Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) aims to complete a new strategic plan in November, capping a yearlong drive to address the findings of a government-chartered fix-it group that in 2018 offered tips for improving morale at the independent federal nuclear-health-and-safety agency. That is according to a notice from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) inspector […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) aims to complete a new strategic plan in November, capping a yearlong drive to address the findings of a government-chartered fix-it group that in 2018 offered tips for improving morale at the independent federal nuclear-health-and-safety agency. That is according to a notice from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) inspector […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) aims to complete a new strategic plan in November, capping a yearlong drive to address the findings of a government-chartered fix-it group that in 2018 offered tips for improving morale at the independent federal nuclear-health-and-safety agency. That is according to a notice from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) […]

The U.S. Department of Energy rejected a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) recommendation intended to better protect workers at the Savannah River Site’s tritium facilities from fires, explosions, and other accidents that could expose the public to radiation. In doing so, DOE and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) also rejected the independent […]

The Department of Energy rejected a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) recommendation intended to better protect workers at the Savannah River Site’s tritium facilities from fires, explosions, and other accidents that could expose the public to radiation.  In doing so, DOE and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) also rejected the independent agency’s […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) says the design of a planned new ventilation system at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., does not do enough to prevent radiation from a possible underground accident from reaching the surface. The board wants the U.S. Energy Department to respond to the concerns in […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday advanced legislation that would prohibit any large reorganization of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) unless “specifically authorized by law.” The language was place in the fiscal 2020 energy and water development spending bill that is now due to be considered by the full Senate. If the restriction […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) hopes to receive a briefing in early October from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) regarding criticality safety at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. Board member Joyce Connery, writing on behalf of DNFSB Chairman Bruce Hamilton, indicated in an Aug. 23 letter to NNSA Administrator Lisa […]

The U.S. Department of Energy has until late September to either accept or reject the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s (DNFSB) recommendation that the agency fix perceived safety defects at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, the board said in a recent letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. According to the Aug. 22 letter, newly […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) hopes to receive a briefing in early October from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) regarding criticality safety at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. Board member Joyce Connery, writing on behalf of DNFSB Chairman Bruce Hamilton, indicated in an Aug. 23 letter to NNSA Administrator Lisa […]

Weapons Complex Monitor took a break over the past two weeks for Congress’ annual summer recess. Our affiliate publication, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, kept up on the latest news around the nuclear security enterprise and its industry partners. Here’s a recap of what happened while we were out. WIPP Contractor Gets New Leadership The contractor […]

Nine containers of transuranic waste stored at Area G of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico did not, as of late July, meet the acceptance criteria for disposal further south at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The situation was cited in a nonconformance report from the U.S. Energy Department’s Carlsbad Field Office, […]

U.S. Energy Department contractor Fluor Idaho has finished repackaging radioactive sludge waste that was ejected from four overheated drums in April 2018 at the Idaho National Laboratory. The late-night accident spewed much of the sludge waste from the four 55-gallon drums onto the walls and ceiling of a room within a fabric filter building at […]

A worker at the Savannah River National Laboratory was restricted from radiological work for the rest of 2019 after receiving a dose of radiation somewhere off site that put him well above a key exposure threshold at the Aiken, S.C. site, a spokesperson for site contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions said Wednesday. The employee took […]

The U.S. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has officially closed an 8-year-old recommendation that identified significant failings in the safety culture for the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) being built at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. “The Board has concluded that the Department of Energy has adequately addressed the underlying causes […]

A “trace amount of plutonium” found inside a glove box at the Los Alamos National Laboratory on June 27 did not endanger any employees, a spokesman for the Department of Energy facility in New Mexico said Wednesday. Employees discovered an “unexpected powdery residue” underneath a brush in a material management room glove box at the […]

The Scioto Valley Local School District in Ohio plans a community meeting Saturday to discuss radioactive contamination concerns at a middle school located about 2 miles from the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site. Zahn’s Corner Middle School will be tested for radioactive byproducts released into the air by the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant during past uranium […]

A “trace amount of plutonium” found inside a glove box at the Los Alamos National Laboratory on June 27 did not endanger any employees, a spokesman for the Department of Energy facility in New Mexico said Wednesday. Employees discovered an “unexpected powdery residue” underneath a brush in a material management room glove box at the […]

A “trace amount of plutonium” found inside a glove box at the Los Alamos National Laboratory on June 27 did not endanger any employees, a spokesman for the Department of Energy facility in New Mexico said Wednesday. Employees discovered an “unexpected powdery residue” underneath a brush in a material management room glove box at the […]

The prime contractor for the Y-12 National Security Complex is tightening its criticality safety program and increasing oversight and monitoring of that regime to prevent an accidental nuclear chain reaction, following a recent federal report that deemed the existing program at the main U.S. uranium processing site “inadequate.” The Oak Ridge, Tenn., site houses National […]

The prime contractor for the Y-12 National Security Complex is tightening its criticality safety program and increasing oversight and monitoring of that regime to prevent an accidental nuclear chain reaction, following a recent federal report that deemed the existing program at the main U.S. uranium processing site “inadequate.” After a month-long inspection last year of […]

An air tunnel at a degrading Savannah River Site nuclear materials processing facility should be able to withstand an earthquake, according to a detailed analysis for the Department of Energy, despite concerns raised two years ago by a federal safety board. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), management and operations contractor for the 310-square-mile DOE facility […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is concerned about the age and reliability of the electrical system in a historic building still used for interim storage of radioactive sludge at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The board, in a July 2 report submitted to Energy Secretary Rick Perry, suggested installation of […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is concerned about the age and reliability of the electrical system in a historic building still used for interim storage of radioactive sludge at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The board, in a July 2 report submitted to Energy Secretary Rick Perry, suggested installation of […]

Another member of the brain trust for former assistant energy secretary for environmental management Anne Marie White is rumored to be on the move. The head of corporate services at the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), Paul Bosco, is apparently leaving his current post to take another position at the agency, two industry […]

Repackaging of radioactive sludge waste at the site of an April 2018 drum breach at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory is nearly complete, according to a monthly report filed with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Site cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho said in its June 27 update it has completed processing all material […]

It has been more than a year now since the Department of Energy ordered stricter limits on communications with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), but the independent federal nuclear health-and-safety watchdog has mostly not cataloged the stonewalling connected with Order 140.1. Chairman Bruce Hamilton, in an April hearing before a House Armed Services […]

The door to a muffle furnace at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Analytical Chemistry Facility “blew open” after a “violent reaction” in May, according to a Friday report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). A chemist working near the muffle furnace in Y-12’s Building 9995 was not harmed when the equipment ejected glass vials […]

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) wants to give state governors a firm voice in the Department of Energy’s reinterpretation of the federal definition of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). In an amendment submitted to the House’s version of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Smith proposed prohibiting any DOE funding in the upcoming federal budget […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee is eyeing a drastic overhaul at the U.S. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), including limiting its members to a single consecutive term and bringing on an executive director to improve management. The measures, contained in the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act approved by the committee in May and […]