National Laboratories

The National Nuclear Security Administration has invited would-be bidders for the mammoth Los Alamos National Laboratory management and operations contract to tour the weapons lab on Aug. 29. Those interested in attending the tour must complete the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) badge request form and fax it to Pam Valdez at (505) 664-0273 by […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) could be just days from awarding a new contract for legacy nuclear cleanup operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. A major procurements update from EM, dated Aug. 11, says the contract was due to be issued from June to August of this year. The […]

Amid fiery and furious fact-checking and blame-chucking in the general press over the credit President Donald Trump appeared to take for modernizing the U.S. nuclear deterrent, the National Nuclear Security Administration recently observed the 22nd anniversary of the White House prohibition on explosive nuclear-weapons testing. The steward of the national nuclear deterrent marked the milestone in […]

In official replies to questions about the next big contract for the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico, the Energy Department responded to some local concerns that the next lab manager might not be as good for the community as the current manager. However, the agency appeared to preserve at least the option […]

Not long after locals did the same, all members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation said this week they have concerns about the Energy Department’s plan for the next national laboratory contract in northern New Mexico. In a list of six concerns over the next decade-spanning management and operations contract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), lawmakers […]

Management at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has acknowledged it will not meet upcoming contractual milestones for treatment of nitrate salts, according to a recently released site report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The Energy Department laboratory’s Waste Characterization, Reduction, and Repackaging Facility (WCRRF) is treating 60 containers of remediated […]

Former nuclear-weapons hand James Peery has been appointed chief scientist of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Global Security Directorate, the Department of Energy facility in Tennessee announced Monday. Peery, whose career has included stops at the Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories in New Mexico, will work primarily on cybersecurity efforts to protect the U.S. electric grid, according […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is still waiting on word regarding a new contract for legacy nuclear cleanup at the Department of Energy facility in New Mexico, an official said Tuesday. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) in September 2016 issued its final request for proposals for the contract, which could be worth up to […]

The County of Los Alamos, N.M., is unhappy with the Energy Department’s plans for the follow-on management and operations contract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The comments were included in an email to DOE signed by David Izraelevitz, chair of the Los Alamos County Council, also on behalf of the body’s vice chair and several […]

The County of Los Alamos, N.M., is unhappy with the Energy Department’s plans for the follow-on management and operations contract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The comments were included in an email to DOE signed by David Izraelevitz, chair of the Los Alamos County Council. In the letter, the county said it had “serious concerns” […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is still waiting on word regarding a new contract for legacy nuclear cleanup at the Department of Energy facility in New Mexico, an official said Tuesday. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) in September 2016 issued its final request for proposals for the contract, which could be worth up to […]

Contractors that over a decade ago competed for the current management and operations contract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are not yet saying whether they intend to bid on the upcoming new prime contract at the site. The National Nuclear Security Administration last week released a draft request for proposals for […]

Battelle has picked the chief executive officer of DynCorp International, Lewis “Lou” Von Thaer, as its next president and CEO. He will be only the ninth chief executive in the company’s 87-year-history. Battelle plays a substantial management role at six Department of Energy national laboratories: Brookhaven, Idaho, Lawrence Livermore, National Renewable Energy, Oak Ridge, and […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has released a draft request for proposals for the next management and operations contract for its Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, while the facility takes steps to address a recent error in shipping special nuclear material, the latest in a series of safety and security issues that have plagued […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has released a draft request for proposals for the next management and operations contract for its Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency is inviting prospective bidders to submit questions and other feedback on the document by 11 a.m. EDT on July 26, to SEB7@nnsa.doe.gov. Responses […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory has reportedly fired an employee following the finding that special nuclear material was mistakenly been shipped by air cargo instead of by ground, in violation of federal regulations. The National Nuclear Security Administration said late last month that LANL shipped the material to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Tuesday issued a presolicitation notice for the next management and operations contract for its Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The notice comes just days after the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency said it is investigating the improper shipment of nuclear material from the laboratory to sister sites […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Tuesday issued a presolicitation notice for the next management and operations contract for its Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The notice comes just days after the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency said it is investigating the improper shipment of nuclear material from the laboratory to sister sites […]

One of the recently disclosed improper shipments of nuclear material from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico involved 100 grams of plutonium sent to a sister site in California, according to an incident report posted Monday. The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration said Friday that Los Alamos had during the […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico mistakenly transported nuclear material to two other national laboratories by air instead of by ground, the Energy Department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration said late Friday. While the material was prepared for transport by commercial ground cargo, as was proper, shipment documents indicated it should be flown by […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Wednesday the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility (PF-4) is improving its nuclear criticality safety program, amid reporting this week of ongoing safety issues at the New Mexico site. Perry said during a Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee budget hearing that Los Alamos has “made significant progress with hiring […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Wednesday the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility (PF-4) is improving its nuclear criticality safety program, amid reporting this week of ongoing safety issues at the New Mexico site. Perry said during a Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee budget hearing that Los Alamos has “made significant progress with hiring […]

National Nuclear Security Administration head Frank Klotz has disputed in a new statement a recent investigative report on safety issues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility (PF-4). The Center for Public Integrity in a June 18 article wrote about the 2013 shutdown of operations at the site’s PF-4 due to criticality safety program […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will hold its first public hearing of the Donald Trump administration in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday, when the independent nuclear watchdog will consider the nuclear-safety of the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s plutonium production program. The hearing, “Understanding the Safety Posture of the Plutonium Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory,” […]

Thomas Zacharia will be the next director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, the lab’s management and operating contractor UT-Battelle announced Thursday. Zacharia will take over on July 1, the day current lab director Thom Mason leaves to join Battelle in Columbus, Ohio, as senior vice president for laboratory operations. Zacharia began at […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is seeking greater federal staffing levels in its fiscal 2018 budget request and remains concerned about recruiting talent to its sites across the United States, agency Administrator Frank Klotz said Wednesday. The request for the budget year starting Oct. 1 grants $418.6 million for NNSA’s federal salaries and expenses, which […]

The $88 million top-line increase the Donald Trump administration proposed Tuesday for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management in fiscal 2018 is two-and-a-half times less than the office would spend next year to start decontaminating disused nuclear-weapon facilities now owned by DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The administration’s new budget plan, if […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is seeking greater federal staffing levels in its fiscal 2018 budget request and remains concerned about recruiting talent to its sites across the United States, agency Administrator Frank Klotz said Wednesday. The request for the budget year starting Oct. 1 grants $418.6 million for NNSA’s federal salaries and expenses, which […]

Workers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory on Wednesday morning sent the first barrel of potentially explosive nitrate-salt waste to the building where it will be cleaned up and prepared for eventual disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a source in New Mexico said. Stephen Hoffman, deputy manager of the agency’s Environmental Management Los […]

A change in corporate parents was enough to quickly undo the 2016 award for the management and operations contract for the Nevada National Security Site. The primary issue was the corresponding shift in past performance portfolios, an industry source told NS&D Monitor this week in the wake of the second and presumably final contract award […]