Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

NS&D Monitor 4/10/2015 IN CONGRESS Rep. Chuck Fleischmann has been named the vice chairman of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, giving the Tennessee Republican more clout on the powerful panel. Fleischmann’s district includes the Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other Oak Ridge Department of Energy facilities, and he’s been […]

Department ‘Hopes’ Actual Waste Processing Can Begin Sooner Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/3/2015 The Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU), key to addressing the remaining liquid waste at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site, is now expected to begin full operations by the fall of 2016 under a schedule DOE reached with Idaho environmental regulators […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/3/2015 As Babcock and Wilcox continues to move forward with plans to split into two businesses, additional details have emerged of the management structure intended for BWXT Technologies, which will consist of B&W’s nuclear operations, technical services, nuclear energy, and mPower businesses. Bill Fox will serve as President of the Technical […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Two members of the House Armed Services Committee, including South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson, are voicing concerns about the National Nuclear Security Administration’s decision to use The Aerospace Corporation to conduct a study on alternatives to the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. In a March 25 letter to Energy Secretary […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Richard Reback, the acting general counsel of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, was placed on administrative leave last month after the Department of Energy revoked his security clearance, NS&D Monitor has learned. DOE’s decision to revoke Reback’s clearance was sparked by an investigation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 White House nuclear energy official Joyce Connery and nuclear industry veteran Bruce Hamilton have emerged as the top candidates to fill the two vacant spots on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, NS&D Monitor has learned. Connery, who most recently has served as the director of Nuclear Energy Policy for […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 As Babcock and Wilcox continues to move forward with plans to split into two businesses, additional details have emerged of the management structure intended for BWXT Technologies, which will consist of B&W’s nuclear operations, technical services, nuclear energy, and mPower businesses. Bill Fox will serve as President of the Technical […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 After spiking in the fall, the size of U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles has dipped again, according to the latest New START Treaty data released by the State Department this week. The April 1 declaration revealed that the United States counted 1,597 strategic deployed warheads as of March 1, down […]

NRC: No Issues on MOX Project During 2014 NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project a clean bill of health for the fifth straight year. In a report released last month, the NRC said it found no violations by MOX contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services Inc. […]

NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY The consulting firm Longenecker & Associates has hired Martin Schneider as Vice President for Strategy and Business Development, effective April 16. Schneider last served as CEO for ExchangeMonitor Publications and Forum, a media and business intelligence firm focused on the environmental cleanup and nuclear security sectors. Prior to becoming […]

After spiking in the fall, the size of U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles has dipped again according to the latest New START Treaty data released by the State Department yesterday. The April 1 declaration revealed that the U.S. counted 1,597 strategic deployed warheads as of March 1, down 45 warheads from six months ago. The […]

The consulting firm Longenecker & Associates has hired Martin Schneider as Vice President for Strategy and Business Development, effective April 16. Schneider last served as CEO for ExchangeMonitor Publications and Forum, a media and business intelligence firm focused on the environmental cleanup and nuclear security sectors. Prior to becoming CEO in 2011, Schneider served in […]

Two members of the House Armed Services Committee, including South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson, are voicing concerns about the National Nuclear Security Administration’s decision to use The Aerospace Corporation to conduct a study on alternatives to the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. In a March 25 letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz obtained by NS&D […]

NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY Three members of Babcock & Wilcox’s Board of Directors will be up for re-election at the company’s annual shareholder’s meeting May 1, B&W said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late last week. The members up for reelection include Jan Bertsch, the executive vice president and chief financial […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015  The National Nuclear Security Administration will deliver a report to Congress on its response to the recommendations of the Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the Nuclear Security Enterprise in three-to-four weeks, NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz told the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee this week. The timeline represents […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration is already reaping the benefits of consolidating the management and operating contracts at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants, having already saved $80 million, NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Madelyn Creedon said in a response to a Government Accountability Office report that raised questions about […]

Todd Jacobson and Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) reintroduced parallel legislation this week in the House and Senate that would cut $100 billion in nuclear weapons spending over the next decade. The lawmakers have previously authored bills similar to the “Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 Consolidated Nuclear Security is continuing to try to address employee concerns about benefit reductions at Y-12 and Pantex while trying to carry out its promise to reduce costs and bring the plants into compliance with Department of Energy orders. About 400 Pantex employees reportedly met with health care providers March […]

False Alarm at Purification Facility NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 Not long after resuming operations following an evacuation and three-month shutdown due to a chemical spill, Y-12’s Purification Facility—which produces classified Fogbank for nuclear weapons—was once again evacuated this week. This time it was a false alarm, though, and top officials at the Oak Ridge plant said […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration will deliver a report to Congress on its response to the recommendations of the Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the Nuclear Security Enterprise in three to four weeks, NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz told the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee yesterday. The timeline represents a delay from previous […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is already reaping the benefits of consolidating the management and operating contracts at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants, having already saved $80 million, NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Madelyn Creedon said in a response to a Government Accountability Office report that raised questions about the cost of competing the […]

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) reintroduced legislation yesterday in the House and Senate that would cut $100 billion in nuclear weapons spending over the next decade. The lawmakers have previously authored bills similar to the “Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act” since Markey first drafted the legislation in 2012, but […]

Three members of Babcock & Wilcox’s Board of Directors will be up for reelection at the company’s annual shareholder’s meeting May 1, B&W said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday. The members up for reelection include Jan Bertsch, the executive vice president and chief financial officer of SigmaAldrich Corportation, as well as former […]

Plant Looking for Groundwater Well Activities Contractor NS&D Monitor 3/20/2015 Pantex Plant contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security is planning to put out a Request for Proposals for groundwater well activities, according to a solicitation released on FedBizOpps this week. CNS said it is looking for a contractor on an “as-needed basis” to support Pantex’s Long Term […]

Doubling Production at Y-12 9212 Facility to Pose Major Challenge for Contractor CNS NS&D Monitor 3/20/2015 Doubling production at the aged 9212 uranium processing facility and maintaining safety won’t be easy, but National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz said last week the recent goal put in place by the agency is important, doable and […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/20/2015 Fourteen vacant National Nuclear Security Administration facilities have languished since 2009 without being decontaminated or decommissioned due to a lack of funding, and the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management may not be properly prioritizing the facilities it takes from the NNSA, the Government Accountability Office said in a […]

French Ambassador Tours MOX Facility NS&D Monitor 3/20/2015 French Ambassador Gerard Araud visited the Savannah River Site this week, touring the controversial Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project. Araud was accompanied by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and several other French officials and met with AREVA Chief Executive Officer Gary Mignogna as well as French employees […]

NS&D Monitor 3/20/2015 IN CONGRESS National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz, acting DOE cleanup chief Mark Whitney and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Vice Chairman Jesse Roberson will testify before the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee next week. The hearing will be held at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 2118 of the Rayburn […]

National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz, acting DOE cleanup chief Mark Whitney and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Vice Chairman Jesse Roberson will testify before the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee next week. The hearing will be held at 3:30 p.m. in Room 2118 of the Rayburn House office Building. Adm. John Richardson, […]

National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz wrapped up a two-day visit to Y-12 last week with a VIP ribbon-cutting and ceremonies on Friday to celebrate an early milestone on the Uranium Processing Facility. Klotz called the site-readiness subproject a “significant achievement for the national security enterprise,” noting it was accomplished on time and $20 […]