Innovation & Infrastructure

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/19/2015 Argonne National Laboratory this week announced that it has successfully validation a key component of SHINE Medical’s molybdenum-99 production process. Argonne successfully demonstrated the production, separation and purification of Mo-99 from SHINE’s liquid target, known as Mini-SHINE, which will be used in the company’s production process, further validating SHINE’s […]

The Argonne National Laboratory announced yesterday the successful validation of a key component of SHINE Medical’s molybdenum-99 production process. Argonne successfully demonstrated the production, separation and purification of Mo-99 from SHINE’s liquid target, known as Mini-SHINE, which will be used in the company’s production process, further validating SHINE’s process. “This key demonstration proves that SHINE’s […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 6/12/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration’s cybersecurity controls contain weaknesses that create vulnerabilities for the agency’s information systems, according to an audit report released this week by the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General. The audit found that federal requirements were not followed and “the system’s cybersecurity controls had not […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/12/2015 Perma-Fix Medical doubled the scale-up of its process to produce Technetium-99m only a week after announcing it had reached an initial milestone in its design, the company announced this week. Earlier this year, Perma-Fix said that it needed to reconfigure its production process after realizing the market demand for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s cybersecurity controls contain weaknesses that create vulnerabilities for the agency’s information systems, according to an audit report released yesterday by the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General. The audit found that federal requirements were not followed and cybersecurity controls were not “adequately developed, documented, or implemented,” which caused gaps […]

Perma-Fix Medical doubled the scale-up of its process to produce Technetium-99m only a week after announcing an initial milestone to its design, the company announced yesterday. Earlier this year, Perma-Fix said that it needed to reconfigure its production process after realizing the market demand for the medical isotope used in millions of procedures annually called […]

AVANTech announced last week the addition of David Malkmus to its leadership team. Malkmus will serve as the Vice President of Business Development for the company. “The addition of David to our team is a key strategic move for AVANTech,” AVANTech Senior Vice President Gary Benda said in a statement. “His extensive background with US […]

Following the revelation last week that the confidential personal information of millions was breached in a cyber-security event months ago, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz advised that “Department of Energy employee data has potentially been compromised in this incident,” according to a June 4 message to employees. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is notifying about […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/5/2015 Perma-Fix Environmental Services announced this week the new leadership team for its medical isotopes subsidiary, including new Perma-Fix Medical S.A. CEO Steve Belcher and Executive Vice President John Climaco. Perma-Fix had been looking for more medical isotopes experience in its leadership team to lead the subsidiary. “We are extremely […]

Perma-Fix Environmental Services announced yesterday the leadership team for its medical isotopes subsidiary, including a new CEO and executive vice president. Perma-Fix Medical S.A. appointed Steve Belcher as CEO and John Climaco as executive vice president. Perma-Fix had been looking for a more medical isotope focused leadership team to lead its subsidiary. “We are extremely […]

Perma-Fix Medical SA has achieved a successful scale-up of its process to produce Technetium-99m, the company announced yesterday. Earlier this year, Perma-Fix said that it needed to re-configure its production process after realizing the market demand for the medical isotope used in millions of procedures annually called for a larger design. According to the company, […]

Spallation Neutron Source Now Operating ‘Reasonably Well’ NS&D Monitor 5/29/2015 While the Spallation Neutron Source has had some rocky times over the past year, including a period last fall in which two target vessels failed prematurely back to back, in a more reason status report, operations chief Kevin Jones – who directs the accelerator division […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 5/22/2015 The Department of Energy will look to ramp up funding starting in fiscal year 2016 for developing new technologies to address cleanup challenges, according to DOE’s recently released response to recommendations by a Secretary of Energy Advisory Board task force. Advances in science and technology will be key to successfully […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 John Eschenberg, who has served as the federal project director for the Oak Ridge Uranium Processing Facility for the past three years, informed friends and colleagues this week that he is leaving his leadership post at the end of the month and will “focus on new career opportunities in the […]

John Eschenberg, the federal project director at the Uranium Processing Facility for the past three years, informed friends and colleagues this week that he is leaving his leadership post at the end of the month and will “focus on new career opportunities in the private sector.” Eschenberg is retiring from federal service after working in […]

