Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

The Donald Trump administration has requested that Congress again budget $45 million for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) for fiscal 2027, partly due to increased nuclear weapons work. The $45 million was equal to the White House request for fiscal 2026, which ends Sept. 30, although Congress appropriated less, $42 million in fiscal […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is adjusting key safety controls as it prepares for expanded plutonium operations, even as routine breakdowns persist, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s weekly report for March 6. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Field Office approved the safety basis for Los Alamos’s plutonium facility in New Mexico during […]

The Department of Energy and its cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory have now solidified a third of the high-level sodium-bearing radioactive waste at the site, DOE said Tuesday. According to a press release from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management  and Amentum-led Idaho Environmental Coalition, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) has processed about […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is adjusting key safety controls as it prepares for expanded plutonium operations, even as routine breakdowns persist, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s weekly report for March 6. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Field Office approved the safety basis for Los Alamos’s plutonium facility in New Mexico during […]

William (Ike) White who led the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management for five years has been appointed to the advisory board for the Department of Energy alumni network. White’s appointment, along with two other advisory board members, was announced in a Friday LinkedIn post by the DOE alumni network, an organization formed in […]

Triad National Security is looking to buy a better instrument for taking gamma measurements of transuranic (TRU) waste drums ultimately expected to end up at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. Triad, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) prime contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory, is seeking something […]

Triad National Security is looking to buy a better instrument for taking gamma measurements of transuranic (TRU) waste drums ultimately expected to end up at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. Triad, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) prime contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory, is seeking something […]

Despite its dwindling number of board members, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) kept busy as a safety watchdog for the Department of Energy during fiscal 2025, according to a recent report. Set up 35 years ago by Congress as a five-member panel, DNFSB is down to a single member, Patricia Lee. Nevertheless, work […]

Despite its dwindling number of board members, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) kept busy as a safety watchdog for the Department of Energy during fiscal 2025, according to a recent report. Set up 35 years ago by Congress as a five-member panel, DNFSB is down to a single member, Patricia Lee. Nevertheless, work continues […]

Despite its dwindling number of board members, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) kept busy as a safety watchdog for the Department of Energy during fiscal 2025, according to a recent report. Set up 35 years ago by Congress as a five-member panel, DNFSB is down to a single member, Patricia Lee. Nevertheless, work […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has agreed to give the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office a 90-day extension to answer board questions about welding issues for containers at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. As a result, the DOE Office of Environmental Management will have until March 16 to address DNFSB questions […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has agreed to give the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office a 90-day extension to answer board questions about welding issues for containers at the Hanford Site at Richland, Wash. As a result, the DOE Office of Environmental Management will have until March 16 to address DNFSB questions […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is setting terms on how it can start using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance nuclear safeguards “without undue risks.” The policy is laid out in a Dec. 29 directive that will apply “to all DNFSB personnel, it full-time employees, contractors, consultants, interns, and any individuals granted access […]

While old, an underground hoist at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico is not unsafe, according to managers of the transuranic waste disposal site. “While all the WIPP hoists are experiencing reliability issues due to age and obsolescence, these reliability issues do not present safety risks to employees,” DOE’s […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is setting terms on how it can start using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance nuclear safeguards “without undue risks.” The policy is laid out in a Dec. 29 directive that will apply “to all DNFSB personnel, it full-time employees, contractors, consultants, interns, and any individuals granted access […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is setting terms on how it can start using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance nuclear safeguards “without undue risks.” The policy is laid out in a Dec. 29 directive that will apply “to all DNFSB personnel, it full-time employees, contractors, consultants, interns, and any individuals granted access […]

While old, an underground hoist at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico is not unsafe, according to managers of the transuranic waste disposal site. “While all the WIPP hoists are experiencing reliability issues due to age and obsolescence, these reliability issues do not present safety risks to employees,” DOE’s […]

After spending 40 years with the federal government, Daniel Ogg, currently executive director of U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB), will retire effective Dec. 31. Ogg has headed NWTRB for more than three years and has been with the board, as a member of its professional staff, since 2014, according to a post Tuesday […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) gave the Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) a year to brief the board on improvements to safety at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s  pit facility in New Mexico. The nuclear safety watchdog, in a letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright with […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has formally told Secretary of Energy Chris Wright that the board plans to remain active on safety despite being down to a single member. The DNFSB’s acting chair, Thomas Summers, left the small agency when his term ended Oct. 18. The Summers’ exit leaves Patricia Lee as the […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has formally informed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright that the board plans to remain active on safety despite being down to a single member. The DNFSB’s acting chair, Thomas Summers, left the small agency when his term ended Oct. 18. The Summers’ exit leaves Patricia Lee as the […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) gave the Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) a year to brief the board on improvements to safety at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s  pit facility in New Mexico. The nuclear safety watchdog, in a letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright with […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has formally told Secretary of Energy Chris Wright that the board plans to remain active on safety despite being down to a single member. The DNFSB’s acting chair, Thomas Summers, left the small agency when his term ended Oct. 18. The Summers’ exit leaves Patricia Lee as the […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) hopes Brandon Williams, the newly confirmed administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, will prioritize a list of safety challenges that the board wrote him about last month. “Congratulations on your confirmation as Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)!” the nation’s nuclear safety watchdog started its […]

As Tim Walsh, the new Department of Energy assistant secretary for Environmental Management, settles into his office, he will find a letter from a federal watchdog about old equipment and ongoing safety concerns within the DOE nuclear complex. Walsh was sworn in to head the $8-billion nuclear cleanup office on Thursday Oct. 23 after being […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) hopes Brandon Williams, the newly confirmed administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, will prioritize a list of safety challenges that the board wrote him about last month. “Congratulations on your confirmation as Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)!” the nation’s nuclear safety watchdog started its […]

As Tim Walsh, the new Department of Energy assistant secretary for Environmental Management, settles into his office, he will find a letter from a federal watchdog about old equipment and ongoing safety concerns within the DOE nuclear complex. Walsh was sworn in to head the $8-billion nuclear cleanup office on Thursday Oct. 23 after being […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) officially announced Saturday Oct. 18 that Acting Chair Thomas Summers has ended his service with the agency following the expiration of his five-year term. “Mr. Summers served the board with distinction, most recently as acting chairman, leading the agency during a period of significant transition and sustained operational […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) will lose some of its watchdog powers but will retain others, even while down to one member, the departed acting chair of the board Thomas Summers said last week. This is the second article resulting from Exchange Monitor’s interview last week with Summers prior to his last day […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) will lose some of its watchdog powers but will retain others, even while down to one member, the departed acting chair of the board Thomas Summers said last week. This is the second article resulting from Exchange Monitor’s interview last week with Summers prior to his last day […]