Naval Nuclear Propulsion

The Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General said this week it is starting an evaluation of the Navy’s response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic on ships and submarines. A May 11 memo from the inspector general said the objective is “to determine whether the Navy has implemented policies and procedures to […]

By Cal Biesecker Defense Daily A pension benefit combined with strong operating results at its shipbuilding businesses drove a strong first quarter at Huntington Ingalls Industries, although workforce impacts at the company’s shipyards led it to forecast sales this year at the low end of prior guidance and company officials signaled uncertainty going forward. Net income […]

The Senate returns to Capitol Hill today, and the Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled a hearing Thursday to consider the nominations of three Pentagon officials. Ambassador to Norway Kenneth Braithwaite has been nominated to become the next Navy secretary, Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Charles Brown is nominated to become the next Air Force […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Pantex Plant in Texas said Monday it has assembled the “first production capability unit” of the W88 Alt-370 submarine-launched nuclear warhead, a precursor to the first production unit intended to prove the entire warhead design is ready for mass manufacturing. The phrase “first production capability unit” officially debuted in […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Pantex Plant in Texas said Monday it assembled the “first production capability unit” of the W88 Alt-370 submarine-launched nuclear warhead, a precursor to the first production unit intended to prove the entire warhead design is ready for mass manufacturing. The phrase “first production capability unit” officially debuted in February […]

Naval Sea Systems Command on April 10 awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $56 million modification to manufacture another 18 missile tubes for the U.S. Columbia-class and U.K. Dreadnaught-class future ballistic missile submarines. The work on the joint U.S.-U.K. common missile compartment program is expected to be finished by May 2028. This modification was funded via U.K. […]

BWX Technologies subsidiary Nuclear Fuel Services this week reported multiple cases of COVID-19 among its workforce. The Erwin, Tenn., defense-uranium contractor did not say how many employees were infected, or how many potentially exposed employees were in quarantine following contact with the sick workers. “Our coronavirus response protocols call for enhanced cleaning across the site, […]

The president of General Dynamics Electric Boat has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus while the company confirmed further changes to the workforce configuration to limit the disease’s spread within its facilities. In an April 4 message to employees, Electric Boat President Kevin Graney disclosed he has tested positive for the pandemic virus, noting his […]

The president of General Dynamics Electric Boat has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus while the company confirmed further changes to the workforce configuration to limit the disease’s spread within its facilities. In an April 4 message to employees, Electric Boat President Kevin Graney disclosed he has tested positive for the pandemic virus, noting his […]

A recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report update lays out how the COVID-19 pandemic could impact the Navy’s shipbuilding programs and noted what action Congress has taken in the past to mitigate other events. The report, Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress, was last updated March 27. It notes COVID-19 […]

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake shook Idaho at around 6 p.m. local time Tuesday, with the epicenter about 120 miles from the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. “While ground shaking was felt, there was no damage to any INL facilities,” INL spokesperson Sarah Neumann said in a Wednesday email. It was […]

A subcontractor for the legacy environmental remediation vendor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has tested positive for COVID-19. The subcontractor for Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) is self-isolating at home and will not return to work until cleared by a medical provider, laboratory Director Thom Mason said in a […]

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake shook Idaho at around 6 p.m. local time Tuesday, with the epicenter about 120 miles from the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. “While ground shaking was felt, there was no damage to any INL facilities,” INL spokesperson Sarah Neumann said in a Wednesday email. It was […]

A recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report update lays out how the COVID-19 pandemic could impact the Navy’s shipbuilding programs and noted what action Congress has taken in the past to mitigate other events. The report, Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress, was last updated March 27. It notes COVID-19 […]

Top Navy officials have not seen any shipyard delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic yet, but they are expecting and planning for future issues. “[T]o date we haven’t seen any sort of perturbations in that right now but we are anticipating that there will be, and we’re looking at what that might cost with respect […]

Top Navy officials have not seen any shipyard delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic yet, but they are expecting and planning for future issues. “[T]o date we haven’t seen any sort of perturbations in that right now but we are anticipating that there will be, and we’re looking at what that might cost with respect […]