Computer operations have been disrupted at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant for at least 24 hours, but the National Nuclear Security Administration declined to provide details about the problem or the extent of the impacts. The “service disruption” began on Monday afternoon and was still in effect on Tuesday night. NNSA spokesman Steven Wyatt confirmed […]

Site Breaks Ground on New Biomass Heating Plant WC Monitor 5/15/2015 Officials this week celebrated the groundbreaking of an expansion to the Savannah River Site’s Biomass Cogeneration Facility that will involve adding a new heating plant. The biomass plant, built and operated by Ameresco, began operation in 2012 and provides energy and steam for Savannah […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 5/8/2015 NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes announced this week the successful first production-scale test run of molybdenum-99 from its system at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) in Columbia, Mo. Following the test run at the reactor, NorthStar then shipped the material to its Madison, Wis., facility, another milestone for the […]

NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes announced yesterday the successful first production-scale test run of molybdenum-99 from its system at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) in Columbia, Mo. Following the test run at the reactor, NorthStar then shipped the material to its Madison, Wis. facility, another milestone for the company’s production process. “This week’s events proved […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/10/2015 The Department of Energy made this week the third and final award under a supercomputer collaboration, awarding a $200 million contract for a supercomputer to be built at Argonne National Laboratory. The supercomputer, dubbed “Aurora,” will be built by Intel and Cray, and is expected to reach peak speeds of […]

Burns & McDonnell to Build $12M Power Supply Building at Technical Area-55 NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 Burns & McDonnell, a Kansas City-based architecture, engineering and construction company, recently won a $12 million contract to build a nuclear class building that will house a pair of redundant power supply systems at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Technical Area-55, […]

Doubling Production at Y-12 9212 Facility to Pose Major Challenge for Contractor CNS NS&D Monitor 3/20/2015 Doubling production at the aged 9212 uranium processing facility and maintaining safety won’t be easy, but National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz said last week the recent goal put in place by the agency is important, doable and […]

National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz wrapped up a two-day visit to Y-12 last week with a VIP ribbon-cutting and ceremonies on Friday to celebrate an early milestone on the Uranium Processing Facility. Klotz called the site-readiness subproject a “significant achievement for the national security enterprise,” noting it was accomplished on time and $20 […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/13/2015 With 57 drums currently at Los Alamos National Laboratory containing similar materials to a drum that caused a major radiological release, officials plan to repackage the drums within the next two years using a “cold and dry” process. A drum processed at Los Alamos containing a volatile mixture of nitrate […]

Senate Appropriators Suggest Hard Decisions Await NNSA Budget Request Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/13/2015 National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz told Senate appropriators this week that the Uranium Processing Facility planned for the Y-12 National Security Complex was on track to be completed by 2025 within a $6.5 billion budget cap. Testifying before the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/13/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration wants Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security to double the rate of purified metal production in Building 9212 in an effort to reduce the Material at Risk (MAR) in the aging facility. Eventually, Building 9212’s capabilities will be replaced as part of the Uranium Processing Facility […]

National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz told Senate appropriators yesterday that the Uranium Processing Facility planned for the Y-12 National Security Complex was on track to be completed by 2025 within a $6.5 billion budget cap. Testifying before the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, Klotz was pressed about UPF—and NNSA’s two other major […]

Computer experts at Sandia National Laboratories helped the Central Intelligence Agency crack the security on Apple iPhones and iPads, online news outlet The Intercept reported this week. The news outlet, which is run by Glenn Greenwald, the journalist that published government documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden, based its report on another batch of “top […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration wants Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security to double the rate of purified metal production in Building 9212 in an effort to reduce the Material at Risk in the aging facility. Eventually, Building 9212’s capabilities will be replaced as part of the Uranium Processing Facility or shifted to other facilities at […]

Two activist groups—the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and Nuclear Watch New Mexico—say they have jointly filed Freedom of Information Act requests to force the government to reveal more information about revised plans for the Uranium Processing Facility. According to their news release, the groups are seeking documents known as a Supplement Analysis, which is […]