Non-Proliferation

A motor vehicle operator temporarily lost commercial driving privileges after transporting nuclear samples needed for counterterrorism training without completing the proper paperwork. The driver shipped the material Tuesday from the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Counter Terrorism Operations Support office in Nevada to a training facility in Hagerstown, Md., the Department of Energy  disclosed Friday. […]

Fewer countries have nuclear weapon-usable nuclear materials, but the risk of nuclear terrorism and cyber attacks on nuclear facilities has increased, the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative said this week in its latest biennial report on global nuclear threats. The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) published its 2018 Nuclear Security Index on Wednesday. The organization crafted the 132-page […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is carrying through with a pledge made earlier this year to provide $40 million more to support development of domestic commercial production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99. The aim of the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency is to promote means of manufacturing that do not require reactors powered […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is carrying through with a pledge made earlier this year to provide $40 million more to support development of domestic commercial production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99. The aim of the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency is to promote means of manufacturing that do not require reactors powered […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is carrying through with a pledge made earlier this year to provide $40 million more to support development of commercial production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency aims to promote means of production that do not require highly enriched uranium, a proliferation-sensitive material […]

LA VISTA, Neb. — The United States could be at a strategic disadvantage without a multilateral nuclear arms-reduction treaty, the Navy admiral in charge of setting targets for U.S. nuclear weapons said here Wednesday. “The INF [Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty] is a great system between us and Russia to limit forces within a certain range,” […]

LA VISTA, Neb. — The United States could be at a strategic disadvantage without a multilateral nuclear arms-reduction treaty, the Navy admiral in charge of setting targets for U.S. nuclear weapons said here Wednesday.  “The INF [Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty] is a great system between us and Russia to limit forces within a certain range,” […]

In what could amount to some housekeeping against the day the Department of Energy has a part to play in North Korean nuclear disarmament, Congress plans to extend the agency’s authority to accept weapon-grade fissile materials for sites around the world through 2023. The extension is part of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), […]

In what could amount to some housekeeping against the day the Department of Energy has a part to play in North Korean nuclear disarmament, Congress plans to extend the agency’s authority to accept weapon-grade fissile materials for sites around the world through 2023. The extension is part of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), […]

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the importance of nuclear arms control in a joint press conference following their one-on-one meeting in Helsinki Monday, though neither committed to an extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Of the two heads of state, Putin came the closest to actually addressing the state […]

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the importance of nuclear arms control in a joint press conference following their one-on-one meeting in Helsinki Monday, though neither committed to an extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Of the two heads of state, Putin came the closest to actually addressing the state […]

For four years and through two presidential administrations, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) failed to supply Congress with an adequate plan to verify and monitor global proliferation of nuclear weapons, weapon components, and fissile materials, the Government Accountability Office reported this week. Congress set the agency up for this public slap on the wrist […]

U.S. and Russian arms reductions under the New START treaty led an overall trickling down of deployed nuclear forces in 2017, and North Korea might have anywhere from 10 to 20 nuclear weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s latest annual yearbook on nuclear weapons and arms control. Including deployed and nondeployed forces, […]

For four years and through two presidential administrations, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) failed to supply Congress with an adequate plan to verify and monitor global proliferation of nuclear weapons, weapon components, and fissile materials, the Government Accountability Office reported this week. Congress set the agency up for this public slap on the wrist in a […]

U.S. and Russian arms reductions under the New START treaty led an overall trickling down of deployed nuclear forces in 2017, and North Korea might have anywhere from 10 to 20 nuclear weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s latest annual yearbook on nuclear weapons and arms control. Including deployed and nondeployed forces, […]

A federal judge ruled Thursday the U.S. Department of Energy cannot legally stop work at the Savannah River Site’s multibillion-dollar Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility plutonium recycling plant, finding the agency did not follow safety and environmental protocols before attempting to shutter the project. U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs ruled in favor of the […]

A federal judge in South Carolina could rule by Friday whether to prohibit the U.S. Department of Energy from issuing a full stop work order at the Savannah River Site’s MOX project, state Attorney General Alan Wilson said Tuesday. The state is asking U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs for a preliminary injunction to prevent DOE from fully […]

The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday will ask a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of Energy from stopping construction of its plutonium conversion plant at the Savannah River Site. The state filed a preliminary injunction request and full lawsuit on May 25 in U.S. District Court with the […]

Making good on a recent threat, South Carolina on Friday sued the Department of Energy over its plan to halt construction of a plutonium recycling plant at the Savannah River Site. In a 42-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said shuttering the MOX program will breach a deal between […]

South Carolina could sue the Department of Energy today over plans to terminate the Savannah River Site’s MOX project, state Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a letter Tuesday to DOE Secretary Rick Perry. The Energy Department earlier this month formalized plans to convert the unfinished Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) for production of […]

South Carolina intends to sue the Department of Energy by Friday over plans to terminate the Savannah River Site’s MOX project, state Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a letter Tuesday to DOE Secretary Rick Perry. The Energy Department earlier this month formalized plans to convert the unfinished Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) for production of plutonium […]

In what could be a bid to save a major nuclear-nonproliferation project in his state, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) was to meet Monday with President Donald Trump in Washington, sources said. Earlier this month, McMaster — an early political supporter of the president — said he wanted to appeal to Trump personally to […]

The blockbuster lawsuit between the Department of Energy and the prime contractor for the unfinished Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) will go to trial in April 2019, a federal judge ordered this week. Judge Thomas Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims handed down the order the week after DOE made official its […]

South Carolina may once again sue the Department of Energy, this time for terminating the Savannah River Site’s MOX project, state Attorney General Alan Wilson hinted in a statement on Monday. This would be South Carolina’s fourth lawsuit since 2016 against the federal government over plutonium disposal at the DOE facility near the city of Aiken. “We have […]

The U.S. Department of Energy and South Carolina said Tuesday they probably will not settle their differences about whether the agency owes the state hundreds of millions of dollars for its failure to remove plutonium from the state by 2016. That conclusion was all but foregone, as South Carolina has already submitted a motion for […]

Seeking to cut the time it will spend in court, the Department of Energy last week asked a federal judge to consolidate five lawsuits filed against the agency by the prime contractor on a long-delayed plutonium-disposal plant in South Carolina. CB&I AREVA MOX Services first sued the Department of Energy (DOE) in the U.S. Court […]

The U.S. Department of Energy and South Carolina said Tuesday they probably will not settle their differences about whether the agency owes the state hundreds of millions of dollars for its failure to remove plutonium from the state by 2016. That conclusion was all but foregone, as South Carolina has already submitted a motion for […]

Seeking to cut the time it will spend in court, the Department of Energy last week asked a federal judge to consolidate five lawsuits filed against the agency by the prime contractor on a long-delayed plutonium-disposal plant in South Carolina. CB&I AREVA MOX Services first sued the Department of Energy (DOE) in the U.S. Court […]

The governor of South Carolina this week promised a court challenge if the Department of Energy cancels the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) under construction in his state, or turns the planned plutonium-disposal plant into a new weapons facility. The sprawling facility, billions over budget and years behind schedule, is being built to turn […]

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee is replacing an inner reflector plug at its neutron source with a new one, filled with about 6 metric tons of heavy water purchased from Iran. The Energy Department’s lab Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) produces neutrons for experiments to support scientific disciplines including physics, chemistry, materials science, and […]