Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

Earnings rose for Centrus Energy in the first quarter of 2023, during which the uranium broker and enrichment-technology developer finished building its 16-machine high-assay low-enriched uranium enrichment cascade. The company reported $7.2 million in net income, or $0.49 a share, in the first quarter on $66.9 million in revenue, compared with a net loss of […]

Earnings rose at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the first quarter, and the company sees fair winds ahead, driven by U.S. Navy and allied nuclear ship propulsion requirements.  Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31 were $61 million or $0.67 per share up from $59.1 million, or $0.64 a share, in the year-ago […]

Employees suing Consolidated Nuclear Security over allegedly withheld wages got new lawyers this week and want more time to answer the company’s motion to dismiss their case, court documents show. The plaintiffs want an extension to the May 9 deadline the court set to proceed with the case or have it thrown out. Consolidated Nuclear […]

At least five glove-box breaches occurred at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in late March through mid-April, though none of the incidents resulted in worker skin contamination or otherwise compromised their health, according to two reports from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.  Two of the breaches at the lab’s PF-4 Plutonium Facility occurred in […]

At least five glove-box breaches occurred at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in late March through mid-April, though none of the incidents resulted in worker skin contamination or otherwise compromised their health, according to two reports from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.  Two of the breaches at the lab’s PF-4 Plutonium Facility occurred in […]

The wife of a former Navy civil engineer who attempted to sell nuclear-submarine secrets to a foreign nation is contesting the 22-year sentence she got for her part in the attempted espionage.  Diana Toebbe was convicted of conspiracy to communicate restricted data for being an accomplice to her husband, Jonathan Toebbe, who over several months […]

Earnings rose for Centrus Energy in the first quarter of 2023, during which the uranium broker and enrichment-technology developer finished building its 16-machine high-assay low-enriched uranium enrichment cascade. The company reported $7.2 million in net income, or $0.49 a share, in the first quarter on $66.9 million in revenue, compared with a net loss of […]

Employees of Consolidated Nuclear Security could see their years-long attempt to organize a class-action suit over lost wages dismissed on a technicality by Tuesday.  The employees of the manager of the Y-12 site in Oak Ridge Tenn., have until midnight Tuesday to identify their new lawyers after the attorneys who organized the suit dropped the […]

New security access facilities have arrived at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina as the complex prepares for increased construction activity in K Area including installation of new Surplus Plutonium Disposition project gloveboxes. A new four-lane facility, with glass panels used across the DOE complex, will replace a much smaller, single-lane […]

Development of several non-nuclear components is holding up fielding of the warhead that will eventually ride on the Air Force’s new air-launched cruise missile, according to Jill Hruby, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration.  Speaking with the Exchange Monitor following testimony before Senate lawmakers this week, Hruby said “we have a full list in […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration, in cooperation with U.S. partner nations, plans to establish an integrated global system to detect smuggled nuclear material before it can be used in acts of terrorism.  The NNSA’s Office of Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) announced deployment of a Counter Nuclear Smuggling System on the federal government’s contracting […]

The flood of employees leaving National Nuclear Security Administration sites that peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic has ebbed and the workforce needed to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons complex is short-staffed but holding, the head of the agency said Wednesday.  “The overall attrition is close to normal now at both Los Alamos and Sandia and […]

Nicole Nelson-Jean is leaving the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management for the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, the cleanup office said Monday. Nelson-Jean, currently associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations, has been chosen as the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) associate administrator for infrastructure, said Jeff Avery, the No. 2 boss […]

WASHINGTON — The secretary of energy must approve the National Nuclear Security Administration’s plan to let one company manage the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, for up to 20 years, the head of the nuclear-weapons agency said here Wednesday. Details of the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract were published on April 28. The draft solicitation included a five-year […]

