Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 1/24/2014 Given delays in the construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, the National Nuclear Security Administration has decided to “lay up” the Waste Solidification Building for five years as construction nears completion. WSB is designed to process waste streams from the MOX plant and is set to be completed […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/24/2014 The size of the United States’ active nuclear arsenal has remained stable for the last year, according to a recent assessment published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists that estimates about 4,650 nuclear warheads remain in the active stockpile of the U.S. Another 2,700 warheads are retired and awaiting dismantlement, […]

SCHEDULE FOR Y-12 LITHIUM FACILITY ACCELERATING NS&D Monitor 1/24/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration has its hands full with the Uranium Processing Facility, but there’s another new production facility at Y-12 in the early planning stages at Y-12 and—unlike the UPF—the schedule for the new Lithium Production Facility appears to be accelerating. The NNSA, however, […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 Congressional appropriators nearly matched the Obama Administration’s $7.868 billion request for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program in the massive omnibus spending package that was passed by the House and Senate this week and is awaiting the President’s signature, but several funding maneuvers obscure cuts to the program. While […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 The Department of Energy and Shaw AREVA MOX Services are in negotiations to revamp the contractor’s contract to build the multi-billion-dollar Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, though the talks have recently hit a snag because DOE has pushed for the work on the facility to be completed under a fixed […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration has begun to take the first steps toward scaling back its plans for the Uranium Processing Facility, saying this week that it is developing “alternative mission delivery scenarios” that focus on replacing the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Building 9212 complex. In a statement, NNSA spokeswoman […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 NNSA Acting Administrator Bruce Held previously expressed his admiration for Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason, calling his work in bringing the $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source to completion ahead of schedule and under budget “absolutely brilliant.” And now he wants Mason to help resolve the perplexing issues with […]

SENTENCING FOR Y-12 PROTESTERS CONSOLIDATED NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 U.S. District Judge Amul R. Thapar has consolidated the sentencing hearings for the three Plowshares protesters convicted on felony charges, including sabotage, for the July 28, 2012 break-in at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, and they’ll all be in the courtroom on the morning […]

Deputy General Manager for Operations Dave Richardson to Replace Spencer Feb. 1 Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/10/2014 Chuck Spencer is stepping down from his position as the President and General Manager of B&W Y-12 and will be returning to B&W headquarters next month, he said in a message to employees Jan. 10. Spencer will be replaced […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/10/2014 A pair of studies released in recent weeks have cast doubt on the affordability of the Obama Administration’s nuclear modernization plan. Shortly before Christmas, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the U.S. could need about $355 billion over the next 10 years to maintain and modernize the nation’s nuclear deterrent, […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/10/2014 Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Contractor Assurance System (CAS) did not adequately alert lab or National Nuclear Security Administration management to problems on a botched nuclear security upgrade project at the lab’s Technical Area 55, according to a report released this week by the Department of Energy’s Inspector General that suggested […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 1/10/2014 The Department of Energy appears to be making progress on closing still-pending recommendations from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, with the DNFSB recently agreeing to close one recommendation and the Department seeking to have another one also closed. Last month, the DNFSB closed a recommendation from 2000 called “Prioritization […]

Y-12 PROTESTERS APPEALING FOR LIGHTER SENTENCES NS&D Monitor 1/10/2014 As their Jan. 28 sentencing date approaches in U.S. District Court, the Transform Now Plowshares protesters and their attorneys are maneuvering to get the lightest sentence possible for their unprecedented break-in at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July 2012. In a memo filed Jan. 4 […]

NS&D Monitor 1/10/2014 IN THE DNFSB Kenneth Mossman, the newest member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, passed away this week. In November, he was confirmed by the Senate to join the Board. Mossman previously served as a professor of health physics at Arizona State University and an Administrative Judge for the Nuclear Regulatory […]

