Naval Nuclear Propulsion

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 Citing a high level of complexity, Naval Reactors chief Adm. John Richardson cast doubt on the future of the $100 billion Ohio-class nuclear submarine replacement project this week, suggesting the program has “ingredients for failure,” according to published reports. During an Oct. 22 presentation at the Naval Submarine League’s annual […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 A $171.1 million contract awarded to DRS Laurel Technologies for the production and installation of support hardware for U.S. submarines’ combat control and sonar systems will also entail research and development for the hardware’s implementation on Ohio replacement SSBNs, according to NAVSEA spokesperson Matt Leonard. Awarded in late September by […]

NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 IN THE NNSA The National Nuclear Security Administration has begun searching for a new Associate Administrator for Management and Budget to replace Cindy Lersten, according to an announcement posted on USAjobs.gov this week. Lersten headed up the agency’s Office of Management and Budget since 2012, but NNSA budget director Robert Nassif is […]

  The Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Keyport, Wash., has awarded DRS Laurel Technologies a $171.1-million contract to install Technology Insertion Hardware (TIH) in future Ohio-replacement submarines and current Ohio-class SSBNs, along with other subs, according to a Sept. 29 Defense Department announcement. Under the fixed-price-incentive, cost-plus-incentive fee, cost-plus-fixed fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, DRS will develop […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/26/2014 Congressional appropriators should act quickly to fund the Ohio Class replacement submarine, as recapitalization for the SSBNs is in the midst of a 20-year delay, Rear Adm. Joe Tofalo, the Navy’s director of Undersea Warfare, said in remarks delivered in Washington at a Sept. 18 Minot Air Force Base Task […]

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said this week that the production of 12 Ohio-class submarine replacements could drain the Navy’s shipbuilding budget for longer than a decade. Officials have publicly announced the Ohio replacement as a priority, and a recent Center for Strategic Budget Analysis report estimated the Ohio replacement as the second most expensive current […]

The Defense Department Monday announced a $7.6 million award to Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. that is part of a larger effort to improve the U.S. and U.K.’s shared Advanced Launcher Development Program and modernize the existing British Trident II Underwater Launcher System. Specifically, the award comes as a modification to a firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-incentive-fee, […]

RW Monitor 6/13/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Perma-Fix Environmental Services has won a contract to provide waste treatment services for the Department of the Navy. The contract, worth approximately $9 million including option periods, calls for the transportation, treatment, and disposal of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP) generated mixed wastes. Perma-Fix will utilize all four of […]

B&W Nuclear Operations Group has received a set of contracts and orders worth a total of $195 million from the U.S. Naval Reactors program, B&W announced yesterday. The work includes a new contract worth $18.8 million for disassembly and recovery of HEU materials this fiscal year and four new incrementally funded contracts totaling $76.8 million […]

Babcock & Wilcox’s Nuclear Operations Group has been awarded a Naval Reactors contract that could be worth up to $1.3 billion over the next three years, the company said yesterday. B&W received an initial $508 million order for nuclear components that are used to manufacture nuclear power systems for Navy submarines and aircraft carriers, and […]

Navy officials are dealing with their own nuclear cheating scandal weeks after it was revealed that dozens of Air Force officers cheated on a nuclear proficiency exam. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert and Adm. John Richardson, the head of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, said yesterday that approximately 20 sailors are believed to […]

Navy officials are dealing with their own nuclear cheating scandal weeks after it was revealed that dozens of Air Force officers cheated on a nuclear proficiency exam. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert and Adm. John Richardson, the head of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, said yesterday that approximately 20 sailors are believed to […]

Babcock & Wilcox’s Nuclear Operations Group has been awarded a Naval Reactors contract that could be worth up to $1.3 billion over the next three years, the company said yesterday. B&W received an initial $508 million order for nuclear components that are used to manufacture nuclear power systems for Navy submarines and aircraft carriers, and […]

Former National Nuclear Security Administration Naval Reactors chief Kirkland Donald has joined Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc., as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. The retired admiral joined SPA as its Executive Vice President in June after a 37-year Navy career, where he served as the head of the Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Program and […]

A senior Navy official is likely to lead U.S. Strategic Command for the first time since 2004. President Obama yesterday nominated Adm. Cecil Haney to take over for Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler, who has headed up StratCom since January 2011. If he is confirmed by the Senate, Haney would be the first Navy leader […]

The nuclear weapons complex is facing a steep technical challenge and an even steeper price tag as it examines the feasibility of interoperable warheads that could be fielded on ground-launched and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, but while hopes are high that the approach could usher in a new strategy for the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, a […]

Babcock & Wilcox’s Nuclear Operations Group has been awarded a $366 million contract to provide nuclear material for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Naval Reactors program. The material will be used in the assembly of nuclear propulsion components at the company’s Lynchburg, Va., facility. The company said $75 million of the contract has been allocated […]

Babcock & Wilcox’s Nuclear Operations Group said yesterday that it has been awarded more than $510 million in contracts to manufacture nuclear power systems for the Navy’s nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. B&W said that $445 million was issued as options to a $2 billion contract awarded to its Nuclear Operations Group in 2010 and […]

Navy officials are concerned about the Administration’s decision to slow refurbishment of the W76 nuclear warhead in the FY 2013 request, which stretches the life extension program to 2021. The plan will meet the Navy’s operational requirements, but pushes back the completion of hedge warheads for three years and erases any room for error from […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s plans to slow down production of refurbished W76 nuclear warheads in Fiscal Year 2013 has raised concerns among top Navy officials, a senior Navy official told the House Armed Services Committee last week. The Administration requested $174.9 million in NNSA’s budget for the W76 program, a decrease of $81.3 million […]

Air Force Brig. Gen. Sandra Finan, the top active duty military officer in the NNSA’s weapons program, shed light on the Navy’s concerns with the agency’s plans to stretch production on refurbished W76 warheads through 2021, three more years than had been initially planned. NNSA officials previously said the altered production schedule frees up money […]

Nuclear Fuel Services yesterday contained a nitric acid leak in an outdoor bulk chemical storage area at its Erwin, Tenn., facility, which has been placed in “safe shutdown” mode. The Greenville (Tenn.) Sun has the story here.