Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

In The NNSA: National Security Technologies (NSTec), the contractor that manages and operates the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), purchased two Sandstorm unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for a program at the facility that develops sensor technology for these systems, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nevada Field Office announced Wednesday. The two small- to medium-sized systems […]

The Department of Energy is headed into overtime in preparing a plan to address emergency response vulnerabilities identified in the Pantex Plant’s ability to respond to the release of radioactive material or other crisis. In a letter to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chairman Joyce Connery, dated May 3 and posted later to the board’s […]

South Carolina and the federal government are continuing their disagreement over what constitutes a mandate and what should be considered a goal, as it pertains to the state lawsuit over a failed plutonium disposition milestone at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). In the latest document filed in federal court, on May […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security, the managing contractor at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants, said Monday it had made numerous changes – including an organizational realignment – in response to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s review of the firm’s performance in fiscal 2015. CNS received an overall score of 57 out of 100, meaning it […]

The manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants received the lowest percentage of the available award fee for fiscal 2015 among the agency’s seven site management and operations contractors. Consolidated Nuclear Security’s overall performance score (57 out of 100) and fee ($42.6 million of a maximum $51.2 million) were revealed […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has not yet completed its physical security infrastructure plan, despite a nearly decade-old requirement by Congress for it to do so, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report Friday. The report said physical security infrastructure, or the protection and accounting of nuclear materials, has been an area of […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration shortly before press time Friday released the latest performance evaluation reports and award fee letters for the managers of its eight nuclear security sites. With one exception, the performance periods cover fiscal 2015, from Oct. 1, 2014, to Sept. 30, 2015. Each contractor was rated in six performance areas, which […]

Another issue has come under scrutiny at Stack 110, a significant emissions point in the 9212 uranium-processing complex at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn. According to a March 25 report by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, a monitoring team with Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security noted that enriched […]

Jeff Edlund of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office has been named the Department of Energy’s facility representative of the year. Edlund oversees operations at the enriched uranium facilities at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn.  He received the award last week at the National Facility Representative Conference in Las Vegas. According […]

When lawmakers return to Capitol Hill next week, yet another report proclaiming the fundamental unsoundness of the Energy Department’s proposal to store surplus plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. will greet them. Delivered to the Hill on Thursday, the latest report by Greensboro, Ga.-based High Bridge Associates — the consulting firm […]

When lawmakers return to Capitol Hill next week, yet another report proclaiming the fundamental unsoundness of the Energy Department’s proposal to store surplus plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. will greet them. Delivered to the Hill on Thursday, the latest report by Greensboro, Ga.-based High Bridge Associates — the consulting firm […]

Despite a major makeover in plans for the Uranium Processing Facility, which has been scaled down and supplemented with the use of existing facilities, the National Nuclear Security Administration has determined it doesn’t need to redo the 2011 site-wide environmental impact statement for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee – which was the information […]

The nuclear safety systems at Department of Energy (DOE) sites that are meant to protect workers, the public, and the environment from hazards created in case of an accident are generally functioning well, the DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) said in a report released last week. The office reviewed independent safety systems at 11 DOE nuclear facilities between […]

The U.S. Justice Department on Monday requested that a federal court hold off on ruling on South Carolina’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit over the breach of agreement for disposition of surplus defense plutonium now stored in the state. The U.S. District Court for South Carolina should first rule on the federal government’s […]

The U.S. Justice Department on Monday requested that a federal court hold off on ruling on South Carolina’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit over the breach of agreement for disposition of surplus defense plutonium now stored in the state. The U.S. District Court for South Carolina should first rule on the federal government’s […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) cited a below-average performance for CB&I AREVA MOX Services, the contractor building the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF), in awarding the company less than half of the available award fee for work done during fiscal 2015. The information was released after nuclear watchdog SRS Watch filed […]

The nuclear safety systems at Department of Energy (DOE) sites that are meant to protect workers, the public, and the environment from hazards created in case of an accident are generally functioning well, the DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) said in a report released last week. The office reviewed independent safety systems at 11 DOE nuclear facilities between […]

The House Armed Services Committee passed its version of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the wee hours of Thursday morning by a 60-2 vote. The $610.5 billion defense spending bill would authorize $13.3 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and includes amendments tying funding restrictions to mandates for periodic […]

National Nuclear Security Administration veteran Travis Howerton has been hired to fill a newly created role with Consolidated Nuclear Security, the government’s managing contractor at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons sites. It appears Howerton is being given significant responsibility to make the combined management of two plants 1,000 miles apart work more smoothly and […]

The Department of Energy this week requested dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the state of South Carolina over the federal agency’s failure to meet the term of an agreement on disposition of plutonium stored at the Savannah River Site. The lawsuit stems from missed deadlines at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication […]

Some National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sites – the Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories, along the Nevada National Security Site – have implemented successful nuclear criticality safety programs, while others – the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the Savannah River Site – need to improve their programs, according to […]

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday called for modernization of the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal and a rebuilding of the U.S.-Russian relationship based on shared interests. In a foreign policy speech delivered in Washington, D.C., Trump called the Obama administration’s foreign policy “reckless, rudderless, and aimless,” as well as “a complete and total disaster.” […]

The Department of Energy this week requested dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the state of South Carolina over the federal agency’s failure to meet the term of an agreement on disposition of plutonium stored at the Savannah River Site. The lawsuit stems from missed deadlines at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication […]

Some National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sites – the Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories, along the Nevada National Security Site – have implemented successful nuclear criticality safety programs, while others – the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the Savannah River Site – need to improve their programs, according to […]

The $37.4 billion House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill for fiscal 2017 prohibits the use of funds allocated for the Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility to place the plant in “cold standby,” a clear departure from the Obama administration’s proposal to terminate the project. The spending legislation in total grants the Department of Energy […]

The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee is proposing a requirement for the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that construction of the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility continue unless the secretary of energy reports to Congress on activities meant to address major points of contention on the project. The subcommittee on Thursday […]

As expected, South Carolina has denied a rural economic group’s request to intervene in the state’s lawsuit against the Department of Energy. The federal agency has failed to pay the state $100 million for a missed milestone at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The Southern Carolina Regional Development Alliance, which […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration said this week there was “no measurable exposure” to workers from a large piece of radioactive metal discovered last month during site preparation for the Uranium Processing Facility. There have been varying reports about what was uncovered at the UPF site, although occurrence reports submitted by Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration confirmed that it is looking at ways to carry out repairs at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Building 9204-2, also known as Beta-2, which houses the Tennessee site’s nuclear weapons operations with lithium. But there’s still plenty of mystery about the plans for work in the crowded production complex inside […]

Brig. Gen. Stephen L. Davis, who has served as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s principal assistant deputy administrator for military application since September 2014 and assumed the role of deputy administrator for defense programs on an acting basis following the retirement of Don Cook, will be moving to another Air Force assignment in early July. […]