Kirk Garland, the security guard fired after three elderly protesters broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in July of 2012, is continuing to try to get his old job back and is seeking reimbursement for lost wages, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. Garland has found work at the Morgan County (Tenn.) Correctional Facility, […]

Lawmakers on the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee are set to recommend a slight $111 million cut to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program in its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act, though the $8.20 billion provided for the program represents a $423.2 million increase over FY 2014 […]

Positions Created as Part of Reorg. Of Safety, Security Functions Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/04/2014 The Department of Energy has moved to fill a set of new Chief Security Officer positions created as part of reorganization of the Department’s health, safety and security functions, according to a message sent to employees late last week. Michael Lempke […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/04/2014 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board this week closed a 2005 recommendation that called for stricter nuclear material packaging requirements, but the Board is asking for an updated schedule for the Department of Energy’s improvements. The original recommendation called for technical criteria for nuclear material packaging and prioritization of packaging […]

The House panel’s draft spending bill would also oppose efforts by the Department to put the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication facility into “cold standby” in FY’15. The legislation specifies that MOX funding “may be made available only for construction and program support activities for such Project,” according to the bill language. It also provides a […]

National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz will visit the Pantex Plant June 17 as his tour across the weapons complex continues. Klotz last week visited the Y-12 National Security Complex, and in May he toured the Nevada National Security Site and Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories. Confirmed in April, Klotz has yet to […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/6/2014 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—The National Nuclear Security Administration is moving forward with a plan to scale back the Uranium Processing Facility, heeding the advice of a Red Team headed up by Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason. The Red Team recommended that the agency—facing a ballooning price tag for the facility […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/6/2014 Michael Lempke, the senior National Nuclear Security Administration official who served as the Source Selection Authority for the agency’s first Y-12/Pantex contract decision, is leaving the agency for a position as vice president at Systems Planning & Analysis. Lempke most recently served as the NNSA’s Associate Principal Deputy Administrator and […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 6/6/2014 The Department of Energy would be required to continue construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility until it completes an assessment of alternatives under the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, details of which were released this week. DOE currently plans […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/6/2014 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—Characterizing the benefits changes and workforce reductions facing workers at Y-12 and Pantex as a "fair deal," Jim Haynes, the president of new Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security, said this week that the changes coming at the sites would benefit workers in the long-term. "We’ve been very honest with […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/6/2014 Kansas City Plant officials are expecting to wrap up the long move to a new facility about a month earlier than expected, and the highly-scripted move that began in January 2013 is expected to cost about $10 million less than projections, the plant’s top federal official said this week. Kansas […]

Jessie Roberson to be Renominated as Vice-Chair of Defense Board Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 6/6/2014 The Obama Administration has tapped an official at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to fill an open vacancy on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The Administration announced late this week its intent to nominate Daniel Santos to the Board as […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/6/2014 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is seeking more information about a National Nuclear Security Administration analysis of the effects of trips and falls on special tooling used in nuclear explosive operations at the Pantex Plant. In a June 2 letter to NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz, DNFSB Chairman Peter Winokur […]

Vendor Sues MOX Services for $17.4 Million The Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility contractor is being sued for $17.4 million for breach of contract by a vendor tasked with building gloveboxes for the plant. Washington Government Environmental Services Company, LLC, a subsidiary of URS Energy and Construction, filed the complaint this week against Shaw AREVA […]

Y-12 Power Tool Licensed by Chattanooga Company A power tool developed at the Y-12 National Security Complex may soon become a fixture in large-scale demolition projects. B&W Y-12 announced that the Omni Jaw 5, an invention by the plant’s technology chief, Lee Bzorgi, has been licensed to a start-up company in Chattanooga that plans to […]

10 Guards Return to Work After Resolution to ‘Sick-Out’ Complaint Ten out of 11 Pantex security guards who were initially fired after investigators determined they committed "sick leave abuse" by skipping a January drill at the Texas nuclear weapons plant are now back at work. B&W Pantex suspended the guards Jan. 23, alleging they called […]