Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

As the National Nuclear Security Administration ramps up spending on nuclear-weapon refurbishments, the Kansas City, Mo., plant that produces the non-nuclear components of these weapons is rushing to expand the footprint it right-sized in 2012, and preparing to lease more production space this summer. That is according to a report released Friday by the Government […]

An article in the April 5 edition of Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, “DNFSB Stands By Claim That Nevada Plutonium Storage Spot is At Risk From Earthquakes,” should have said the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s concerns about plutonium at the Nevada National Security Site were unrelated to the half metric ton of weapon-usable plutonium shipped […]

WASHINGTON — The head of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) told members of Congress here Tuesday he hopes the Department of Energy will “fix” a controversial rule that could limit board access to nuclear weapons facilities during the agency’s upcoming one-year review of the directive. In May 2018, the department issued the controversial […]

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos has named Glenn Morgan as its new president and program manager overseeing legacy cleanup operations at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Morgan replaces Nick Lombardo, who retired in January, according to N3B. Morgan has been serving as acting program manager since January after joining N3B […]

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos has named Glenn Morgan as its new president and program manager overseeing legacy cleanup operations at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Morgan replaces Nick Lombardo, who retired in January, according to N3B. Morgan has been serving as acting program manager since January after joining N3B […]

No one was injured and no special nuclear material was damaged after an apparent hydrogen fluoride leak Thursday morning in the 9212 uranium processing building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., a spokesperson for the National Nuclear Security Administration said. An alarm first detected the gas release at 7:52 a.m. Eastern […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) is concerned that an earthquake could cause high explosives to detonate in the Nevada National Security Site’s Device Assembly Facility and spew plutonium into the air and beyond the confines of the former nuclear test site. The independent federal nuclear health and safety watchdog laid out the concern […]

Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), a friend of the Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories who has spent the last two decades on Capitol Hill, announced this week that he will not run for re-election in 2020. Rather than seeking a third term, New Mexico’s senior senator said Monday he will leave the Senate in January 2021. […]

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has rejected a petition to rehear a case asking that full pension benefits be reinstated for up to 500 people who worked at the Hanford Site in Washington state. It issued the denial Tuesday without comment. Retirees of Lockheed Martin Services Inc. in February petitioned […]

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that he doesn’t believe that cyber capabilities can be a substitute for the nation’s nuclear deterrence forces. “[W]e need to be very careful to maintain a safe, effective, and credible nuclear deterrent on its own,” […]

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that he doesn’t believe that cyber capabilities can be a substitute for the nation’s nuclear deterrence forces. “[W]e need to be very careful to maintain a safe, effective, and credible nuclear deterrent on its own,” […]

The U.S. Department of Energy said last week it is ahead of schedule in removing 1 metric ton of plutonium from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and should finish the court-mandated process by the end of the year. The Energy Department update was seemingly prompted by a March 1 letter that South Carolina […]

The U.S. Department of Energy said last week it is ahead of schedule in removing 1 metric ton of plutonium from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and should finish the court-mandated process by the end of the year. The Energy Department update was seemingly prompted by a March 1 letter that South Carolina […]

WASHINGTON — The United States should cut its nuclear arsenal, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee reaffirmed at a major nuclear policy conference here Tuesday. “We need to reduce our nuclear weapons presence,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said. However, “I don’t agree that we ought to get rid of all of our nuclear […]

The relationship between the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Defense “has never been stronger,” the head of the semiautonomous Department of Energy stockpile steward this week. U.S. Strategic Command “is our customer. But they don’t think of themselves as our customer, they think of themselves as their partner,” NNSA Administrator Lisa […]

The relationship between the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Defense “has never been stronger,” the head of the semiautonomous Department of Energy stockpile steward said Tuesday. U.S. Strategic Command “is our customer. But they don’t think of themselves as our customer, they think of themselves as their partner,” NNSA Administrator Lisa […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) finalized its first safety recommendation to the Donald Trump administration’s Department of Energy, urging the agency to improve the safety of nuclear explosives handling at the Pantex weapons assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas, documents published Tuesday show. In the recommendation, the independent federal board zeroed in on equipment and processes […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) finalized its first safety recommendation to the Donald Trump administration’s Department of Energy, urging the agency to improve the safety of nuclear explosives handling at the Pantex weapons assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas, documents published Tuesday show. In the recommendation, the independent federal board zeroed in on equipment and processes […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — The second of two Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear power reactors could this year obtain a license to start producing tritium for U.S. nuclear weapons, a National Nuclear Security Administration official said here Thursday. The government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) already produces tritium for U.S. nuclear weapons by irradiating tritium -roducing burnable absorber […]

The Department of Energy is changing the rules for its agency-wide Employee Concerns Program, removing a mandate that employees be allowed to have someone other than their immediate supervisor inspect their claims, and aiming to resolve concerns quickly. The Employee Concerns Program is a sort of whistleblower channel for agency and contractor employees. The old DOE […]

The Amarillo Metal Trade Council, a group comprising 10 local unions representing some 1,200 employees at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, has ratified a new five-year labor agreement with plant contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security, labor and management announced on social media. The Metal Trades Council announced the ratification Monday on its Facebook page. Consolidated […]

Updated safety documents for a ventilation tunnel at the Savannah River Site’s H Canyon facility are expected to be approved this summer and implemented in the fall, according to the Department of Energy. The documents should reflect a different approach to how the 310-square-mile site will handle incidents at the facility during an earthquake or […]

Los Angeles-based AECOM is eyeing work in the nuclear security complex, Randall Wotring, the company’s chief operating officer, said this week. On a Tuesday quarterly earnings conference call with investors, Wotring suggested AECOM will be an active bidder not just on Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear cleanup contracts, but also on “defense-type projects” at the […]

Roofing repairs at the Savannah River Site’s (SRS) H Canyon processing facility will begin this summer after rainwater dripped through a crack in the roof to the ground floor of the facility. The water became contaminated as it passed through the nuclear materials processing area on its way to the first level of the canyon, Monte […]

Roofing repairs at the Savannah River Site’s (SRS) H Canyon processing facility will begin this summer after rainwater dripped through a crack in the roof to the ground floor of the facility. The water became contaminated as it passed through the nuclear materials processing area on its way to the first level of the canyon, Monte […]

In an annual pregame tradition as sure as the coin toss, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will again police this year’s Super Bowl for signs of radiological dangers. The NNSA Remote Sensing Laboratory Aerial Measuring System swept the area around Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday to measure background radiation, and is scheduled to do so again Sunday […]

Nekiylo Dawayne Graves, 27, of Iowa, died Monday after contract security forces and a local sheriff’s deputy shot at him following an 8-mile car chase into the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), in Mercury, Nev. In a Wednesday Facebook video, Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly identified Graves as the deceased. She also identified Nye County […]

Department of Energy security forces and local law enforcement on Monday fatally shot an unidentified man who drove through a security gate at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), the agency said in a press release. The man “failed to stop” his car at a gate in Mercury, Nev., then led NNSS security protective forces and […]

In an annual pregame tradition as sure as the coin toss, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will again police this year’s Super Bowl for signs of radiological dangers. The NNSA Remote Sensing Laboratory Aerial Measuring System team will sweep the area around Atlanta on Monday, Tuesday, and Sunday using radiation-detecting equipment flown aboard a […]

More planned nuclear weapons programs will roll into production phases in the decade ending in 2028, increasing the total annual cost of these efforts by some $10 billion to $50 billion a year, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday. The spending estimate for 2019 through 2028 includes: the Department of Energy’s (DOE) bill for maintaining and […]