Innovation & Infrastructure

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s largest ever carbon-pollution-free procurement would be a partnership with Los Alamos that aims to provide two Department of Energy labs in New Mexico with electricity from solar energy, the agency said Thursday. The project — called the Los Alamos County Foxtail Flats Solar and Storage Project — will notionally be […]

WASHINGTON — The National Nuclear Security Administration would get a year-over-year raise and roughly 2% more than requested under a 2025 budget bill approved here Friday by a House subcommittee. Among the beneficiaries would be the delayed, budget-busting Uranium Processing Facility (UPF)  at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., for which the […]

WASHINGTON — The National Nuclear Security Administration would get a year-over-year raise and roughly 2% more than requested under a 2025 budget bill approved here Friday by a House subcommittee. Among the beneficiaries would be the delayed, budget-busting Uranium Processing Facility (UPF)  at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., for which the […]

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s $800-million request for the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is “a darn good start,” a congressional appropriator said here Wednesday at an industry conference. “Now, you’ll see my mark tomorrow,” Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Appropriations energy and water […]

Former President Donald Trump’s (R) national security advisor Robert O’brien argued the U.S. must test nuclear weapons again outside of a computer model in an article he published in Foreign Affairs. O’brien said that if China and Russia continue to refuse to engage in peace talks, and continue to upgrade their nuclear arsenal, the U.S. […]

As signaled earlier in the week by the new head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch, a developer for a carbon-free electricity project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina was selected. DOE announced in a Thursday press release that it chose Dallas-based Stellar Renewable Power to enter negotiations for a utility-scale […]

ARLINGTON, VA — Contractor and federal managers from across the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex are using technology to help predict issues from workplace accidents to infrastructure failure, these people said at a meeting here Tuesday. Using technology to help school new hires on potential hazards in a nuclear workplace is important amid the […]

ARLINGTON, VA – The Department of Energy could soon announce a developer for a carbon-free electricity project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the new head of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said here Tuesday. New DOE Office of Environmental Management senior adviser Candice Robertson alluded to the award during her address to […]

ARLINGTON, VA — Contractor and federal managers from across the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex are using technology to help predict issues from workplace accidents to infrastructure failure, these people said at a meeting here Tuesday. Using technology to help school new hires on potential hazards in a nuclear workplace is important amid the […]

The Department of Energy nuclear cleanup office placed orders for 219 zero-emissions vehicles in fiscal 2024, which accounts for 89% of the total throughout the department, the Office of Environmental Management at the agency said last week. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management has to date also installed a total of 120 charging ports, the department […]

The Department of Energy and its Nevada National Security Administration Wednesday announced the selection of a solar developer to pursue a carbon-free electric project at the Nevada National Security Site. Under the Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have selected Estuary Power LLC & NV Energy as the […]

The Department of Energy and its Nevada National Security Administration Wednesday announced the selection of a solar developer to pursue a carbon-free electric project at the Nevada National Security Site. Under the Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have selected Estuary Power LLC & NV Energy as the […]

The Department of Energy and its Nevada National Security Administration Wednesday announced the selection of a solar developer to pursue a carbon-free electric project at the Nevada National Security Site. Under the Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have selected Estuary Power LLC & NV Energy as the […]

The Department of Energy Wednesday announced the selection of two companies that will potentially develop hundreds of megawatts of electricity from solar power at the Idaho National Laboratory. NorthRenew Energy Partners and Spitfire propose to install a combined total of 400 megawatts of carbon-free electricity at Idaho National Laboratory under DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy […]

The Department of Energy Wednesday announced the selection of two companies that will potentially develop hundreds of megawatts of electricity from solar power at the Idaho National Laboratory. NorthRenew Energy Partners and Spitfire propose to install a combined total of 400 megawatts of carbon-free electricity at Idaho National Laboratory under DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy […]

The Department of Energy Wednesday announced the selection of two companies that will potentially develop hundreds of megawatts of electricity from solar power at the Idaho National Laboratory. NorthRenew Energy Partners and Spitfire propose to install a combined total of 400 megawatts of carbon-free electricity at Idaho National Laboratory under DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy […]

LOUISVILLE, KY.— The Department of Energy expects to start making early selections for carbon-free energy projects on federal nuclear sites within “the coming days or weeks,” a DOE Office of Environmental Management executive said here Tuesday. The announcement of clean power project selections will come before DOE has the signed realty agreements in hand, Robert […]

The Department of Energy is giving prospective providers of carbon-free power at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico an extra month, until June 27, to submit proposals. The revised deadline was included in an online notice in the federal government’s System for Award Management. The previous deadline was Wednesday May 29. This is […]

In response to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board review, the Department of Energy’s nuclear branches are taking a “deep dive” into aging infrastructure, DOE said last week. In an April 24 letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the head of DOE’s Office of Nuclear Safety said progress is being made on […]

A year after construction started, an off-site research center for the Savannah River National Laboratory, “looks like a building now” and should open in 2025, a Department of Energy manager in South Carolina said Monday. The Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, the new 60,000-square-foot building at the University of South Carolina-Aiken should be occupied “a year from […]

In response to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board review, the Department of Energy’s nuclear branches are taking a “deep dive” into aging infrastructure, DOE said last week. In an April 24 letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the head of DOE’s Office of Nuclear Safety said progress is being made on […]

The Department of Energy’s $8-billion-plus Office of Environmental Management is creating a new chief technology office silo and making other organizational tweaks, one of which troubles the head of the Energy Communities Alliance. The changes were announced in a staff email Thursday, viewed by Exchange Monitor, from Kelly Snyder, an Office of Environmental Management (EM) […]

The separation of the Pantex Plant in Texas and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee took a baby step forward this week with the opening of separate federal field offices for the nuclear-weapons production sites. Consolidated Nuclear Security, still the joint operations contractor for the two sites, announced the split on Tuesday in a […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is about 20% to its goal of adding 600 electric vehicles over the next few years, an executive with the site’s prime contractor said here Tuesday. The site currently has 116 electric vehicles and will add another 44 this year, Mike Swain, executive […]

PHOENIX — The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is about 20% to its goal of adding 600 electric vehicles over the next few years, an executive with the site’s prime contractor said here Tuesday. The site currently has 116 electric vehicles and will add another 44 this year, Mike Swain, executive […]

To account for inflation, the National Nuclear Security Administration has petitioned Congress and been approved to bump up the threshold for minor construction projects to $34 million.  That is up from a $30 million threshold set by the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA also provided the NNSA with “pilot authority” to […]

National Nuclear Security Administration program offices do not consistently monitor performance of minor construction projects of fewer than $30 million in total cost, the Government Accountability Office found in a recent audit. From fiscal year 2019 through July 2023, NNSA offices undertook 414 minor construction projects that cost an estimated total of about $3 billion, […]

Through a partnership with Washington State University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are developing new ways to make its Operational Technology Assurance course, sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration, more realistic for attendees. The partnership resulted in development of a mock vintage-style glovebox, used daily by NNSA scientists to manipulate hazardous radioactive material, that students […]

Use of the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site for carbon-free energy will not include small modular reactors, a local manager for DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, told a federal advisory panel Wednesday. “Small modular reactors are not an option” for the Nevada site, “David Bowman, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

Use of the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site for carbon-free energy will not include small modular reactors, a local manager for DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, told a federal advisory panel Wednesday. “Small modular reactors are not an option” for the Nevada site, “David Bowman, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]