Budget & Policy

While the rest of the government prepares for shutdown, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not be affected until at least a week after the shutdown, due to excess funds from its carry-over fund. NRC spokesperson Eliot Brenner confirmed that no furloughs would go into effect for any employees until the funds had been used, which […]

It appeared to be largely business as usual for workers across the DOE complex yesterday as the government entered the first day of a shutdown, though some contractors that remained at work continued to take steps to weather the storm. At Los Alamos National Laboratory, for instance, laboratory leaders directed managers to curtail all but […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory has put several cleanup projects on standby as a result of the government shutdown, though other cleanup work at the lab is continuing—at least for now. Weapons Complex Monitor has learned that much of the lab’s canyon cleanup work as well as some inspections and work under the Consent Order with the […]

Department of Energy contractors are expected to have to begin furloughing employees performing cleanup work in Oak Ridge as early as this week due to the continuing government shutdown, while employees at the Y-12 National Security Complex could have until Oct. 17, the head of Y-12’s metal trades union told NW&M Monitor. As the government […]

A new survey has found that a majority of Americans would prefer a corporate organization rather than a new independent federal agency to handle a nuclear waste storage facility. The survey, sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Institute, found that 57 percent voted in favor of a corporate organization that would report to a board of […]

The B61 refurbishment program will be the subject of a House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing Oct. 10. The hearing is expected to be held despite the government shutdown, and will include testimony from Strategic Command chief Gen. Robert Kehler, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs Madelyn Creedon, NNSA weapons program chief […]

Contractors running the National Nuclear Security Administration’s various sites began initiating shutdown plans yesterday after direction from the agency established Oct. 21 as the latest date for shutdown, NW&M Monitor has learned. Sites could shut down before then, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Parney Albright informed employees in an all-hands meeting yesterday that the […]

The government shutdown hasn’t stopped criticism of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s project management record, and the Albuquerque Journal weighed in yesterday, suggesting that top NNSA officials should be furloughed because of their project management woes. “Runaway regulation, excessive bureaucratic red tape and incompetence are so clogging the work pipeline that the lab and the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is preparing for shutdown sometime in the middle of this week if lawmakers can not find a solution to end the government shutdown. NRC spokesman Eliot Brenner said that Wednesday night was the target date for when NRC would begin shutdown operations, but he cautioned that could change depending on the […]

Close to 4,000 workers at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant may be furloughed, beginning late next week, if some type of budget resolution isn’t reached in the next several days. That was one of the messages delivered Tuesday at B&W Y-12’s all-hands meeting, which featured talks by President and General Manager Chuck Spencer, human resources executives, […]

Contractors across the weapons complex continued to initiate shutdown plans yesterday, with Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory making plans to shutter operations by Oct. 21 if the shutdown persists. Sandia Director Paul Hommert said the lab was complying with National Nuclear Security Administration direction to “prepare for a safe, secure, and orderly […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved by a voice vote yesterday Elizabeth Robinson’s nomination to serve as the new Under Secretary of Energy for Management and Performance, sending her to the full Senate for confirmation. The new Under Secretary position will oversee the Department of Energy’s offices of Environmental Management and Legacy Management, […]

The government shutdown has claimed another victim as the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has postponed its Oct. 22 public hearing in Knoxville on nuclear safety. In a statement on its website, the Board said delaying the meeting was “appropriate and in the best interest of all parties concerned due to the government shutdown.” The […]

Two senators expressed concern yesterday over URS’ recent decision to lay off Walter Tamosaitis, a former contractor executive at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant who has alleged he has faced retaliation for raising safety concerns. In a letter to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) warned […]

With New Mexico’s weapons laboratories initiating shutdown plans this week, four of the state’s lawmakers want to make sure contractor employees at the labs get paid if they’re out of work. House-passed legislation that is supported by the Obama Administration would ensure that furloughed federal workers are retroactively paid for time during the shutdown, but […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory will begin putting its facilities and equipment into a “safe and secure status” Oct. 15 and plans to complete shutdown activities by Oct. 17, lab Director Charlie McMillan said in a message to lab employees yesterday. McMillan confirmed in his message that the last day for non-essential lab employees would be […]

