Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

Texas A&M University said it will partner with Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) on workforce and technology development programs at the Pantex nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly plant in Amarillo, Texas. The partnership, founded under a February memorandum of understanding between CNS and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), will be based at Pantex’s new John […]

Nevada escalated a closed-door dialogue with the Department of Energy (DOE) to the federal court system because the agency got cagey about its plans for moving 1 metric ton of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium to and from the state beginning in 2019, according to an affidavit produced this week. The document, from an adviser to Nevada […]

As Pentagon officials and lawmakers mull the topline of the fiscal year 2020 defense budget, Huntington Ingalls Industries will be focused on ensuring the Navy’s next generation of nuclear submarines remains sufficiently funded without sacrificing other shipbuilding priorities, the company’s leader said. The forthcoming Columbia-class of nuclear submarines has been identified as a top service priority, said HII […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) wants to delay more than $1 million is wage-related payments to the contractor of the canceled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility over a legal technicality, according to recent filings in a federal lawsuit. The department is not disputing U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Thomas Wheeler’s mid-November decision that DOE […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) wants to delay more than $1 million is wage-related payments to the contractor of the canceled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility over a legal technicality, according to recent filings in a federal lawsuit. The department is not disputing U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Thomas Wheeler’s mid-November decision that DOE […]

Stakeholders have until 5 p.m. local time Monday to submit public comment on the Energy Department’s proposed new waste disposal facility at the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee. Officially called the Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) is a proposed a 2.2-million-cubic yard landfill to replace the current one that has been taking waste since 2002 […]

Nevada escalated a closed-door dialogue with the Department of Energy (DOE) to the federal court system last month because the agency got cagey about its plans for moving 1 metric ton of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium to and from the state beginning in 2019, according to an affidavit from a state official. The document was filed […]

A joint venture, APTIM-North Wind Construction, has won a $92 million contract from the Energy Department to build the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The DOE Office of Environmental Management announced the four-year award in a Tuesday press release. The agency received two proposals for […]

Nevada on Friday asked a federal judge to bar the Department of Energy (DOE) from shipping 1 metric ton of plutonium to the state, potentially throwing a wrench in the agency’s plans to comply with an order from another federal judge to move the material out of South Carolina by Jan. 1, 2020. Nevada sued […]

Texas A&M University said Friday it will partner with Consolidated Nuclear Security on workforce and technology development programs at the Pantex weapons assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas. The partnership, founded under a February memorandum of understanding with the University’s Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), will be based at Pantex’s new John C. Drummond Center, […]

A Government Accountability Office report published Friday roughs out the National Nuclear Security Administration’s timeline for producing a refurbished intercontinental ballistic missile warhead by roughly 2030. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would begin studying options for a W78 replacement between April and June 2019, nail down a baseline by June 2022, and produce the […]

As Pentagon officials and lawmakers mull the topline of the fiscal year 2020 defense budget, Huntington Ingalls Industries will be focused on ensuring the Navy’s next generation of nuclear submarines remains sufficiently funded without sacrificing other shipbuilding priorities, the company’s leader said. The forthcoming Columbia-class of nuclear submarines has been identified as a top service priority, said HII […]

By Rich Abott Defense Daily A top Navy official confirmed the service is looking to fund the upcoming Columbia-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine program (SSBN) separately from the normal shipbuilding budget. Vice Adm. William Merz, Deputy Chief Of Naval Operations for Warfare Systems (OPNAV N9) told reporters following a Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee hearing on […]

Nearly lost amid higher-profile nomination hearings in high-octane committees this week is a nuts-and-bolts piece of legislation that could open the door for more whistleblower disclosures in the nuclear weapons, waste, and power industries. The bill, one of many discussed in a Thursday hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources energy subcommittee, is sponsored by […]

The Energy Department expects to soon issue a request for proposals for paramilitary security services at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. The notice of the upcoming solicitation was posted Tuesday on the Federal Business Opportunities website. The RFP is due to go out within 15 to 60 days, which translates to the […]