David O’Flynn is taking over as chief executive officer of Strategic Management Solutions Inc. as part of a broader leadership shuffle at the Albuquerque, N.M.-based Department of Energy subcontractor.  The changes were part of a letter to employees dated May 1. The letter was shared with the Exchange Monitor. As CEO, O’Flynn, most recently president […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration did not audit more than $10 million paid to one of four companies manufacturing Molybdenum-99 for use in medical procedures, the Department of Energy Inspector General said last week.  In an effort to spur domestic production of Molybdenum-99 the NNSA awarded four 50-50 cost-share, cooperative agreements in 2019 for $30 […]

The Department of Energy this week started creating space in a double-shelled underground waste tank that was nearly full after taking on additional waste from a single-shell tank, an agency spokesperson said. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), in a report published this week and dated April 7, said that DOE’s effort to drain […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration, in cooperation with U.S. partner nations, plans to establish an integrated global system to detect smuggled nuclear material before it can be used in acts of terrorism.  The NNSA’s Office of Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) announced deployment of a Counter Nuclear Smuggling System on the federal government’s contracting […]

David O’Flynn is taking over as chief executive officer of Strategic Management Solutions Inc. as part of a broader leadership shuffle at the Albuquerque, N.M.-based Department of Energy subcontractor.  The changes were part of a letter to employees dated May 1. The letter was shared with the Exchange Monitor. As CEO, O’Flynn, most recently president […]

Senior Department of Energy officials will defend their fiscal year 2024 budget requests before Senate appropriators on Wednesday. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk will be joined by National Nuclear Security Administration head Jill Hruby to testify before the Senate Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Dirksen […]

Nicole Nelson-Jean is leaving the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management for the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, the cleanup office said Monday. Nelson-Jean, currently associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations, has been chosen as the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) associate administrator for infrastructure, said Jeff Avery, the No. 2 boss […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration did not audit more than $10 million paid to one of four companies manufacturing Molybdenum-99 for use in medical procedures, the Department of Energy Inspector General said last week.  In an effort to spur domestic production of Molybdenum-99 the NNSA awarded four 50-50 cost-share, cooperative agreements in 2019 for $30 […]

As expected, the Department of Energy formally extended the Huntington Ingalls-led legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory by three years, according to an agency document published online this week. The Los Alamos legacy cleanup business held by Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) has been extended through April 29, 2026, according […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s latest Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan, released Monday, fuzzed up delivery dates for distant, future nuclear weapons that, as recently as a year ago, had at least placeholder dates. Specially, three weapons, ground-, sea- and air-based warheads, now have “To Be Determined” first-production-unit delivery dates instead of the mid- to […]

The director of government affairs and community engagement at the National Nuclear Security Administration left the agency this month for a career in industry, according to his LinkedIn profile. Harris Walker now lists himself as director of government affairs and a “lithium policy change agent” for Livent Corp., Philadelphia. That ended a Department of Energy […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Thursday released its draft solicitation for bids on a potentially 20-year standalone contract to manage the Pantex Plant nuclear-weapons service hub in Amarillo, Texas. The cost-plus-fixed-fee contract will have at least a five-year base with one five-year option period and perhaps as many as two more five-year options after […]

The White House’s proposal to decrease the Naval Reactors budget within the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) by 5.6% to about $1.96 billion “may be something we need to talk about,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told agency Administrator Jill Hruby this week in a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Kaine, an advocate for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Friday kicked off a big environmental review of the agency’s plan for expanding the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. over the next 15 years. Among the activities the nuclear-weapons agency plans to review are: Upgrading the lab’s capability to test nuclear weapons and components in radiation-rich environments by […]

Earnings rose for Honeywell in the 1st quarter of 2023, which the aerospace and defense contractor, leading trans at five Department of Energy nuclear sites attributed mostly to a growth in commercial aviation. The company generated $1.4 billion in net income in the first quarter, about $300 million better than the first quarter of 2022, […]

As expected, the Department of Energy formally extended the Huntington Ingalls-led legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory by three years, according to an agency document published online this week. The Los Alamos legacy cleanup business held by Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) has been extended through April 29, 2026, according […]