Joining the majority of the federal government, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that yesterday would be its last day of normal operations due to a lack of government appropriations from the shutdown. “Despite our best hopes, the NRC on Thursday will be joining the rest of the federal government in shutting down due to a […]

A House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s B61 refurbishment program scheduled for today has been postponed because of the government shutdown. Lawmakers had hoped to avoid postponing the hearing but complications due to the continuing shutdown made pushing back the hearing unavoidable. Strategic Command chief Gen. Robert Kehler, […]

The House voted Friday to fund the National Nuclear Security Administration at Fiscal Year 2013 levels, though the legislation is not expected to gain traction in the Senate. The bill is part of the House’s piecemeal approach to restart funding the government and represents the 15th “mini-CR” passed by the chamber since the lapse of […]

Savannah River Site security contractor Wackenhut Services Incorporated began furloughs Friday as a result of the government shutdown that will impact 270 of its 706 employees, according to WSI spokesman Rob Davis. The furloughs will continue through this week. Last night, two entrance barricades to the site were shut down. “The Department of Energy directed […]

Senate leaders inched closer to a deal yesterday that would fund the government through Jan. 15 and raise the federal debt limit, potentially staving off a possible partial shutdown of Department of Energy sites. DOE’s sites have largely been operating with carryover funding that is running out, and Monday’s talks between Senate Majority Leader Harry […]

The two cleanup contractors at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site—CH2M-WG Idaho, LLC, and Idaho Treatment Group, LLC—are set to submit to DOE today plans for largely suspending operations if the federal government continues to remain shut down. CWI, which manages the Idaho Cleanup Project, did not respond to calls for comment yesterday. ITG spokesman […]

With furloughs looming for many Department of Energy contractors, the House last night scuttled a vote on a Republican plan to end the government shutdown, leading Senate leaders to reconvene bipartisan negotiations to restart the government and extend the debt ceiling. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who delayed […]

A cyber security breach that occurred at the Department of Energy in late July impacted significantly more employees than initially believed, according to a message DOE sent employees late last week. An ongoing investigation into the incident has found that the personal information of more than 104,000 current and former federal employees, contractor workers and […]

Workers at Hanford are likely to learn today about site contractors’ plans for furloughs if the ongoing federal government shutdown is not soon resolved. At a meeting earlier this week, site contractors told the Hanford Atomic Metals Trade Council that employees will be receiving “release” notices today, which would go into effect at midnight on […]

Union leaders, including Atomic Trades and Labor Council President Steve Jones, were joined by other organizers at a rally/press conference Tuesday as a sort of latch-ditch effort to deter furloughs at the Y-12 National Security Complex and other Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge. Jones said Oak Ridge workers still believe they can make […]

House and Senate lawmakers voted last night to end the government shutdown, and a Continuing Resolution that will fund the government through Jan. 15.But the last-minute deal to stave off a default on the nation’s debt and restart the government doesn’t appear to have come in time to prevent Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from shutting […]

The solution to the problems plaguing National Nuclear Security Administration aren’t likely to be solved by a radical makeover for the agency, the co-chairman of a Congressionally created NNSA governance panel said yesterday. The 12-member panel began its work in September, and in his first public comments, panel co-chairman Adm. Richard Mies, the former commander […]

Hanford workers received a reprieve Wednesday as furlough and temporary layoff notices were expected to start going out about noon. Instead, employees received a message from Department of Energy management saying that if Congress passes a spending bill this week, no furloughs and temporary layoffs are expected. DOE officials in Washington, D.C., told Hanford contractors […]

The Obama Administration should drastically scale back its plans to modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons complex and arsenal and scuttle plans to build major facilities and pursue a new warhead modernization strategy, according to a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists. The recommendations in the 81-page report, “Making Smart Security Choices,” would mark […]