Budget & Policy

The Senate Armed Services Committee thinks its version of the annual policy-shaping National Defense Authorization Act (NSAA) could pass the upper chamber before the Fourth of July holiday, a committee aide confirmed Monday afternoon. Politico reported this week that the GOP-controlled panel plans to mark up its version of the bill the week of June […]

Federal contractors would get leniency for missing deliverables because of their COVID-19 response plans, and prime contractors would be in line for quicker payments, under a Democratic-authored relief bill slated for a vote Friday in the House of Representatives – and which President Donald Trump has said he would veto. The Senate’s Republican leadership also […]

Federal contractors would get leniency for missing deliverables because of their COVID-19 response plans, and prime contractors would be in line for quicker payments, under a Democratic-authored relief bill slated for a vote Friday in the House of Representatives – and which President Donald Trump has said he would veto. The Senate’s Republican leadership also […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will next week consider Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes’ nomination to the No. 2 spot at the Department of Energy. The White House in March nominated Menezes as deputy secretary of energy. He would succeed Dan Brouillette, who became energy secretary in December. After a career on Capitol […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will next week consider Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes’ nomination to the No. 2 spot at the Department of Energy. The White House in March nominated Menezes as deputy secretary of energy. He would succeed Dan Brouillette, who became energy secretary in December. After a career on Capitol […]

Federal contractors would get leniency for missing deliverables because of their COVID-19 response plans, and prime contractors would be in line for quicker payments, under a Democratic Party-authored relief bill that debuted Tuesday in the House of Representatives – and was flatly rejected by the Senate’s Republican leadership. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency […]

With most of the ballots counted in Tuesday’s special election in California’s 25th Congressional District, it appears businessman and former Navy fighter pilot Mike Garcia is in position to retake the seat for the Republican Party. Wednesday morning news reports gave Garcia a double-digit lead, 56% to 44%, over Democrat Christy Smith, a member of […]

The North Access Road Bypass at the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico opened to traffic on Friday. The $9 million, 3-mile bypass connects north and south access roads for the DOE site and directs other traffic away from the underground disposal facility, particularly the construction area on the surface for […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee thinks its version of the annual policy-shaping National Defense Authorization Act (NSAA) could pass the upper chamber before the Fourth of July holiday, a committee aide confirmed Monday afternoon. Politico reported Monday that the GOP-controlled panel plans to mark up its version of the bill the week of June 8. […]

Two more staffers at Department of Energy headquarters buildings in and near Washington, D.C., have tested positive for COVID-19, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said Friday. One of these people works at the Forrestal Building in downtown Washington, another in the DOE’s Germantown building in suburban Maryland, according to the statement from Brouillette. The Forrestal […]

While some program delays are “inevitable” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has done an adequate job of sustaining its nuclear-weapon work while minimizing the spread of disease among its workforce, the House’s top GOP military policy maker said Thursday. “There has been some criticism at NNSA, just like in […]

The White House this week shoveled more than 30 nominations to the newly returned Senate, including two for positions on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.  Former Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chair Joyce Connery was nominated to serve a term ending Oct. 18, 2024, while Thomas Summers, former vice commander of the 91st […]

The White House this week shoveled more than 30 nominations to the newly returned Senate, including two for positions on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.  Former Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chair Joyce Connery was nominated to serve a term ending Oct. 18, 2024, while Thomas Summers, former vice commander of the 91st […]

The Senate on Monday voted 87-0 to confirm Department of Justice attorney Robert Feitel as the new inspector general for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Feitel succeeds Hubert Bell, who served 22 years as the industry regulator’s inspector general before retiring in December 2018. There was no debate on Feitel’s nomination prior to the Senate’s roll-call […]

Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) name was misspelled in an article in the Wednesday issue of Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.

The Senate on Monday voted 87-0 to confirm Department of Justice attorney Robert Feitel as the new inspector general for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Feitel succeeds Hubert Bell, who served 22 years as the industry regulator’s inspector general before retiring in December 2018. The vote was conducted shortly after 6 p.m., following a brief introduction […]

Honeywell, which owns or has a stake in multiple defense-nuclear site-management contractors, did better than it expected in the first quarter of 2020, but sees economic headwinds due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Quarterly net income for the period ended March 30 rose to more than $1.5 million, or $2.21 a share, from around $1.4 […]

The Senate returns to Capitol Hill today, and the Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled a hearing Thursday to consider the nominations of three Pentagon officials. Ambassador to Norway Kenneth Braithwaite has been nominated to become the next Navy secretary, Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Charles Brown is nominated to become the next Air Force […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has knocked a year off its schedule for the review of SHINE Medical Technologies’ license application to operate its medical isotope production plant in Janesville, Wisc. The agency had expected it would need 36 months to complete the technical review after the application was formally accepted in October 2019. The anticipated […]

New Mexico’s delegation to the U.S. Senate last week asked the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to further delay into mid-June the public comment period on an environmental review of pit production at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich (both D-N.M.). wrote to NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty on April 22. […]

While it has made progress, the Department of Energy still needs to more fully address priority recommendations to improve performance in its nuclear security and cleanup missions, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Wednesday. In an annual update, the congressional auditor said it has 20 priority recommendations across the Energy Department, including eight recommendations new […]

An article in the April 29 issue of Weapons Complex Morning Briefing incorrectly reported the operational status of the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. Pantex has been limited to mission-critical operations since April 16, but external communication from the plant mistakenly reported this month the facility was in a different operational posture during the COVID-19 crisis. Pantex […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March spent $713 of its remaining balance from the federal fund for disposal of the nation’s nuclear waste. As it has for more than a year, the agency spent the money on unspecified program planning and support, according to the latest Nuclear Waste Fund update to Congress. That left with […]

The Department of State on Friday framed deployment of a low-yield warhead aboard U.S. submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles as a means of preventing a nuclear arms race. The agency’s 10-page, election-year publication is part of a series of Arms Control and International Security Papers and takes aim at most critiques against the low-yield warhead leveled […]

Two more people at the Department of Energy’s Forrestal Building headquarters in Washington, D.C., have tested positive for COVID-19, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said Friday. One employee has not been in the buildng since March 13, the other since March 27, Brouillette said in the statement. Both have since recovered in self-quarantine, he added. That […]

The Energy Department officially plans to end the policy of bartering uranium to pay for legacy nuclear-weapon cleanup at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The policy statement is included in a report issued Thursday that lays out a plan for restarting end-to-end nuclear fuel production in the United States. The agency will will “cease bartering […]

Federal agencies will gradually return to normal operations in parallel with the White House’s three-phase plan to reactivate the national economy as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, the Trump administration said Monday. The new guidance does not provide any set schedule for the process, but rather says managers must make decisions on reducing telework and staffing […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has yet to implement a set of “priority” recommendations from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on securing radiological sources that could be weaponized. Congress’ auditor issued its findings on April 17, part of a series of new reports on priority open recommendations at various federal agencies. “Our April 2019 report, in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday it would give the public additional time to comment on a preliminary finding in support of licensing a facility in New Mexico for temporary storage of spent fuel from nuclear power plants. “We’ve extended the public comment period on our draft Environmental Impact Statement for #Holtec‘s proposed spent #nuclear […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management confirmed Tuesday that contracts for nuclear cleanup sites are being modified to include paid leave for certain workers who cannot telecommute during the COVID-19 pandemic. Environmental Management “is in the process of modifying applicable prime contracts to incorporate a contract clause to implement Section 3610 of the CARES […]