The Navy on March 19 awarded Lockheed Martin a $601 million modification to exercise contract options for submarine-launched ballistic missile Trident II D5 production and deployed systems support. The work will mostly be performed in Magna, Utah (33.5%); Sunnyvale, Calif. (13.7%; Denver (10.6%); Cape Canaveral, Fla. (6.9%); and other various locations. It is expected to be finished […]

By Richard Abott Defense Daily A bipartisan group of over 100 lawmakers pushed House appropriators in a letter to fund a second Virginia-class submarine in the fiscal 2021 defense budget bill. Led by the chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services seapower subcommittee, Reps. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the letter […]

Someone at Minot Air Force Base, home to a missile wing that operates nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles, tested positive for COVID-19, according to an announcement this week. “There is 1 positive case of COVID-19 of an adult, non-military member on base,” Minot stated Wednesday on its official Twitter account. “[B]ase leadership has declared a public health […]

Los Alamos County, N.M., is calling on the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to take responsibility for remediation of radioactive waste discovered last month off the property of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Debris contaminated by uranium and plutonium was discovered Feb. 14 by a county contractor doing sewer line excavation for a planned low-income […]

A bipartisan group of over 100 lawmakers pushed House appropriators in a letter this week to fund a second Virginia-class submarine in the fiscal 2021 defense budget bill. Led by the chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services seapower subcommittee, Reps. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the letter has a total of 112 signatures. […]

Naval Sea Systems Command on Thursday awarded Fluor Marine Propulsion a $1.776 billion modification for naval nuclear propulsion work at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory. Work will be split between Schenectady, N.Y. (52%), Pittsburgh (31%), Idaho Falls, Idaho (11%), and Charleston, S.C. (6%). The Navy did not disclose how long the contract runs through or what additional […]

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday told senators that industry is ready for and able to build two Virginia-class attack submarines in fiscal 2021, even though the administration’s budget request would fund only one. The Navy is under a Block V multiyear procurement contract that covers nine vessels with an option for a 10th. […]

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday told senators on March 5 industry is ready for and able to build two Virginia-class attack submarines (SSNs) in fiscal 2021, while the administration’s budget request funded only one. The Navy is under a Block V multiyear procurement contract that covers nine vessels with an option for a 10th. […]

Energy Department contractor BWX Technologies took in $501 million of revenue during the fourth quarter of 2019, a 5% uptick over $478 million a year earlier. In addition, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company reported late Monday that revenue of nearly $1.9 billion for the 12 months ended Dec. 31 set a new record and represented a […]

The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday began to ink the contours of the 2021 nuclear weapons budget fight to come, when the panel’s chair wondered why the White House wants to give the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) a $2.5 billion raise with the agency sitting on $8 billion in unspent appropriations. The White […]

The Navy’s only manufacturer of nuclear reactors, BWX Technologies, said Tuesday that the service’s plans to procure just one Virginia-class attack submarine in fiscal 2021 could hit the company’s bottom line. BWXT President and CEO Rex Geveden said in the quarterly earnings call with analysts that while there is a “long way to go on getting […]

The Navy conducted a single missile flight test of an unarmed life-extended Trident II (D5LE) ballistic missile from the Ohio-class submarine USS Maine off the coast of San Diego on Feb. 16. The test on the Western Test Range followed the Maine’s demonstration and shakedown operation test flight on Feb. 12. The Navy said this test validated performance expectations […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program in late 2019 awarded BWX Technologies a roughly $1 billion contract to provide reactor components for Ford-class aircraft carriers, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company announced Monday. The $1 billion figure includes options, BWX Technologies said in a press release. The value of the base award, at over $665 […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program in late 2019 awarded BWX Technologies a roughly $1 billion contract to provide reactor components for Ford-class aircraft carriers, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company announced Monday. The $1 billion figure includes options, BWX Technologies said in a press release. The value of the base award, at over […]