Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

Members of the House and Senate this week stripped a measure to extend compensation for victims of nuclear radiation exposure from a must-pass defense bill. The amendment to the Senate’s version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), would have extended the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) for 19 years and provided health care […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board should focus on providing the Department of Energy with independent safety advice and let its new incoming operations director deal with the board’s daily grind, a new federal report said. A recently-released Office of Inspector General report on management challenges at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Defense Nuclear […]

As part of the must-pass defense policy bill for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, Congress will consider this week a measure to extend benefits to victims of nuclear radiation exposure for nearly another two decades.  Congress last week took up the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in conference between members of both houses. […]

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) vowed to vote against the must-pass defense policy bill when it comes before the Senate unless it includes compensation for Missourians potentially exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons work dating back to the Manhattan Project. The fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is now in conference between members of […]

Substandard contractor performance delayed the launch of a new Uranium Processing Facility at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee until 2029, according to the agency’s latest annual progress report.  The start of operations at the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), a milestone known as CD-4, has now slid four years out […]

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) vowed to vote against the must-pass defense policy bill when it comes before the Senate unless it includes compensation for Missourians potentially exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons work dating back to the Manhattan Project. The fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is set for Senate consideration in the […]

Based on a survey taken mid-year, 72% of the staff at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board have a “high level of respect” for senior leaders, which is the best score on this question in about four years at the independent federal watchdog for Department of Energy nuclear weapon sites.  The figure reached 69% of […]

Amentum’s recently announced merger with Jacobs winnows the field of candidates vying to take over management of the Pantex Plant in Texas for the National Nuclear Security Administration.  After oral in-person interviews began last week, the consolidation of the two giant Department of Energy contractors shrinks the number of potential players for the $30 billion […]

In observance of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor will publish on Wednesday, Nov. 22. The next issue will be published on Friday, Dec. 1.

Naval nuclear reactor manufacturer BWX Technologies appointed Mike Boorstein as the new general manager for its Nuclear Operations Group-Euclid manufacturing facility. In this role, Boorstein will be responsible for BWX’s daily operations at the site, which employs more than 350 workers and manufactures electro-mechanical components for naval nuclear reactors used in submarines and aircraft carriers. […]

There is no evidence that classified information was disclosed during an open, unclassified National Nuclear Security Administration at Department of Energy Headquarters’ Forrestal Building in September of last year, an agency watchdog report found. However, the suspected incident was not properly reported, according to a DOE Inspector General (IG) report published Nov. 2.  In September […]

Staffing at the Kansas City National Security Campus can’t match its current workload and may not meet the demands of the next series of nuclear weapons life extensions, according to a recent report.  The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Kansas City site, managed for the agency by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, makes the non-nuclear […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration started its oral interviews with four joint ventures vying for a contract to operate the Pantex plant in Texas, a source said Monday. A second source familiar with the ongoing search for a Pantex maintenance and operations contractor for the U.S. nuclear weapons clearing house confirmed to Exchange Monitor that […]

Lawmakers who created an independent commission to study U.S. nuclear modernization efforts without estimating the cost, now want to see what replacing all three legs of the triad and rehabbing the National Nuclear Security Administration will cost.  During a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, several representatives — all Democrats — dinged […]

Staffing at the Kansas City National Security Campus can’t match its current workload and may not meet the demands of the next series of nuclear weapons life extensions, according to a recent report.  The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Kansas City site, managed for the agency by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, makes the non-nuclear […]

Lawmakers who created an independent commission to study U.S. nuclear modernization efforts without estimating the cost, now want to see what replacing all three legs of the triad and rehabbing the National Nuclear Security Administration will cost.  During a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, several representatives — all Democrats — dinged […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration started its oral interviews with four joint ventures vying for a contract to operate the Pantex plant in Texas, a source said Monday. A second source familiar with the ongoing search for a Pantex maintenance and operations contractor for the U.S. nuclear weapons clearing house confirmed to Exchange Monitor that […]

There is no evidence that classified information was disclosed during an open, unclassified National Nuclear Security Administration at Department of Energy Headquarters’ Forrestal Building in September of last year, an agency watchdog report found. However, the suspected incident was not properly reported, according to a DOE Inspector General (IG) report published Nov. 2.  In September […]

Naval nuclear reactor manufacturer BWX Technologies has appointed Mike Boorstein as the new general manager for its Nuclear Operations Group-Euclid manufacturing facility. In this role, Boorstein will be responsible for BWX’s daily operations at the site, which employs more than 350 workers and manufactures electro-mechanical components for naval nuclear reactors used in submarines and aircraft […]

The federal agency that provides outside safety advice to the Department of Energy still struggles with a “sustainable organizational culture and climate,” the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of Inspector General said last week. Organizational culture leads the list of the most serious challenges facing the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) in fiscal 2024, the […]

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday decried Russia’s withdrawal from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Moscow’s revocation of its ratification of the treaty “represents a significant step in the wrong direction, taking us further from, not closer to, entry into force,” Blinken said in a statement.  President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a […]

A Fluor team has submitted a bid package to operate the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Pantex Plant in Texas, Chief Executive David Constable said Nov. 3.  The opportunity, available now that NNSA is splitting the maintenance and operations contracts for Pantex and Y-12 in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is valued at up to $30 billion over […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, currently lacking a quorum, said Wednesday it has filled one of three big staff vacancies by hiring a U.S. Export Import Bank manager as its new executive director of operations. Mary Jean Buhler, chief financial officer at the Export Import Bank, will become the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, currently lacking a quorum, said Wednesday it has filled one of three big staff vacancies by hiring a U.S. Export Import Bank manager as its new executive director of operations. Mary Jean Buhler, chief financial officer at the Export Import Bank, will become the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board […]

The U.S. military will develop a new, higher-yield variant of the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb designed for delivery by modern aircraft, the Pentagon announced on Oct. 27. Designated the B61-13, the new bomb will be suited for use against hardened and large-area military targets, the Defense Department said in a statement. Congressional approval and funding […]

Here are some events related to defense and civilian nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week. October 31: Webinar, Energy Communities Alliance. “Cleanup to Clean Energy: How to Develop a Project on Federal Land.” Executives with the Washington-based group, representing the interests of localities near Department of Energy nuclear-weapon cleanup sites, will discuss […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee in a voice vote Thursday advanced the White House’s nomination of Patricia Lee to be a member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, a panel designed for five people that’s currently down to two.  The nomination of Lee, a manager at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee in a voice vote Thursday advanced the White House’s nomination of Patricia Lee to be a member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, a panel designed for five people that’s currently down to two.  The nomination of Lee, a manager at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the small agency created to provide independent safety advice to the Department of Energy, no longer has a quorum following retirement of longtime member Jessie Hill Roberson, Congress was officially told last week. Federal standards allow Chair Joyce Connery, with an assist from Vice Chair Thomas Summers, to keep […]

On Thursday, after a two-week squabble about who to elect as speaker, the House of Representatives passed a bill to fund defense and civilian nuclear programs for the rest of fiscal year 2024. Civilian nuclear programs at the Department of Energy and elsewhere would essentially remain flat under the House’s bill. Active nuclear weapons programs […]