Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

The Department of Energy should take a number of steps to ensure it comprehensively understands its transuranic waste disposal needs as it looks to dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium at its Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday. WIPP is the nation’s sole permanent disposal […]

The Energy Department said Friday it is extinguishing fires in the west-central corner of the remote Nevada National Security Site. The blaze, which burned cheat grass and sage grass in an estimated 5,000-acre area, did not affect any structures, facilities, or radiologically contaminated spots at the former nuclear weapon-testing site, DOE said in a press release […]

A portion of the Savannah River Site’s security personnel with union representation are on the job this week even as nearly 300 of their colleagues remain on strike in the wake of failed labor negotiations. Of the 337 security employees represented by the United Professional Pro-Force of Savannah River (PPSR), 48 are currently working. That encompasses workers who […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration will apparently wait until at least December for the funding increase the White House has proposed, as Congress is expected to move quickly on a short-term spending bill that will hold the federal budget at current levels for the first three months of fiscal 2018. The move would, at least temporarily, […]

A portion of the Savannah River Site’s security personnel with union representation are on the job this week even as nearly 300 of their colleagues remain on strike in the wake of failed labor negotiations. Of the 337 security employees represented by the United Professional Pro-Force of Savannah River (PPSR), 48 are currently working. That […]

A portion of the Savannah River Site’s security personnel with union representation are on the job this week even as nearly 300 of their colleagues remain on strike in the wake of failed labor negotiations. Of the 337 security employees represented by the United Professional Pro-Force of Savannah River (PPSR), 48 are currently working. That encompasses workers who […]

About four dozen people representing a host of security companies and Energy Department contractors attended the Aug. 14 industry day for the new paramilitary services contract for DOE’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Among the companies represented were current security provider Centerra, BWX Technologies, Wastren Advantage, the Government Training Institute, Paragon Systems, Professional Project […]

The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is looking for small businesses capable of identifying and classifying sensitive information from amid the reams of data generated by the nuclear stockpile steward. In a sources sought request late Friday, the agency said a contractor selected in any subsequent procurement would have to handle classified work on […]

The Department of Energy’s proposed plan to remove plutonium from the Savannah River Site does not hold the agency accountable if it misses deadlines, South Carolina said this week in its latest filing in a federal lawsuit on the dispute. While the state wants the court to hold DOE’s feet to the fire, the department […]

Members of the Defense Nuclear Security Facilities Safety Board said the federal organization should not have sent an engineer on a temporary work assignment to the National Nuclear Security Administration to advocate for the White House’s funding priorities. The two DNFSB members, Jessie Hill Roberson and Daniel Santos, made their opinion known in an internal memo dated […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) is investigating unauthorized access to confidential information at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the internal DOE enforcement agent wrote in a letter to Y-12 prime contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS). The breach was identified on March 16, 2017, and CNS on July 27 reported […]

Congress skipped town, and so did many other readers, but that didn’t stop news from breaking during the ExchangeMonitor’s annual August publication break. As chronicled in the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, here are a few stories that we’ve been following. BWXT Revenue, Income Spike in 2Q BWX Technologies on Monday reported revenue and income increases […]

About half the workers with the Savannah River Site’s security contractor remained on strike this week as the result of failed negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement, though traffic conditions at facility entrances affected by the strike had improved, the company said Thursday. “All barricades except one have been open since last Wednesday and the […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) is investigating unauthorized access to confidential information at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the internal DOE enforcement agent wrote in a letter to Y-12 prime contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS). The breach was identified on March 16, 2017, and CNS on July 27 reported […]

The Department of Energy’s proposed plan to remove plutonium from the Savannah River Site does not include hold the agency accountable if it misses deadlines, South Carolina said this week in its latest filing in a federal lawsuit on the dispute. While the state wants the court to hold DOE’s feet to the fire, the […]

The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is looking for small businesses capable of identifying and classifying sensitive information from amid the reams of data generated by the nuclear stockpile steward. In a sources sought request late Friday, the agency said a contractor selected in any subsequent procurement would have to handle classified work on […]

The Energy Department wants until the end of fiscal 2025 to remove 1 metric ton of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, according to the latest filing in a state lawsuit on the matter. The eight-year time frame is significantly longer than the two years the state requested in another […]

Members of the Defense Nuclear Security Facilities Safety Board said the federal organization should not have sent an engineer on a temporary work assignment to the National Nuclear Security Administration to advocate for the White House’s funding priorities. The two DNFSB members, Jessie Hill Roberson and Daniel Santos, made their opinion known in an internal memo dated […]

Notwithstanding President Donald Trump’s widely disputed tweet on Wednesday regarding the strength of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, plenty of work remains at the Energy Department facilities that support the nation's deterrent. My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before.... — Donald […]

The state of South Carolina has filed a new lawsuit against the Department of Energy seeking another $100 million it says the federal government owes for missing a deadline to remove 1 ton of plutonium from the Savannah River Site. The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. Court of Federal Claims, represents half of the total amount the […]

Management at Mission Support and Test Services (MSTS) did not receive a clear sense for why the venture secured the contract to manage and operate the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, incoming site manager Mark Martinez said Thursday. “They didn’t tell us why we won, they just told us that we won,” Martinez […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has invited Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration leadership to speak at a public hearing Sept. 13 on the status of emergency management across defense nuclear facilities. The hearing, to be held at the DNFSB’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, will allow DOE officials to make prepared remarks on the […]

Tuesday was the 10th anniversary of the start of construction of the Energy Department’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina — an occasion unheralded by either the agency or its contractor while lawmakers again debate whether to cancel the facility. As part of an arms-control agreement with Russia, initiated in 2000 and finalized in 2010, […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries on Thursday reported revenue of $1.86 billion in the second quarter of 2017, up by 9.3 percent from the $1.7 billion it reported during the same period last year. The shipbuilder collected $237 million in operating income – up from $217 million last year – and $186 million in cash from operations, […]

The ExchangeMonitor is following Congress into August recess, and NS&D Monitor will not be published during the second and third weeks of the month. We’ll still be in the office, so keep the news tips coming, and look for the next weekly newsletter in your inbox on Friday, Aug. 25.

After four months of deliberations, the state of South Carolina and the Department of Energy could not agree on how best to remove plutonium from DOE’s Savannah River Site, or whether the department will pay $200 million in fines that have piled up while the dispute lingered. In a joint statement Monday to Judge J. Michelle Childs, […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries on Thursday reported revenue of $1.86 billion in the second quarter of 2017, up by 9.3 percent from the $1.7 billion it reported during the same period last year. The shipbuilder collected $237 million in operating income – up from $217 million last year – and $186 million in cash from operations, […]

After four months of deliberations, the state of South Carolina and the Department of Energy could not agree on how best to remove plutonium from DOE’s Savannah River Site, or whether the department will pay $200 million in fines that have piled up while the dispute lingered. In a joint statement Monday to Judge J. Michelle Childs, […]

Tuesday was the 10th anniversary of the start of construction of the Energy Department’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina — an occasion unheralded by either the agency or its contractor while lawmakers again debate whether to cancel the facility. As part of an arms-control agreement with Russia, initiated in 2000 and […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has invited Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration leadership to speak at a public hearing Sept. 13 on the status of emergency management across defense nuclear facilities. The hearing, to be held at the DNFSB’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, will allow DOE officials to make prepared remarks on the […]