Innovation & Infrastructure

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 and 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 […]

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 […]

Construction continues around the clock on the High Explosives Science and Engineering facility at the Pantex Plant in Texas, where the first of three massive concrete slabs were recently poured during an all-night construction binge. Crews recently placed the first of three 2-foot-thick concrete mat slabs at the High Explosives Science and Engineering (HESE) project’s […]

A National Nuclear Security Administration facility in Albuquerque, N.M., received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, a first for any of the agency’s roughly 1,000 buildings. The John A. Gordon Albuquerque Complex Facility, a satellite campus that provides high-performance computing, research and engineering capabilities to nearby Los […]

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 […]

A National Nuclear Security Administration facility in Albuquerque, N.M., received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, a first for any of the agency’s roughly 1,000 buildings. The John A. Gordon Albuquerque Complex Facility, a satellite campus that provides high-performance computing, research and engineering capabilities to nearby Los […]

Construction continues around the clock on the High Explosives Science and Engineering facility at the Pantex Plant in Texas, where the first of three massive concrete slabs were recently poured during an all-night construction binge. Crews recently placed the first of three 2-foot-thick concrete mat slabs at the High Explosives Science and Engineering (HESE) project’s […]

News of a Department of Energy plan to use weapons complex land to host carbon-free electricity projects is being met with a mix of excitement, skepticism and curiosity about how the process might work. A smattering of stakeholders contacted by Exchange Monitor Tuesday said they have many questions about the initiative announced last Friday in […]

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 […]

Workers have completed construction of a new emergency operations center at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky, the agency said Tuesday. Built with steel-reinforced concrete walls, the new 3,500-square-foot emergency building should withstand tornado-scale winds, according to a press release from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. It replaces the old center located inside […]

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 […]

WASHINGTON —Department of Energy properties used for nuclear weapons work could soon be tapped for development of new carbon-free energy under an effort unveiled Friday in Washington by Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. The program, dubbed DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, would repurpose parcels around the weapons complex for non-carbon-emitting electricity, potentially creating enough […]

Hensel Phelps, a construction subcontractor working at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, recently completed concrete placements for four warehouses that will provide more than a football field’s worth of additional storage capacity and workspace.  Approximately 5,000 cubic yards of concrete were laid for the foundation on June 15, a milestone the lab announced […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Information Management has plans to establish a $6.4 million information technology center to consolidate two existing facilities in the Washington, D.C. area.  The NNSA began modernizing its information technology (IT) facilities with its fiscal year 2022 budget in order to establish data center space and “increase capacity for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Information Management has plans to establish a $6.4 million information technology center to consolidate two existing facilities in the Washington, D.C. area.  The NNSA began modernizing its information technology (IT) facilities with its fiscal year 2022 budget in order to establish data center space and “increase capacity for […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security recently laid the final roof beam of what will become the new High Explosives Science and Engineering facility at the Pantex Plant in Panhandle, Texas.  During the topping out of the facility, the construction crew placed the final steel beam on the Technology Development and Deployment Lab last week, the Pantex site […]

Robert Moriarty, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force for Installations, authorized the support construction phase for the Northrop Grumman’s LGM-35A Sentinel missile. The Department of the Air Force’s 450 missile silos, launch facilities and 45 missile alert facilities “would be updated extensively to completely refurbished condition to meet the requirements of the […]

Robert Moriarty, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force for Installations, authorized the support construction phase for the Northrop Grumman’s LGM-35A Sentinel missile. The Department of the Air Force’s 450 missile silos, launch facilities and 45 missile alert facilities “would be updated extensively to completely refurbished condition to meet the requirements of the […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security recently laid the final roof beam of what will become the new High Explosives Science and Engineering facility at the Pantex Plant in Panhandle, Texas.  During the topping out of the facility, the construction crew placed the final steel beam on the Technology Development and Deployment Lab last week, the Pantex site […]

A labor shortage initially blamed on COVID-19, but which has outlasted the nationwide response to the pandemic, hamstrung construction of new nuclear weapons factories and forced a construction triage at the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency’s administrator told lawmakers Tuesday. The construction or “craft” labor shortages at various sites contributed to several program delays, […]

A labor shortage initially blamed on COVID-19, but which has outlasted the nationwide response to the pandemic, hamstrung construction of new nuclear weapons factories and forced a construction triage at the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency’s administrator told lawmakers Tuesday. The construction or “craft” labor shortages at various sites contributed to several program delays, […]

There are at least 500 too few employees at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which has contributed to a cost increase and schedule slip for the uranium processing facility under construction there, the Secretary of Energy testified in Congress Thursday. In its budget request for fiscal year 2024, the National Nuclear […]

Facing expanding mandates for information security at the two big nuclear-weapon production sites it manages, Consolidated Nuclear Security has launched a hiring spree for qualified information technology and cybersecurity experts. Over the past several years, Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) has found it difficult to meet its cybersecurity and IT staffing needs with its internal employee […]

Facing expanding mandates for information security at the two big nuclear-weapon production sites it manages, Consolidated Nuclear Security has launched a hiring spree for qualified information technology and cybersecurity experts. Over the past several years, Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) has found it difficult to meet its cybersecurity and IT staffing needs with its internal employee […]

The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico is working with Carlsbad city officials to secure federal money for electric vehicle charging stations in the community, a spokesperson said in a Tuesday email. The local Carlsbad Current Argus newspaper reported last week the city and DOE’s Carlsbad field office management have agreed to […]

Amentum-led Department of Energy contractor Washington River Protection Solutions asked for expressions of interest from makers of robots that could provide a better view of the pits that lead to underground radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state. “The robotic solution will be referred to as the Pit Vyper in this document,” […]

Amentum-led Department of Energy contractor Washington River Protection Solutions asked for expressions of interest from makers of robots that could provide a better view of the pits that lead to underground radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state. “The robotic solution will be referred to as the Pit Vyper in this document,” […]

In December, the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management completed what its head of field operations calls the “beta phase” of a new electronic “dashboard” for tracking nuclear remediation technology development. All of the research-and-development data run through Environmental Management (EM) headquarters in Washington, D.C., has been entered into the system, Nicole Nelson-Jean […]

Work crews at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky are making progress in building a new 3,500-square-foot emergency operations center at the former gaseous diffusion plant complex, DOE said Tuesday. The new, more modern center to house emergency management staff and monitor environmental conditions will replace the one set up in 1990 within […]

NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, Beloit, Wis., finished building a factory to produce, without the use of highly enriched uranium, the medically usable isotope Molybdenum-99, the National Nuclear Security Administration said Monday.  NorthStar is one of several U.S. companies that have gotten money from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to expand domestic production of the isotope, […]