Y-12 National Security Complex
The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, produces and stores enriched uranium components for the nuclear stockpile. Coverage tracks the Uranium Processing Facility construction project, secondary production, highly enriched uranium storage, site contracts, and security and safety findings.
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Y-12 clears way for new, safer uranium purification process for nuclear weapons work
The last hydrogen fluoride cylinder was recently removed from the Y‑12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., clearing the way for a new uranium-purification technology for nuclear weapons that could switch on in 2024. Hydrogen fluoride was used in an antiquated wet-chemistry conversion and purification process for making enriched uranium metal at the plant’s […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Honeywell playing potential Pantex bid close to the chest
KNOXVILLE – If Honeywell is gunning for the contract to run the Pantex Plant when the National Nuclear Security Administration splits the landlord deals for that site and Y-12 in Oak Ridge, Tenn., next year, the company is treating its involvement like a state secret. “I’ll answer the way that I would have answered that […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Y-12, Pantex, other NNSA sites challenged with inexperienced workforce as modernization challenges loom
KNOXVILLE – More than half of the employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office, which encompasses both the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and the Pantex Plant in Texas, have been working for the nuclear enterprise for less than five years, according to agency and contractor officials. There are about 12,000 employees […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Y-12, Pantex, other NNSA sites challenged with inexperienced workforce as modernization challenges loom
KNOXVILLE – More than half of the employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office, which encompasses both the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and the Pantex Plant in Texas, have been working for the nuclear enterprise for less than five years, according to agency and contractor officials. There are about 12,000 employees […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
NNSA investigating loss of criticality controls at Y-12 uranium processing facility
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Enterprise Assessments is investigating an incident at the Y-12 National Security Complex in which a machine used to shape uranium was dismantled without proper criticality controls in place. In a letter dated Aug. 3, Anthony Pierpoint, director of the NNSA’s office of enforcement, notified Consolidated Nuclear Security’s (CNS) […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Possible suitors for Pantex M&O pact emerge
Jacobs Solutions, Huntington Ingalls, BWX Technologies and others are among those seeking the National Nuclear Security Administration’s decade-spanning, $30-billion contract to manage the agency’s nuclear-weapons service center in Texas. Pantex and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., are currently managed for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) by Consolidated Nuclear Security, a […]
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Budget & Policy
Key appropriator hopes to avoid government shutdown
ARLINGTON, VA —Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) Tuesday prodded hundreds of people here for the National Cleanup Workshop to urge their congressional representatives to avoid a federal government shutdown but stopped short of predicting a stopgap agreement before fiscal 2023 ends Sept. 30. “Reach out to your member of congress,” said Fleischmann, who chairs the House […]
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Innovation & Infrastructure
Y-12 Fire Department at home in new station
Two decades after planning began, the fire department for the Y-12 National Security Complex has moved into its brand-new station, site officials said in a recent statement. Construction began in the spring of 2021 after 20 years of discussion and planning, according to a post on the site’s blog. When visiting the new Y-12 Fire […]
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Innovation & Infrastructure
Y-12 Fire Department at home in new station
Two decades after planning began, the fire department for the Y-12 National Security Complex has moved into its brand-new station, site officials said in a recent statement. Construction began in the spring of 2021 after 20 years of discussion and planning, according to a post on the site’s blog. When visiting the new Y-12 Fire […]
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Innovation & Infrastructure
Livermore’s Bauer to lead new ‘blueprint’ to revamp NNSA enterprise
Linda Bauer, former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory deputy director, will lead a new effort to write a “blueprint” for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s production and science & technology infrastructure. NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby announced the campaign to “keep pace with the dynamic global environment” in an internal email seen by the Exchange Monitor on […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
High marks for Y-12 fire protection systems in recent inspection
Consolidated Nuclear Security set up a reliable fire suppression system and procedures at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., according to a recent assessment by the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments. The Bechtel National-led site prime contractor “has established a comprehensive sitewide [fire protection program] and policy to ensure the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Judge opts for shortcut in case of alleged wage withholding by CNS as plaintiffs flounder
A federal judge will rule on a request from Consolidated Nuclear Security to throw out a suit brought by employees who allege, in a suit that has ground on for three years amid the plaintiffs’ failure to retain a lawyer, that the contractor improperly withheld wages from workers in Tennessee. Judge Katherine Crytzer did not […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
High marks for Y-12 fire protection systems in recent inspection
Consolidated Nuclear Security set up a reliable fire suppression system and procedures at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., according to a recent assessment by the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments. The Bechtel National-led site prime contractor “has established a comprehensive sitewide [fire protection program] and policy to ensure the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Judge opts for shortcut in case of alleged wage withholding by CNS as plaintiffs flounder
A federal judge will rule on a request from Consolidated Nuclear Security to throw out a suit brought by employees who allege, in a suit that has ground on for three years amid the plaintiffs’ failure to retain a lawyer, that the contractor improperly withheld wages from workers in Tennessee. Judge Katherine Crytzer did not […]
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Contracts & Procurement
CNS seeks subcontractor to revamp utilities and equipment at Y-12
Consolidated Nuclear Security, which operates the Y-12 National Security Site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is seeking contractors to undertake a sweeping utilities upgrade at the site. For the Utility Upgrades and Equipment Project (UUEP), Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) wants a contractor to perform site demolition and preparation and installation of new utilities. CNS wants a […]