The management and operations contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., recently hired 24 new workers for tritium operations and plans to continue ramping up the staff. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) manages production of tritium gas under the Savannah River Tritium Enterprise (SRTE). Tritium gas triggers the chain reaction […]

The federal government and South Carolina expressed optimism Monday that they can settle a $100 million claim over plutonium that remains stranded in the state. “Pursuant to the Court’s Order filed October 24, 2018 … the parties report that at this time they continue to believe that it is possible to resolve the pending disputes […]

The Department of Energy should consider performing a lengthy environmental review of its plan to dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus weapon-usable plutonium by burying the material deep underground, a congressionally chartered panel said Friday. The department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) might find the disposal plan easier to manage if it produces […]

Bechtel has hired a veteran Energy Department and nuclear energy industry manager as chief for nuclear safety and operations within its Engineering division. Chip Lagdon will oversee nuclear safety analyses for Bechtel’s DOE cleanup and nuclear security missions, the company said in a press release. Lagdon will also work on safety and licensing for Bechtel’s […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) fiscal 2018 budget increase handily outpaced the rise in dollars under contract, according to a report from the agency’s Office of the Inspector General late last week. The DOE budget rose about 10 percent to some $34.5 billion between fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2018, while the amount of money under […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) says it has deployed a system at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico that can “detect, identify, track and intercept unsanctioned and suspicious drones.” The Department of Energy agency announced the news in a press release Nov. 19, shortly before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Los Alamos’ new counter-unmanned aircraft […]

NS&D Monitor took a break last week for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, but out affiliate publication, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing did not. Here’s a recap of some of the nuclear security enterprise news covered last week. DOE Investigating CNS For ‘Criticality Safety Weaknesses’ The Department of Energy’s Enterprise Assessments (EA) office will investigate Consolidated Nuclear […]

WASHINGTON — William Bookless, nominated to be second-in-command at the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), defended the agency’s plan to build two nuclear-warhead-core factories in the face of a double-edged inquisition from a pair of Senate Democrats here Thursday. Facing pressure from a third Democratic lawmaker during his confirmation hearing, the physicist and longtime […]

The management and operations contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., recently hired 24 new workers for tritium operations and plans to continue ramping up the staff. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) manages production of tritium gas under the Savannah River Tritium Enterprise (SRTE). Tritium gas triggers the chain reaction […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) says it has deployed a system at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico that can “detect, identify, track and intercept unsanctioned and suspicious drones.” The Department of Energy agency announced the news in a press release Nov. 19, shortly before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. The NNSA did […]

Longenecker & Associates, the Las Vegas-based Energy Department subcontractor, has added a former Honeywell executive and a retired Air Force officer to its advisory board. The new members are retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Sandra Finan, now a consultant based in Spokane, Wash.; and ex-Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies (FM&T) President Chris Gentile, Longenecker […]

William Bookless, the Trump administration’s choice for second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), is set for a crucial confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The committee is scheduled to vet Bookless, a veteran nuclear weapons hand who spent decades at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other spots before retiring […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) fiscal 2018 budget increase handily outpaced the rise in dollars under contract, according to a report from the agency’s Office of the Inspector General late last week. The DOE budget rose about 10 percent to some $34.5 billion between fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2018, while the amount of money under […]

The Department of Energy and contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security lacked plans to deal with a small number of plausible hazards that could lead, among other things, to an inadvertent nuclear detonation at the nation’s prime nuclear-weapon assembly and disassembly site, according to a draft report the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) report made public […]

The Department of Energy’s Enterprise Assessments (EA) office will investigate Consolidated Nuclear Security for “nuclear criticality control weaknesses” at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s main uranium-handling site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The internal DOE oversight body informed Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) of the impending investigation on Nov. 13, according to a notice posted on the […]