Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

A group of Democratic Party senators on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama to take several steps in the final months of his presidency to reduce the risk of inadvertent nuclear war and to limit nuclear weapons spending. The letter was signed by Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Al Franken (Minn.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Jeff […]

The finalized Republican Party Platform unveiled this week calls for modernization of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, criticizes the Obama administration’s disarmament and arms control initiatives, and indicates the United States will confront “Russian belligerence” while promoting a partnership between the two countries on common concerns such as nuclear nonproliferation. The platform was released to coincide with […]

The finalized Republican Party Platform unveiled this week calls for modernization of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, criticizes the Obama administration’s disarmament and arms control initiatives, and indicates the United States will confront “Russian belligerence” while promoting a partnership between the two countries on common concerns such as nuclear nonproliferation. The platform was released to coincide with […]

A group of Democrat senators on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama to take several steps in the final months of his presidency to reduce the risk of inadvertent nuclear war and to limit nuclear weapons spending. The letter was signed by Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Al Franken (Minn.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Jeff Merkley […]

Top U.S. defense and energy officials testified Thursday in support of current U.S. nuclear modernization priorities and dismissed rumors that President Barack Obama plans to take nonproliferation steps in the final months of his presidency that have not been agreed upon in Congress. Responding to questions about these rumors, witnesses at a House Armed Services […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has formally amended its approach to meeting enriched uranium requirements at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee by upgrading some existing enriched uranium processing facilities and constructing a multi-building Uranium Processing Facility (UPF). An amended record of decision published Tuesday represents the final step in the process to […]

An article in Monday’s edition of the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing should have said that Walter Tamosaitis was terminated from Hanford Site subcontractor URS Energy & Construction in 2013.

National Security Technologies (NSTec) this month is celebrating 10 years of service as the management and operating contractor for the Nevada National Security Site, with additional operations across the country including in Los Alamos and Albuquerque, N.M.; Santa Barbara and Livermore, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. NSTec, which employs 2,100 of the 2,900 total NNSS employees, supports […]

The downblending of 6 metric tons of plutonium at the Savannah River Site is expected to begin in September, with plans to complete the process over the next several years. The weapon-usable, non-pit plutonium is not part of the 34 metric tons of material that would be processed by the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility […]

Savannah River Site officials still don’t know who is behind the flying drones that have been spotted above the 310-square-mile facility near Aiken, S.C. There have been eight confirmed sightings of drones flying over the Department of Energy facility, with the most recent reported on Tuesday. “We continue to partner with federal, state, and local […]

Department of Energy (DOE) representatives briefed House Armed Services Committee staffers Thursday on a study of comparative pensions and cost-of-living increases given to retired workers from DOE facilities, according to the Savannah River Site Retirees Association (SRSRA). The SRSRA said in an issue summary statement ahead of the meeting that this briefing follows two years of […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has issued consent orders to Los Alamos National Security (LANS) and National Security Technologies (NSTec) for the loss of contamination control of highly enriched uranium at the Nevada National Security Site’s National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Device Assembly Facility (DAF) in June and October of 2014, according to two […]

The downblending of 6 metric tons of plutonium at the Savannah River Site is expected to begin in September, with plans to complete the process over the next several years. The weapon-usable, non-pit plutonium is not part of the 34 metric tons of material that would be processed by the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility […]

Savannah River Site officials still don’t know who is behind the flying drones that have been spotted above the 310-square-mile facility near Aiken, S.C. There have been eight confirmed sightings of drones flying over the Department of Energy facility, with the most recent reported on Tuesday. “We continue to partner with federal, state, and local […]

An article in the June 28 Weapons Complex Morning Briefing should have reported that Friday, July 1, was the deadline for filing appeals against a Vermont Public Service Board certificate of public good for a second spent fuel storage pad at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has issued consent orders to Los Alamos National Security (LANS) and National Security Technologies (NSTec) for the loss of contamination control of highly enriched uranium at the Nevada National Security Site’s National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Device Assembly Facility (DAF) in June and October of 2014, according to two […]

The Energy Department on Thursday inched closer toward a procurement for a facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex for treatment of mercury-contaminated water. The agency dropped its request for information late Thursday, asking companies to submit capabilities statements for building the facility described in a 30-page statement of work the agency released along with its request. […]

The Pantex Plant has underreported its maintenance backlog by 69 percent despite properly identifying the condition of its infrastructure, the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office (IG) said in a report Tuesday. Pantex reported 4,002 backlogged tasks as of Jan. 19, 2015, it said. However, the IG’s review of the system the plant uses to […]

Despite some obstacles, such as the slow pace of approval of new security clearances, Consolidated Nuclear Security is more than halfway to its goal of hiring 1,150 employees in fiscal 2016. CNS is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s managing contractor at two key nuclear weapons facilities: the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and the […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA), in a June 24 report, identified some design and operational deficiencies with the criticality accident alarm system (CAAS) at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Fissile material operations at Y-12 pose the risk of a criticality accident, an uncontrolled nuclear reaction that could expose nearby […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will extend until Aug. 31, 2016, its contract with Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Synergy Solutions Inc. (SSI) for personnel security program support, according to a justification and approval notice posted Wednesday. The contract involves support services involving the agency’s 49,000 contractor and federal employees with security clearances, such as background […]

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

Despite some obstacles, such as the slow pace of approval of new security clearances, Consolidated Nuclear Security is more than halfway home to its goal of hiring 1,150 employees in fiscal 2016. CNS is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s managing contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and Pantex Plant in Texas. Since Oct. 1, […]

The Pantex Plant has underreported its maintenance backlog by 69 percent despite properly identifying the condition of its infrastructure, the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office (IG) said in a report Tuesday. Pantex reported 4,002 backlogged tasks as of Jan. 19, 2015, it said. However, the IG’s review of the system the plant uses to […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA), in a June 24 report, identified some design and operational deficiencies with the criticality accident alarm system (CAAS) at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Fissile material operations at Y-12 pose the risk of a criticality accident, an uncontrolled nuclear reaction that could expose nearby […]

The Department of Energy has completed only five of the 13 steps in a complex-wide emergency preparedness implementation plan the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recommended the department start work on more than two years ago, according to a recently published letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. The letter is the latest to be made public […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has authorized irradiation of up to 5,000 tritium rods every 18 months using two Tennessee nuclear reactors, one of seven options it was considering to meet national security requirements. The semiautonomous Department of Energy branch said in a record of decision released Wednesday that it would implement its preferred […]

The number of equipment leaks awaiting repair in Building 9212 – the main processing center for bomb-grade uranium at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee – has been reduced from 120 in 2010 to a current level of 47, thanks to a “continuous effort to repair new and previously identified leaks.” That’s according to […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has given its approval to Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) to move forward with plans for construction of a new administrative and support facility for the Pantex Plant in Texas, CNS announced last week. The new 343,000-square-foot Pantex Administrative Support complex will provide office space for roughly 1,100 employees of the […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has outlined improvements to the Pantex Plant’s emergency management program it plans to make by next June on staffing, infrastructure, training, and drills, according to a June 16 letter from Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chairman Joyce Connery. The implementation plan for emergency […]