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Contracts & Procurement
CNS seeks subcontractor to revamp utilities and equipment at Y-12
Consolidated Nuclear Security, which operates the Y-12 National Security Site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is seeking contractors to undertake a sweeping utilities upgrade at the site. For the Utility Upgrades and Equipment Project (UUEP), Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) wants a contractor to perform site demolition and preparation and installation of new utilities. CNS wants a […]
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Reindustrialization & Redevelopment
Six candidates interviewed for Oak Ridge city manager opening
Oak Ridge, Tenn., City Council last week held video interviews with a half-dozen candidates to be city manager for the municipality, population 31,000, which borders the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site. Zoom interviews with candidates to succeed City Manager Mark Watson, who retired on May 5, occurred July 17-18, according to a post on […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
Senate appropriators boost funding for plutonium, uranium production facilities
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday passed a spending bill that would give the National Nuclear Security Administration nearly $2 billion more than the $22.1 billion the White House sought and almost exactly the $24 billion the House has proposed. The bill, approved 29-0 by the committee, also includes larger-than-requested appropriations for plutonium pit factories […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Pitches for potential 20-year, $30B Pantex management deal due by Sept. 14
Whoever next manages the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, could hold the job for 20 years under a contract worth up to $30 billion now that a final pair of five-year options periods have been approved by senior officials. A final request for proposals (RFP) for a new management contract at […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Pitches for potential 20-year, $30B Pantex management deal due by Sept. 14
Whoever next manages the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, could hold the job for 20 years under a contract worth up to $30 billion now that a final pair of five-year options periods have been approved by senior officials. A final request for proposals (RFP) for a new management contract at […]
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Budget & Policy
Lawmakers cry foul over NNSA moves to cover Uranium Processing Facility cost overrun
In a letter earlier this year, two Democratic appropriators in Congress blasted the secretary of energy about moving money around in the Department of Energy’s budget to cover the soaring cost of the Uranium Processing Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. “We write to you to express our deep concerns about the Executive Branch’s fiscal year […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Employees suing over lost wages restate case against CNS, again seek class-action status
Employees suing Consolidated Nuclear Security over allegedly withheld wages responded late last week to the company’s request that a court throw the case out, again arguing that the contractor shorted them a paycheck in 2017. Plaintiffs James Myers, James Young and Douglas Messerli have so far been unsuccessful in certifying a class action lawsuit on […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Employees suing over lost wages restate case against CNS, again seek class-action status
Employees suing Consolidated Nuclear Security over allegedly withheld wages responded late last week to the company’s request that a court throw the case out, again arguing that the contractor shorted them a paycheck in 2017. Plaintiffs James Myers, James Young and Douglas Messerli have so far been unsuccessful in certifying a class action lawsuit on […]
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Budget & Policy
House’s draft DOE budget has small boost for nuclear weapons modernization
Civilian nuclear weapons programs would get a little more funding than requested in fiscal year 2024 if a bill sent to the House Appropriations Committee this week becomes law. The House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee’s version of the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2024 spending bill would provide $48.8 billion overall for the agency, […]
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Budget & Policy
House Energy and Water panel calls for boosting DOE defense spending, nuke modernization
Civilian nuclear weapons programs would get a little more funding than requested in fiscal year 2024 if a budget bill released Wednesday by a House panel becomes law. The House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water’s version of the fiscal 2024 spending bill provides $48.8 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE), $133 million more […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Employees suing CNS for lost wages lose new attorneys, proceed with individual claims
Employees suing Consolidated Nuclear Security over allegedly withheld wages are again without lawyers and have only two weeks to explain why the case should not be dismissed. After the first set of lawyers for the three named plaintiffs, all employees of the manager of the Y-12 site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., bowed out of the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Employees suing CNS for lost wages lose new attorneys, proceed with individual claims
Employees suing Consolidated Nuclear Security over allegedly withheld wages are again without lawyers and have only two weeks to explain why the case should not be dismissed. After the first set of lawyers for the three named plaintiffs, all employees of the manager of the Y-12 site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., bowed out of the […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
BWXT to process up to twice as much uranium after nearly two tons of scrap found at Y-12
The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to have BWX Technologies process nearly twice as much high-assay low-enriched uranium as recently planned after more than a metric ton of the material was found at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. A notice of intent filed May 3 on the government’s contracting website outlines NNSA plans […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Employees suing CNS seek to dodge judge’s ultimatum, keep paycheck lawsuit alive
Employees suing Consolidated Nuclear Security over allegedly withheld wages got new lawyers this week and want more time to answer the company’s motion to dismiss their case, court documents show. The plaintiffs want an extension to the May 9 deadline the court set to proceed with the case or have it thrown out. Consolidated Nuclear […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
CNS employees alleging lost pay face Tuesday deadline to get a new lawyer
Employees of Consolidated Nuclear Security could see their years-long attempt to organize a class-action suit over lost wages dismissed on a technicality by Tuesday. The employees of the manager of the Y-12 site in Oak Ridge Tenn., have until midnight Tuesday to identify their new lawyers after the attorneys who organized the suit dropped the […]






