Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

Queuing up fireworks ahead of this year’s annual National Defense Authorization Act, a House Armed Services panel has invited the head of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board to a Tuesday hearing with the heads of Department of Energy nuclear weapons and cleanup programs. The witness list for the hearing of the strategic forces subcommittee […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) was not moved by a Department of Energy statement this week that plutonium stored in the Nevada National Security Site’s Device Assembly Facility is safe from earthquakes that might cause high explosives to detonate in the facility and spew plutonium into the air beyond the site’s borders. “The […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is concerned that an earthquake could cause high explosives to detonate in the Nevada National Security Site’s Device Assembly Facility and spew plutonium into the air and beyond the confines of the former nuclear test site. The independent federal nuclear health and safety watchdog laid out the concern […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) says the Energy Department should do more to reduce the risk of combustion of stored radioactive waste sludge similar to the April 2018 accident at the Idaho National Laboratory in which four drums blew off their lids. In a March 12 letter, the DNFSB asked Energy Secretary Rick […]

Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), a friend of the Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories who has spent the last two decades on Capitol Hill, on Monday announced he will not run for re-election in 2020. Rather than seeking a third term, Udall will leave the Senate in January 2021. Since 2009, Udall has occupied the Senate […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) says the Energy Department should do more to reduce the risk of combustion of stored radioactive waste sludge similar to the April 2018 accident at the Idaho National Laboratory in which four drums blew off their lids. In a March 12 letter, the DNFSB asked Energy Secretary Rick […]

Daniel Santos last week resigned from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) after a little more than four years on the job, the independent nuclear health-and-safety watchdog confirmed Monday. A spokesperson for the DNFSB said Santos’ last day will be March 29. The board had previously announced on its website, without naming names, that one […]

Daniel Santos last week resigned from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) after a little more than four years on the job, the independent nuclear health-and-safety watchdog confirmed Monday. A spokesperson for the DNFSB said Santos’ last day will be March 29. The board had previously announced on its website, without naming names, that one […]

Daniel Santos last week resigned from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) after a little more than four years on the job, the independent nuclear health-and-safety watchdog confirmed Monday. A spokesperson for the DNFSB said Santos’ last day will be March 29. The board had previously announced on its website, without naming names, that […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) finalized its first safety recommendation to the Donald Trump administration’s Department of Energy, urging the agency to improve the safety of nuclear explosives handling at the Pantex weapons assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas, documents published Tuesday show. In the recommendation, the independent federal board zeroed in on equipment and processes […]

Three Department of Energy field managers in New Mexico said Thursday that an agency order issued last year will bring little change in a good relationship with an independent federal watchdog, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The officials offered the commitment at a DNFSB public hearing in Albuquerque, N.M. The four board members […]

As part of its efforts to put its house in order, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) intends hire a high-level staff management position, Chairman Bruce Hamilton said Feb. 14 during a meeting in Washington, D.C. “We need to hire this executive secretary, or chief of staff, or whatever you want to call it,” […]

Three Department of Energy field managers in New Mexico said Thursday that an agency order issued last year will bring little change in a good relationship with an independent federal watchdog, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The officials spoke at a DNFSB public hearing in Albuquerque, N.M. The four board members and about […]

As part of its efforts to put its house in order, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) intends hire a high-level staff management position, Chairman Bruce Hamilton said during a recent meeting in Washington, D.C. “We need to hire this executive secretary, or chief of staff, or whatever you want to call it,” Hamilton […]

Three of four members of the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board (DNFSB) concurred with a recently published in-house legal opinion that the small, independent federal nuclear watchdog has the right to make safety recommendations for Department of Energy workers. The sole holdout was board Chairman Bruce Hamilton. The two agencies have disagreed on the point for nearly […]

As part of its efforts to put its house in order, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) intends hire a high-profile staff management position, Chairman Bruce Hamilton said Thursday during a meeting in Washington, D.C. “We need to hire this executive secretary, or chief of staff, or whatever you want to call it,” Hamilton […]

The White House this week teed up a radical reshaping of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), proposing to add two new members to the independent federal watchdog and boot one member. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Trump administration nominated a combined four people to the board. The nominees include new faces and existing board […]

The White House this week teed up a radical reshaping of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), proposing to add two new members to the independent federal watchdog and boot one member. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Trump administration nominated a combined four people to the board. The nominees include new faces and existing board […]

WASHINGTON — The leadership of the federal government’s independent health-and-safety watchdog for Department of Energy defense-nuclear sites is plagued by mistrust, one member said in an open meeting here Wednesday. “There’s a good deal of mistrust still among board members and, to put in bluntly, hurt feelings,” according to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) member […]

Former Air Force Col. Thomas Summers will join the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), if the Senate confirms the former ICBM oficer the Donald Trump administration intends to nominate. The White House late Friday announced its intent to nominate Summers to the independent federal nuclear health-and-safety watchdog. Summers would finish the remainder of a […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board plans to hold a public hearing by May to discuss an April 2018 accident at the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory in which four drums of radioactive sludge blew off their lids. Three of the four DNFSB members voted on Dec. 12 to hold a hearing in Washington, D.C., […]

Congress is back for the 116th time, and the two parties this week officially elected leaders for several committees important to those who watch the Department of Energy’s nuclear portfolio. Republicans still control the Senate, while Democrats have taken over in the House following the November midterm elections. Following is a list of newly selected leaders […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board plans to hold a public hearing by May to discuss an April 2018 accident at the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory in which four drums of radioactive sludge overheated and blew off their lids. Three of the four DNFSB members voted on Dec. 12 to hold a hearing in […]

The federal government’s nuclear health-and-safety watchdog has raised concerns about whether an exhaust tunnel at the Savannah River Site’s nuclear materials processing facility can withstand the impact of an earthquake. The concern is related to two ongoing issues at the facility that have not yet been remedied, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said […]

WASHINGTON — The White House has someone in mind to fill a vacancy on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the acting head of the independent nuclear-health-and-safety watchdog said in a public meeting here Thursday. Acting Chairman Bruce Hamilton would not identify the potential nominee. The DNFSB has been without a fifth board member since […]

The federal government’s nuclear health-and-safety watchdog has raised concerns about whether an exhaust tunnel at the Savannah River Site’s nuclear materials processing facility can withstand the impact of an earthquake. The concern is related to two ongoing issues at the facility that have not yet been remedied, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said […]

WASHINGTON — The White House has someone in mind to fill a vacancy on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the acting head of the independent nuclear-health-and-safety watchdog said in a public meeting here Thursday. Acting Chairman Bruce Hamilton would not identify the potential nominee. The DNFSB has been without a fifth board member since […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – While the Energy Department’s top nuclear cleanup manager said Wednesday her office will not use a new agency order to thwart oversight by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), members of the panel remained apprehensive. Order 140.1, issued in May, will not change the relationship between DOE’s Office of Environmental Management […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – While the Energy Department’s top nuclear cleanup manager said Wednesday her office will not use a new agency order to thwart oversight by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), members of the panel remained apprehensive. Order 140.1, issued in May, will not change the relationship between DOE’s Office of Environmental Management […]

The Department of Energy and contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security lacked plans to deal with a small number of plausible hazards that could lead, among other things, to an inadvertent nuclear detonation at the nation’s prime nuclear-weapon assembly and disassembly site, according to a draft report the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) report made public […]