Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

The White House’s pick to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration will meet next week with Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who might still be pursuing other candidates for the job, sources told NS&D Monitor this week. Sources said late last month that Lisa Gordon-Hagerty is the White House’s choice to replace Obama administration holdover Frank […]

Despite reservations from at least one lawmaker, there was no move to cut funding for the Department of Energy’s controversial MOX facility Wednesday as the House Appropriations Committee advanced its fiscal 2018 energy and water funding bill to the full House for consideration. The appropriations legislation would grant $10.2 billion for weapons activities at the Department of Energy’s […]

Lawmakers debated nuclear-weapon-related amendments to the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act Wednesday evening on the House floor, postponing votes for some contentious proposals and adopting one to prohibit funding for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. The House Rules Committee approved this week for floor debate 88 of roughly 400 amendments filed on […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory has reportedly fired an employee following the finding that special nuclear material was mistakenly been shipped by air cargo instead of by ground, in violation of federal regulations. The National Nuclear Security Administration said late last month that LANL shipped the material to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and […]

The House of Representatives’ fiscal 2018 energy funding bill directs the National Nuclear Security Administration to address various legal and diplomatic hurdles in its proposed alternative plutonium disposition method before Congress considers funding the new approach and abandoning the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility under construction in South Carolina. The House version of the energy and […]

Members of the House of Representatives have thrown early support in the latest budget process behind sustaining funding for the MOX project at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, but their colleagues in the Senate are so far silent on whether they will also again back the program. The House version of the fiscal 2018 DOE […]

Amendments to the House of Representatives’ fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act cover a wide range of concerns over nuclear modernization costs, the size and scope of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and the status of arms control agreements with Russia. One of the nearly 400 amendments submitted to the House version of the bill, for […]

The full House is expected to consider the fiscal year 2018 defense authorization bill (H.R. 2810) late in the week of July 10 to 14. House members have submitted hundreds of potential amendments to the House Rules Committee, which will sift through them and decide which can be debated on the House floor. Among them is […]

Two aging buildings at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee are undergoing electrical modernization upgrades under the facilities’ Extended Life Program (ELP), according to the National Nuclear Security Administration. The NNSA last December received an ELP implementation plan from site contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security for extending the lives of Buildings 9215 and 9204-2E, decades-old enriched uranium […]

Two aging buildings at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee are undergoing electrical modernization upgrades under the facilities’ Extended Life Program (ELP), according to the National Nuclear Security Administration. The NNSA last December received an ELP implementation plan from site contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security for extending the lives of Buildings 9215 and 9204-2E, two decades-old enriched […]

In observance of Independence Day, the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will not be published on Tuesday. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Wednesday, July 5.

The House of Representatives’ version of the Department of Energy funding bill for fiscal 2018 would again defy the agency’s intention to kill its Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. The House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee on Wednesday approved its $37.56 billion spending legislation, which would provide $340 million for construction of the […]

South Carolina’s governor reiterated his concerns late last week about the federal government’s continued efforts to end the Savannah River Site’s MOX project, a local elected official said Monday. The 310-square-mile Department of Energy facility is primarily housed in Aiken County, S.C., near the state’s border with Georgia. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster was in Aiken on […]

Former National Security Council and Department of Energy senior staffer Lisa Gordon-Hagerty is the White House’s choice to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration, informed sources told NS&D Monitor this week. If confirmed by the Senate, Gordon-Hagerty would replace Frank Klotz, a retired Air Force general and Obama administration holdover who has headed the semiautonomous […]

One of the recently disclosed improper shipments of nuclear material from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico involved 100 grams of plutonium sent to a sister site in California, according to an incident report posted Monday. The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration said Friday that Los Alamos had during the […]

South Carolina’s governor reiterated his concerns late last week about the federal government’s continued efforts to end the Savannah River Site’s MOX project, a local elected official said Monday. The 310-square-mile Department of Energy facility is primarily housed in Aiken County, S.C., near the state’s border with Georgia. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster was in Aiken on […]

The House Armed Services Committee chairman’s mark of the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act keeps the door open for sustaining the Department of Energy’s Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina – assuming Congress provides any money for the project. The 701-page document, released Monday by HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), says the energy […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico mistakenly transported nuclear material to two other national laboratories by air instead of by ground, the Energy Department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration said late Friday. While the material was prepared for transport by commercial ground cargo, as was proper, shipment documents indicated it should be flown by […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry this week reaffirmed his department’s commitment to sticking within the cost and schedule guidelines for construction of the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) in Tennessee, given stable funding. Perry, who was on Capitol Hill repeatedly for a series of hearings on the Energy Department’s fiscal 2018 budget plan, confirmed DOE would build […]

Lawmakers challenged Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Tuesday to commit to resolving the issues that are preventing Congress from taking a definitive stance on the future of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. Perry reaffirmed the Energy Department’s intentions on MOX during a House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee budget hearing, saying […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) — the agency’s independent nuclear safety and security enforcer — will retire “at the end of the summer,” according to a letter he sent to industry colleagues Thursday. “Last Friday I informed Secretary Perry’s [chief of staff] and [deputy chief of staff] that […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) — the agency’s independent nuclear safety and security enforcer — will retire “at the end of the summer,” according to a letter he sent to industry colleagues Thursday. “Last Friday I informed Secretary Perry’s [chief of staff] and [deputy chief of staff] that […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Science office in Oak Ridge will extend for 10 years its contract with the city of Oak Ridge for a potable water supply for the Y-12 National Security Complex and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The contract modification extends the period of performance from completion this June 30 to June […]

Lawmakers challenged Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Tuesday to commit to resolving the issues that are preventing Congress from taking a definitive stance on the future of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. Perry reaffirmed the Energy Department’s intentions on MOX during a House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee budget hearing, saying […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry suggested Wednesday that material processed through the Energy Department’s suggested dilute and dispose method for eliminating 34 metric tons of excess weapon-usable plutonium could potentially be stored somewhere other than the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The administration is pushing for termination of the Mixed Oxide Fuel […]

Lawmakers challenged Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Tuesday to commit resolving the issues that are preventing Congress from taking a definitive stance on the future of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. Perry reaffirmed the Energy Department’s stance on MOX during a House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee budget hearing, saying “there […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Science office in Oak Ridge, Tenn., will extend for 10 years its contract with the City of Oak Ridge for a potable water supply for the Y-12 National Security Complex and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The contract modification extends the period of performance from completion this June 30 to […]

Construction of the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee remains on track, with certain design and schedule benchmarks set for this fall, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration confirmed Wednesday. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) highlighted Wednesday at a Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee hearing on the NNSA budget his ongoing […]

Construction of the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee remains on track, with certain design and schedule benchmarks set for this fall, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration confirmed Wednesday. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) highlighted Wednesday at a Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee hearing on the NNSA budget his ongoing […]

The contractor building the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, locked in a dispute with the federal government over the project’s future, argued the Energy Department’s failure to negotiate a contract modification “in good faith” is costing the company money. On June 1, the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals denied CB&I AREVA […]