Budget & Policy

Lockheed Martin on Tuesday reported solid first-quarter financial results with strong sales and cash flow, but flat earnings, results it said were not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the outlook for the rest of the year is “uncertain” and is dependent in part on the “duration and spread” of the crisis, and the resulting actions […]

The Government Accountability Office said Friday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has yet to implement a set of “priority” recommendations on securing radiological sources that could be weaponized. “Our April 2019 report, in combination with our previous reports on this topic, demonstrate that there are vulnerabilities in current NRC security requirements such as the risk of […]

Both chambers of Congress will remain on recess later than scheduled, returning no earlier than May 4, lawmakers said this week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the upper chamber would add two weeks to its current recess in a Tuesday note to fellow senators, then in a press release. His announcement followed a […]

The Department of Energy published guidance Wednesday for contractors that need to bill the government for paid time off given to employees unable to report for work due to COVID-19. The new guidance attempts to steer contracting officers through the process of modifying existing deals so that vendors can claim reimbursement under the $2.2 trillion CARES […]

Both chambers of Congress will remain on recess later than scheduled, returning no earlier than May 4, lawmakers said this week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the upper chamber would add two weeks to its current recess in a Tuesday note to fellow senators, then in a press release. His announcement followed a […]

Companies in the radioactive waste processing and disposal industry acknowledged this week they are feeling the pinch from the COVID-19 pandemic, but emphasized that they remain fully open for business. At least one industry mainstay confirmed that it has sought federal assistance via the $2.2 trillion CARES Act signed into law on March 27 to […]

Both chambers of Congress will remain on recess later than scheduled, returning no earlier than May 4, lawmakers said this week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the upper chamber would add two weeks to its current recess in a Tuesday note to fellow senators, then in a press release. His announcement followed a […]

The Department of Energy published guidance Wednesday for contractors that need to bill the government for paid time off given to employees unable to report for work due to COVID-19. The new guidance attempts to steer contracting officers through the process of modifying existing deals so that contractors can claim reimbursement under the $2.2 trillion […]

An article in Wednesday’s Weapons Complex Morning Briefing should have said that Sandia National Laboratories’ Building 954 in Albuquerque, N.M., is a maintenance shop and warehouse that supports employees required to report for work during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the building’s bicycle lab is closed. The story should also have said the case of […]

Both chambers of Congress will remain on recess later than scheduled, returning no earlier than May 4, lawmakers said on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the upper chamber would add two weeks to its current recess in a Tuesday note to fellow senators, then in a press release. His announcement follows a […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has acceded to a request from three senior members of Congress to delay collection of fees from licensees for 90 days amid the COVID-19 pandemic. All invoices for annual fees scheduled to be issued for the third quarter of fiscal 2020 will now go out on July 22, NRC Chairman Kristine […]

The Idaho congressional delegation last week urged Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette to prioritize preparation of spent nuclear fuel at the Idaho National Laboratory for shipment out of state by the end of 2034. The Energy Department should follow the U.S. Navy’s lead in getting spent fuel at INL “road ready,” the lawmakers said in a […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee will continue to work toward its goal of completing its version of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act markup by the end of May, but remains flexible “because of the uncertainty associated with the coronavirus in the weeks ahead,” spokeswoman Marta Hernandez said in the statement last week. “At […]

Environmental and construction services provider APTIM on Friday announced its second new chief executive officer in a year. Mark Fallon will assume the CEO position on April 20, according to an APTIM press release. He succeeds Michael Donnelly, who was appointed chief executive officer in April 2019 and is retiring. “We are pleased to welcome […]

The Department of Energy on Friday reported three more cases of COVID-19 among its workforce in the Washington capital region, including the first confirmed case at the agency’s Germantown, Md., building. That brings the total confirmed number of cases at DOE headquarters to at least eight, according to a series of statements the agency has […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee called off an exchange of letters and statements about the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons budget that was scheduled for Thursday between lawmakers and top managers from the agency and the Pentagon. The committee had not announced a makeup date at deadline for the so-called paper hearing, which was delayed […]

Essential federal workers, including those at National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plants that have not paused operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, should have access to protective equipment and daily testing for the virus, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said this week. “Every day, if you go to work at the White House, […]

A viable program for treating supplemental low-activity waste at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state can be developed for any one of three major technologies – vitrification, grouting, and steam reforming, according to an April 1 report from a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine panel. But grouting and steam reforming would […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee called off an exchange of letters and statements about the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons budget that was scheduled today between lawmakers and top managers from the agency and the Pentagon. The so-called paper hearing was scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. The committee had not announced a makeup date […]

Essential federal workers, including those at National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plants that have not paused operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, should have access to protective equipment and daily testing for the virus, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Tuesday. “Every day, if you go to work at the White House, you […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee is initiating a public exchange of letters with senior Trump administration officials regarding the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2021 nuclear-weapon budget request.  It is one of the committee’s so-called “paper hearings,” invented to prevent public gatherings during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This session, which includes leadership from DOE and the […]

The Defense Nuclear Safety Facilities Board (DNFSB) is urging its inspectors and staff to press their newly bolstered authority to inspect Department of Energy defense-nuclear sites, as codified by Congress last year. Congress, at least in the board’s interpretation, used the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 to short-circuit DOE Order 140.1, which was written by […]

The House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) markup will be delayed as the United States issues more guidelines to counter the COVID-19 pandemic. Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) this week postponed the fiscal 2021 NDAA markup originally scheduled for April 30. There was no make-up date at deadline Friday, but Smith […]

The Defense Nuclear Safety Facilities Board (DNFSB) is urging its inspectors and staff to press their newly bolstered authority to inspect Department of Energy defense-nuclear sites, as codified by Congress last year. Congress, at least in the board’s interpretation, used the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 to short-circuit DOE Order 140.1, which was written by […]

The Defense Nuclear Safety Facilities Board (DNFSB) is urging its inspectors and staff to press their newly bolstered authority to inspect Department of Energy defense-nuclear sites, as codified by Congress last year. Congress, at least in the board’s interpretation, used the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 to short-circuit DOE Order 140.1, which was written […]

The House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) markup will be delayed as the United States issues more guidelines to counter the COVID-19 pandemic. Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said March 30 that the committee has postponed the fiscal 2021 NDAA markup, originally scheduled for April 30. The postponement follows President Donald […]

President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law the $2 trillion relief bill to support national recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to nearly $100 million for the Energy Department’s Office of Science and semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to support research and development to help contain the fallout of COVID-19, at national […]

Congress’ third coronavirus relief package, passed Friday, should help blunt the financial repercussions of the soaring unemployment and depressed stock market that have accompanied the outbreak, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said this week during a press conference just before the vote. “The most important part of the bill was making it clear that the […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) wants a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Energy to further improve the contentious relationship between the federal agencies. That would be an additional measure on top of DOE’s revision to the controversial Order 140.1 that revised its interactions with the board. The revision comes after Congress last year directed […]

The top members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee want the Government Accountability Office to evaluate how the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management sets its priorities for using technology to further its mission. The study was requested in a Wednesday letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro from Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson […]