manager and chief operating officer for the Richland Operations Office at the Hanford Site in Washington state effective this week. Stickney had been acting as deputy manager since October following the retirement of Joe Franco, Hanford’s site manager Brian Vance announced in a May 19 email […]

An April 16 staff report by a federal watchdog questions if the Department of Energy and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration have fully learned lessons stemming from a drum breach and radiation release that shut down the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico in February 2014. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) […]

Here are some public events related to defense- and civilian-nuclear matters that the Exchange Monitor staff is tracking this week: April: 26: POLITICO Playbook will host a virtual interview with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to discuss the Biden administration’s infrastructure and climate plan. Register here for access to the virtual panel scheduled for 11 a.m. […]

Like so many other federal workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board continues to have most of its staff working from home, according to the agency’s Annual Report to Congress. “The Board has proven its effectiveness while in maximum telework posture, despite the unexpected challenges of adapting work practices to remote work […]

James Biggins, who was already serving as acting general manager of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, now has the job on a permanent basis, according to a recent press release from the agency. Joel Spangenberg, the executive director of operations for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), said in the release Biggins was […]

Like so many other federal workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board continues to have most of its staff working from home, according to the agency’s Annual Report to Congress. “The Board has proven its effectiveness while in maximum telework posture, despite the unexpected challenges of adapting work practices to remote […]

The Department of Energy’s legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico suspended some work for more than a week in January to address safety issues, according to a recent staff report to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. According to a board report dated Jan. 29 and posted online this […]

As of Tuesday, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and the Department of Energy are still tinkering with a draft memorandum of understanding about sharing information at nuclear-weapon sites while a Donald Trump administration order limiting DOE interactions with the board remains in effect. That’s according to a spokesperson for the independent federal board, which […]

As of Tuesday, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and the Department of Energy are still tinkering with a draft memorandum of understanding about sharing information at nuclear-weapon sites while a Donald Trump administration order limiting DOE interactions with the board remains in effect. That’s according to a spokesperson for the independent federal board, which […]

As of Tuesday, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and the Department of Energy are still tinkering with a draft memorandum of understanding about sharing information at nuclear-weapon sites while a Donald Trump administration order limiting DOE interactions with the board remains in effect. That’s according to a spokesperson for the independent federal board, which […]

The Department of Energy’s plans to kick off a public comment period next month on options for removing seven aging structures within the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site in Washington state. In a Monday announcement, DOE said these are “Tier 2” structures, meaning the facilities are chemically or radiologically contaminated due to Hanford’s […]

While it is still early in the four-year ritual over speculation over key federal jobs, Joyce Connery, a longtime government hand who chairs the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, is being mentioned as a possible Joe Biden administration choice to head the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. The Biden administration is just a […]

Before leaving office with the rest of the Donald Trump administration, then-Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette asked a federal nuclear safety board for a 60-day extension to produce a report on concerns about transuranic waste handling at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. In the letter dated Jan. 19, and posted last week on […]

James Biggins is now listed as the acting general manager of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to an organizational chart released late last week. Biggins has served as a special assistant to the chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) since September 2018 and has also served as general counsel and acting general […]

James Biggins is now listed as the acting general manager of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to an organizational chart released late last week. Biggins has served as a special assistant to the chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) since September 2018 and has also served as general counsel and […]

James Biggins is now listed as the acting general manager of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, according to an organizational chart released late last week. Biggins has served as a special assistant to the chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) since September 2018 and has also served as general counsel and […]

Federal career man William ‘Ike” White, who has acted as the top boss at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management since June 2019, remains in the top job during the early stages of the administration of President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, outside DOE, the new administration appointed Joyce Connery as the new chair of […]

Time appears to have run out on the nomination of Matthew Moury to be a member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. As of Jan. 3, the nomination to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) was officially returned by the Senate to President Donald Trump after the nomination never advanced to the full […]

Time appears to have run out on the nomination of Matthew Moury to be a member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. As of Jan. 3, the nomination to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) was officially returned by the Senate to President Donald Trump after the nomination never advanced to the full […]

Time appears to have run out on the nomination of Matthew Moury to be a member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. As of Jan. 3, the nomination to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) was officially returned by the Senate to President Donald Trump after the nomination never advanced to the full […]

The Department of Energy and other federal agencies could operate under their 2021 budgets for at least another week beyond Friday, after the Senate passed a short-term continuing resolution by voice vote Friday afternoon. The Hill reported the vote to avert a government shutdown and keep agencies operating until Dec. 18. The House of Representatives approved […]

Among the many subplots of the still-undecided White House contest between President Donald Trump (R) and former vice president Joe Biden (D) is the makeup of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Matthew Moury, the Department of Energy’s associate undersecretary for environment, health, safety, and security, was nominated to a post on the maximum-five-member Defense Nuclear […]

Among the many subplots of the still-undecided White House contest between President Donald Trump (R) and former vice president Joe Biden (D) is the makeup of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Matthew Moury, the Department of Energy’s associate undersecretary for environment, health, safety, and security, was nominated to a post on the maximum-five-member Defense […]

Among the many subplots of the still-undecided White House contest between President Donald Trump (R) and former vice president Joe Biden (D) is the makeup of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Matthew Moury, the Department of Energy’s associate undersecretary for environment, health, safety, and security, was nominated to a post on the maximum-five-member Defense Nuclear […]

By early next year, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and the Department of Energy could sign a memorandum of understanding about how to share information under a two year-old DOE order that limits interactions between the federal agencies. On Tuesday, the board — a roughly $30-million-a-year agency with a staff of around 100 full-timers […]

By early next year, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and the Department of Energy could sign a memorandum of understanding about how to share information under a two year-old DOE order that limits interactions between the federal agencies. On Tuesday, the board — a roughly $30-million-a-year agency with a staff of around 100 full-timers […]

By early next year, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and the Department of Energy could sign a memorandum of understanding about how to share information under a two year-old DOE order that limits interactions between the federal agencies. On Tuesday, the board — a roughly $30-million-a-year agency with a staff of around 100 full-timers […]