Los Alamos

The state of New Mexico has rejected the latest hazardous waste permit renewal application for the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, citing among other things deficiencies related to oversight of PFAS, sometimes called “forever chemicals.”  Concerns over explosive waste treatment operations and legacy waste management, were also cited by the New Mexico Environment […]

The Department of Energy is reviewing roughly 80 internal orders under an initiative called “Project Velocity” aimed at accelerating work across the nuclear weapons enterprise, Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said last month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the effort is intended to streamline operations […]

The Department of Energy is reviewing roughly 80 internal orders under an initiative called “Project Velocity” aimed at accelerating work across the nuclear weapons enterprise, Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said last month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the effort is intended to streamline operations […]

About 81 million pounds of rubble have been cleared away from the two-acre footprint of the former Alpha-2 building site at the Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. That amounts to about 3,500 truckloads of debris being hauled away from the former uranium enrichment […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise is entering a “fourth age of deterrence,” marking a shift from post-Cold War stewardship toward large-scale modernization and production. Speaking May 5 before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis described the current era as one driven […]

A key environmental document and Record of Decision (ROD) issued Thursday by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) clears the way for expanding operations for Sandia National Laboratories over the next 15 years. The “expanded operations alternative” endorsed the NNSA’s final Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement and ROD should allow Sandia to build […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory may require significant electrical infrastructure upgrades within several years as artificial intelligence programs, supercomputing systems and weapons modernization activities sharply increase power demand, the lab’s Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the laboratory is pursuing plans for a […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory may require significant electrical infrastructure upgrades within several years as artificial intelligence programs, supercomputing systems and weapons modernization activities sharply increase power demand, the lab’s Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the laboratory is pursuing plans for a […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory may require significant electrical infrastructure upgrades within several years as artificial intelligence programs, supercomputing systems and weapons modernization activities sharply increase power demand, the lab’s Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the laboratory is pursuing plans for a […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise is entering a “fourth age of deterrence,” marking a shift from post-Cold War stewardship toward large-scale modernization and production. Speaking May 5 before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis described the current era as one driven […]

The wildfire-prone New Mexico county where the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory is located has entered “stage 1 fire restrictions,” according to a recent post from the Los Alamos County Department of Public Utilities. “Fire Marshal Colorado Cordova of the Los Alamos Fire Department (LAFD) has enacted fire restrictions to Stage 1, effective […]

SANTA FE, N.M. — Residents, advocates and technical experts said here last week that a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) environmental review on plutonium pit production understates risks to water resources, worker safety and communities along transport routes. Some speakers at a Thursday May 14 public hearing in Santa Fe also said NNSA is failing […]

SANTA FE, N.M. — Residents, advocates and technical experts said here last week that a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) environmental review on plutonium pit production understates risks to water resources, worker safety and communities along transport routes. Some speakers at a Thursday May 14 public hearing in Santa Fe also said NNSA is failing […]

LOS ALAMOS N.M. — Federal cleanup managers told the Los Alamos Board of Public Utilities on Wednesday that a hexavalent chromium plume migrating from beneath Los Alamos National Laboratory remains “uncontrolled” although there remains no threat to local drinking water. The situation around the lab and Pueblo de San Ildefonso tribal land was detailed by […]

The wildfire-prone New Mexico county where the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory is located has entered “stage 1 fire restrictions,” according to a recent post from the Los Alamos County Department of Public Utilities. “Fire Marshal Colorado Cordova of the Los Alamos Fire Department (LAFD) has enacted fire restrictions to Stage 1, effective […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup field office at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and its environmental contractor will conduct a presentation Wednesday on the hexavalent chromium plume during the Los Alamos County, N.M., Department of Public Utilities Board meeting. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and contractor Newport News Nuclear-BWXT Los Alamos will discuss the […]

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pressed Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently over the Department of Energy’s decision to redirect funding intended for the Savannah River Site to weapons production efforts at Los Alamos National Laboratory. During a Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development subcommittee hearing in late April, Graham said $149 million appropriated through reconciliation for […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has exercised its second two-year option period with the Huntington Ingalls Industries-led legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a DOE spokesperson confirmed Monday. As a result, Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) will stay on the job through April 29, 2028, the spokesperson […]

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pressed Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently over the Department of Energy’s decision to redirect funding intended for the Savannah River Site to weapons production efforts at Los Alamos National Laboratory. During a Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development subcommittee hearing in late April, Graham said $149 million appropriated through reconciliation for […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has exercised its second two-year option period with the Huntington Ingalls Industries-led legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a DOE spokesperson confirmed Monday. As a result, Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) will stay on the job through April 29, 2028, the spokesperson […]

A North Wind Group company said this week it has landed a share of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers business worth $275 million. North Wind Site Services said in an April 27 news release it has been awarded a seat on the Corps’ Northwestern Division Regional Pre-Placed Remedial Action Contract Multiple Award Task Order Contract […]

During a public meeting Tuesday in Carlsbad, N.M., most local residents voiced support for current operations of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and argued a state agency’s proposal to modify WIPP’s permit is unnecessary. Further, most said if the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) thinks too few shipments of legacy transuranic […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy kicked off a new initiative Thursday centered around bolstering the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain by 2033. The new initiative “Nuclear Dominance – 3 by 33” has the federal government working with industry to build up the many aspects of the nuclear supply chain, including uranium enrichment, […]

Oklo, NVIDIA and the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) have entered into agreement on Thursday to explore artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled research and nuclear research and development at LANL. According to Oklo’s press release, the collaboration will use Oklo’s sodium fast-reactor design, NVIDIA AI infrastructure and LANL’s technical expertise in materials science and […]

In a letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, lawmakers wrote this week that Congress is investigating “recent unconfirmed public reporting on the disappearance and death of individuals with access to sensitive U.S. scientific information.” As of April 17, 10 scientists were recently reported either dead or missing. All 10 were involved in researching and […]

In the latest sign of friction between the state of New Mexico and the Department of Energy, a state agency Thursday proposed restrictive changes to the hazardous waste permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad. Among other things the draft permit changes announced by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) would set […]

In a letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, lawmakers wrote this week that Congress is investigating “recent unconfirmed public reporting on the disappearance and death of individuals with access to sensitive U.S. scientific information.” As of April 17, 10 scientists were recently reported either dead or missing. All 10 were involved in researching and […]

Los Alamos Technical Associates (LATA) has promoted Cory Tackett to assistant vice president supporting the Department of War Programs, the company said in a press release. In the role, Tackett will help oversee programs at the Defense Department tied to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) weapons activities portfolio.  Tackett’s 13-year tenure at LATA consists […]

Officials in Grand County, Utah joined Department of Energy representatives April 9 to celebrate removal of 16 million tons of tailings from a site next to the Colorado River as part of the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project. DOE said. Commemorative plaques now honor the Moab Project that started in 2009, according to […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright confirmed Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has “just begun” pit production in testimony Wednesday to the House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee on the fiscal 2027 budget request for the Department of Energy. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), ranking member of the subcommittee, asked Wright about reforms to project […]