Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

By Calvin Biesecker Raytheon on Thursday reported strong third quarter financial results driven by higher sales across its defense segments and improved operating performance and the company increased its outlook for the top and bottom lines this year. Net income soared 34% to $860 million, $3.08 earnings per share (EPS), from $644 million ($2.25 EPS) a […]

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said Tuesday the Department of Energy should provide better documentation of how it manages the payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) program for communities around nuclear facilities. The Energy Department handed out $23 million in PILT revenue to communities near a dozen nuclear laboratory and cleanup sites in fiscal 2017. […]

A backup defense authorization act unveiled this week would authorize $16.5 billion in Department of Energy nuclear-weapon spending for 2020, and explicitly authorize new program starts to bolster nuclear warhead and naval fuel efforts. Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) lifted the lid on the so-called “skinny” National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) late Tuesday. […]

A federal judge did not recognize the Department of Energy’s legal obligation to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in plutonium-related fines to South Carolina, or properly vet the state’s claim that the agency has the money to pay up, according to court papers filed this week. In appealing the ruling in the 2016 lawsuit […]

Former Consolidated Nuclear Security manager Linda Bauer will as of Friday be the new deputy director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Top among her responsibilities, Bauer will backstop lab Director William Goldstein, acting as the director of the $2-billion-a-year nuclear weapons laboratory in his absence, if necessary. Bauer […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy might still be pursuing a potentially illegal policy of curtailing Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) oversight of certain nuclear-weapon sites, a board member said this week. The DNFSB held the meeting to quiz DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) officials about their reasoning for rejecting a […]

Former Consolidated Nuclear Security manager Linda Bauer will as of Friday be the new deputy director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Among her responsibilities, Bauer will backstop lab Director William Goldstein, acting as the director of the $2-billion-a-year nuclear weapons laboratory in his absence, if necessary. Bauer will […]

The U.S. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) wants information from the Energy Department by mid-November on potentially flammable radioactive waste storage drums at sites other than the Idaho National Laboratory. To date, DOE has only partly provided the federal nuclear health-and-safety watchdog with requested information regarding its review of an April 2018 incident in […]

A federal judge did not recognize the Department of Energy’s legal obligation to pay millions of dollars in plutonium-related fines to South Carolina, or properly vet the state’s claim that the agency has the money to pay up, according to newly filed court papers. In appealing the ruling of the 2016 lawsuit in the Court […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy is still pursuing a potentially illegal policy of curtailing Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) oversight of certain nuclear-weapon sites, a board member said during a meeting Monday. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board held the meeting to quiz DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) officials about […]

A top U.S. Navy official said the service is unlikely to reach above 310 ships at current funding levels, let alone the congressionally-mandated goal of 355 ships. “Will we get to 355 ships? I think with today’s fiscal situation and where the Navy’s topline is right now – we can keep around 305 to 310 […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is calling in officials from the National Nuclear Security Administration to explain the perceived brushing off of two safety recommendations issued this year. The first meeting is scheduled for later today in Washington and will cover a recommendation about improving emergency response capabilities and safety practices at the National […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) plans to produce intercontinental ballistic missile warhead cores starting in the next decade could delay plans to dilute and dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus weapon-usable plutonium, the Government Accountability Office reported Wednesday. There are two reasons why, according to the 39-page report, “Surplus Plutonium Disposition: NNSA’s Long-Term […]

Nevada will be allowed to seek removal of half a metric ton of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium sent to the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site by amending a nearly year-old lawsuit, a federal judge ruled Monday. The state sued DOE and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in U.S. District Court for Nevada […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is mulling whether to establish an umbrella human-resources contract to help the entire nuclear security enterprise recruit and retain new personnel. In a request for information last week, the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency said it was considering a seven-year contract worth a maximum of $8 million […]

Environmental groups whose lawsuit forced the U.S. Department of Energy to partially redo an environmental review of its Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) on Monday asked the federal judge who ordered the do-over to halt construction of the next-generation weapons-uranium hub. While she ordered the agency on Sept. 24 to incorporate federal earthquake hazard data into […]

The leader of the Senate Armed Services Committee plans to introduce a stripped-down version of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act next week as a last-ditch effort to push colleagues to reach consensus on a number of partisan issues that have gummed up final negotiations on the full bill. “This is sincere, but this […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress might not block the Navy from deploying a low-yield nuclear warhead this year after all, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.), an influential opponent of the weapon, said here Thursday. “That’s going to be very, very difficult, very difficult, because of the strong opposition from both the White House […]

In an escalation of an ongoing turf war, the federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said last week it would send personnel to the Department of Energy’s secretive nuclear explosive safety study meetings, despite that agency’s position that it should not. “We have directed our staff to attend all phases of the NES [nuclear […]

President Donald Trump said he plans to nominate Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette to replace Rick Perry as head of the agency responsible for U.S. nuclear weapons and Cold War nuclear-waste cleanup. Brouillette has been Perry's deputy secretary for just over two years. When Trump first nominated him, a source said the longtime insurance […]

Environmental groups whose lawsuit forced the U.S. Department of Energy to partially redo an environmental review of its Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) on Monday asked the federal judge who ordered the do-over to halt construction of the next-generation weapons-uranium hub. While she ordered the agency on Sept. 24 to incorporate federal earthquake hazard data into […]

Nevada will be allowed to seek removal of half a metric ton of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium sent to the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site by amending a nearly year-old lawsuit, a federal judge ordered Monday. Nevada sued DOE and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in U.S. District Court for Nevada in […]

It could be 2020 before the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) incorporates the latest federal earthquake data into the agency’s environmental review of a planned next-generation uranium hub, a spokesperson this week. As part of a lawsuit brought by environmental and nuclear watchdogs, a federal judge in late September ordered the semiautonomous Department of Energy branch […]

President Donald Trump this week appeared to break with the longstanding norm of not disclosing the location of U.S. nuclear weapons deployed abroad by telling a reporter he was “confident” weapons stored at Turkey’s Incirlik air base remained safe. Turkish military forces last week crossed into Syria after Trump — in a move widely criticized […]

It could be 2020 before the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) incorporates the latest federal earthquake data into the agency’s environmental review of a planned next-generation uranium hub, a spokesperson said Wednesday. As part of a lawsuit brought by environmental and nuclear watchdogs, a federal judge in late September ordered the semiautonomous Department of […]

President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to break with the longstanding norm of not disclosing the location of U.S. nuclear weapons deployed abroad by telling a reporter he was “confident” weapons stored at Turkey’s Incirlik air base remained safe. Turkish military forces last week crossed into Syria after Trump — in a move widely criticized […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Oct. 4 formalized its decision to continue building the Uranium Processing Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., even as the agency complies with a federal court order to conduct an additional environmental review of the plant. The Department of Energy branch made the move official in an amended […]

Nevada is pressing a federal judge for permission to resume a search for evidence that the U.S. Department of Energy skirted federal environmental law last year in shipping half a metric ton of weapon-usable plutonium to the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). On Oct. 3, U.S. District Judge Miranda Du reinstated, but did not rule […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Friday formalized its decision to continue building the Uranium Processing Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., even as the agency complies with a federal court order to conduct an additional environmental review of the plant. The Department of Energy branch made the move official in an amended record […]

The U.S. Department of Energy rejected a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) recommendation intended to better protect workers at the Savannah River Site’s tritium facilities from fires, explosions, and other accidents that could expose the public to radiation. In doing so, DOE and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) also rejected the independent […]