Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has begun analyzing whether the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico would be a viable facility for storage of plutonium that would be downblended at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. In its fiscal 2017 budget, Congress mandated that the nongovernmental research organization conduct […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (NNFSB) this week kicks off a pair of closed-door meetings during which the five-member watchdog group will discuss what could become its first recommendation to the Donald Trump administration’s Department of Energy. Jessie Hill Roberson, the board’s longest-serving member and a veteran of the George W. Bush and Barack […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration confirmed Monday it is evaluating whether it can manufacture plutonium pits at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina instead of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico as currently planned. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency settled on Savannah River after ruling out the Idaho National Laboratory as […]

A recent drone sighting at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri underscores the need for the Air Force to continue developing systems to counter unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that trespass on its installations, according to a four-star general. “That got real to us not too long ago with Whiteman,” said Gen. Robin Rand, commander of […]

Boeing says its Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) effort completed its first major review with the Air Force in November. The system requirements review was designed to ensure that Boeing fully understands the system’s requirements. In August, Boeing and Northrop Grumman both received three-year contracts to conduct technology maturation and risk reduction for the new, […]

The U.S. Energy Department on Thursday released a draft request for proposals and announced plans for a pre-solicitation conference for the latest contract connected with mercury cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The DOE Office of Environmental Management expects to issue a four-year, fixed-price contract for construction of the Outfall […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board plans to consider at least one nuclear safety recommendation to the Department of Energy during closed-door meetings in early December, according to notices published Monday. The specific topics to be discussed by the five-member Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) on Dec. 6 and Dec. 18 are unknown. In notices posted online, the […]

The Uranium Processing Facility in Tennessee, a centrifuge in Texas, and the national heavy water inventory are among the management challenges the Department of Energy’s Inspector General’s Office foresees for the agency in fiscal 2018, according to a Nov. 27 special report. The Inspector General’s (IG) Office fretted that DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

BWX Technologies has named Regina W. Carter as its senior vice president, government affairs and communications. Carters has been a vice president for the company since 2015. In addition to heading up government affairs and communications, Carter also serves as a member of BWXT’s executive staff and strategic planning team, BWXT President and CEO Rex […]

BWX Technologies has named Regina W. Carter as its senior vice president, government affairs and communications. Carters has been a vice president for the company since 2015. In addition to heading up government affairs and communications, Carter also serves as a member of BWXT’s executive staff and strategic planning team, BWXT President and CEO Rex […]

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge said Tuesday she needs to determine if her court can decide if South Carolina should receive $100 million from the Department of Energy over missed plutonium disposal deadlines at the Savannah River Site. In the order, Judge Margaret Sweeney granted DOE’s request to defer a ruling on the […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily Faced with budget constraints that are unlikely to ease anytime soon, the U.S. military should build more relationships with foreign countries to counter threats in a more cost-effective way, according to the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). The military could reduce its overseas presence by making greater […]

More than 10 months into the Donald Trump administration, the White House has not nominated anyone to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) — something entirely consistent with the few organizational precedents the agency has established in its short history. Yet Trump prides himself on shattering Washington precedents and is, according to rumor, on […]

A new labor contract phased last week for about 900 Honeywell employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus, the union announced. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 778 ratified a new tentative agreement with management Nov. 19, the local said on its website. Members never went […]

WASHINGTON — The author of a congressional report that pondered ways to trim billions of dollars in U.S. nuclear-weapon spending over the next 30 years speculated recently that targeting the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex would not yield considerable savings. “You might find some more savings there, but I don’t think that changes the […]

Mission Support and Test Services officially took over management of the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site on Friday, the agency’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration said. The Nevada National Security Site is the former Nevada Test Site where the United States conducted explosive atmospheric and underground nuclear weapon tests. The site today conducts […]

Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Orbital ATK’s [OA] stockholders on Wednesday voted in favor of their company’s being acquired by Northrop Grumman [NOC], keeping the pending deal on track for a close in the first half of 2018. The nearly $8 billion acquisition still must receive regulatory approvals. Orbital ATK said that holders of more than 99 percent […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) acknowledged the third test of 2017 for components of the updated B61-12 gravity bomb the agency is developing as part of the $1-trillion-plus U.S. nuclear modernization program. The two qualification flights took place Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, the NNSA said in a […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board plans to consider at least one nuclear safety recommendation to the Department of Energy during closed-door meetings in early December, according to notices published Monday. The specific topics to be discussed by the five-member Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) on Dec. 6 and Dec. 18 are unknown. In notices posted online, the […]

Orbital ATK’s [OA] stockholders on Wednesday voted in favor of their company’s being acquired by Northrop Grumman [NOC], keeping the pending deal on track for a close in the first half of 2018. The nearly $8 billion acquisition still must receive regulatory approvals. Orbital ATK said that holders of more than 99 percent of the company’s common […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) acknowledged the third test of 2017 for components of the updated B61-12 gravity bomb the agency is developing as part of the $1-trillion-plus U.S. nuclear modernization program. The two qualification flights took place Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, NNSA wrote in a […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board plans to consider at least one nuclear safety recommendation to the Department of Energy during closed-door meetings in early December, according to notices published Monday. The specific topics to be discussed by the five-member Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) on Dec. 6 and Dec. 18 are unknown. In […]

The Energy Department says it is too early to estimate the total cost for the Mercury Treatment Facility that will be built at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., given that there are has multiple procurements going in connection with the project. A DOE spokesman said Nov. 22 that the department should […]

Assuming CH2M shareholders approve that company’s acquisition by Jacobs Engineering in a few weeks, Jacobs Chairman and CEO Steve Demetriou sees the combined company getting off to “a running start.” During a conference call with Wall Street analysts Tuesday following release of Jacobs’ quarterly earnings, Demetriou said he has already visited many CH2M offices and […]

The Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published Thursday, Nov. 23, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Monday, Nov. 27.

A new labor contract phased in this week for about 900 Honeywell employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus, the union announced. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 778 ratified a new tentative agreement with management Sunday, the local said on its website. Members never […]

More than 10 months into the Donald Trump administration, the White House has not nominated anyone to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) — something entirely consistent with the few organizational precedents the agency has established in its short history. Yet Trump prides himself on shattering Washington precedents and is, according to rumor, on […]

A new Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., took a step closer to becoming reality Monday as U.S. lawmakers and Energy Department officials participated in a groundbreaking ceremony. The facility is considered necessary for further cleanup at the DOE nuclear-weapon site, because once some of the old buildings […]

WASHINGTON — The author of a congressional report that pondered ways to trim billions of dollars in U.S. nuclear-weapon spending over the next 30 years speculated that targeting the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex would not yield considerable savings. “You might find some more savings there, but I don’t think that changes the bottom […]

Jacobs Engineering will report its fiscal fourth-quarter 2017 earnings prior to the market opening on Tuesday, and will hold a quarterly conference call with financial analysts at 10 a.m. EST. It will mark the company’s last earnings call prior to the Dec. 13 vote by CH2M stockholders on a buyout by Jacobs. The CH2M vote […]