Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

The Air Force has selected Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., as a maintenance and sustainment hub for the B-21 next-generation bomber, which could carry the revamped B61-12 gravity bomb about to be modernized by the National Nuclear Security Administration, and the future Long Range Standoff Weapon nuclear-tipped cruise missile. The Air Force announced the decision […]

The prime contractor of a canceled plutonium-disposal plant in South Carolina cried foul in a long-running lawsuit against its client, the National Nuclear Security Administration, after the government allegedly broke a promise not to dispute certain costs claimed under the nearly 20-year-old contract. MOX Services said the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) disputed more than […]

Terry Wallace, who was briefly director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the waning days of Los Alamos National Security’s management contract, is still with the lab in an emeritus role, a Los Alamos spokesperson told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. Wallace “continues to serve the Laboratory as Director Emeritus in the Office of National […]

An employee at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has sued its management and operations contractor for more than $75,000, alleging he was severely injured while working on a trailer that had not been safely maintained. The lawsuit, filed Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court for South Carolina, says Henry Bradley […]

Publication Notice Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor will not be published next week in observance of the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Please look for the next issue in your inbox on Friday, Nov. 30.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled on Nov. 29 to vet William Bookless, an experienced nuclear weapons scientist who spent much of his career at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to be second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Donald Trump administration on Aug. 16 nominated Bookless as principal deputy administrator for […]

Boeing has been awarded a $70.5 million contract modification for the Air Force’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flight test, telemetry and termination program, the Defense Department said Nov. 13. The modification changes the “specifications for the parts management plan, flight termination receiver, electromagnetic interference, cable qualification requirements, and antenna testing requirements,” according to […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was wrong to withhold about $1 million in wage-related payments under a now-canceled contract to build a plutonium disposal plant in South Carolina, a federal judge ruled Friday. The agency must now return the money withheld from MOX Services, prime contractor on the unfinished Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility […]

The next-generation submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) to be featured on the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine will incorporate some elements of the current Trident D5 Life Extension (D5LE) weapon, a top Navy official said. Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director of Strategic Systems Programs (SSP), told the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium Nov. 8 that the follow-on missile is […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has “underperformed” its mission to protect the public from the hazards posed by defense nuclear weapons sites, and the quality of the small agency’s interactions with the Department of Energy has fallen to “an all-time low,” according to a study published this week. The DNFSB contracted the National Academy […]

A Kansas City, Mo., company will help upgrade infrastructure at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California to accommodate future exascale computing capability, under a contract from lab prime Livermore National Security. Burns & McDonnell announced the award Monday. The company did not provide the financial terms of the contract, which involves design services for Livermore’s […]

Boeing has been awarded a $70.5 million contract modification for the Air Force’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flight test, telemetry and termination program, the Defense Department said Nov. 13. The modification changes the “specifications for the parts management plan, flight termination receiver, electromagnetic interference, cable qualification requirements, and antenna testing requirements,” according to […]

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who is running for chair of the House Armed Services Committee in the incoming 116th Congress, is set today to make his first nuclear weapon-oriented speech since Democrats secured control of the House of Representatives in last week’s midterm elections. Smith is slated to speak at 9:20 a.m. Eastern time in […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has “underperformed” its mission to protect the public from the hazards posed by defense nuclear weapons sites, and the quality of the small agency’s interactions with the Department of Energy has fallen to “an all-time low,” according to a study published Tuesday. The DNFSB contracted the National Academy for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was wrong to withhold about $1 million in wage-related payments under a now-canceled contract to build a plutonium disposal plant in South Carolina, a federal judge ruled Friday. The agency must now return the money withheld from MOX Services, prime contractor on the unfinished Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled on Nov. 29 to vet William Bookless, a veteran nuclear weapons scientist who spent much of his career at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to be second in command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Donald Trump administration on Aug. 16 nominated Bookless as principal deputy […]

A top Navy official on Thursday said the next-generation submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) to be featured on the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine will incorporate some elements of the current Trident D5 Life Extension (D5LE) weapon. Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director of Strategic Systems Programs (SSP), told the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium on Thursday the follow-on […]

The prime contractor for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility will lay off roughly a third of its workforce in early January, according to federally required layoff notices filed Nov. 8, two days after the U.S. midterm elections.  CB&I Project Services, now part of McDermott and a subcontractor-owner of Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) prime […]

George Rael, a longtime Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official, has joined Longenecker & Associates as a project manager at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico effective this week. Longenecker is a subcontractor to Triad National Security, which on Nov. 1 took over as the NNSA’s management and operations […]

Botching welds on 12 missile tubes for the Columbia-class submarine earlier this year proved a costly mistake for BWX Technologies, which on Wednesday said the problems with its welding program in Indiana were more complicated than first thought. On a conference call with investors, BWXT said its Nuclear Operations Group took a $40 million revenue hit in […]

The lead attorney at the Savannah River Site was honored by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for helping the agency pivot away from processing surplus weapon-usable plutonium at the South Carolina facility’s now-canceled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). Mary-Ellen Noone, counsel for the NNSA Savannah River Field Office, won the NNSA General Counsel […]

Brian Zieroth on Oct. 29 replaced Valerie McCain as Bechtel National’s project manager on the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) being built at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., a company spokesperson said Monday. Zieroth will now manage construction of a roughly $6.5 billion facility designed to mold uranium into shapes usable in […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries said Tuesday its Newport News Shipbuilding had secure a roughly $200 million subcontract modification to provide long-lead components, including commodities materials, and labor for the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. Huntington Ingalls is a major subcontractor on General Dynamics Electric Boat’s roughly $5 billion Naval Sea Systems Command prime contract to develop and […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — The head of the joint Navy-Department of Energy naval reactors program said Wednesday construction on the first Columbia-class ballistic submarine will begin in 2021, but warned that “there will be problems” and that the Navy will “have to work hard to get her on patrol in 2031.” “We need Columbia boats,” Adm. […]

Having won control of the House of Representatives for the upcoming 116th Congress, Democrats are likely to heighten scrutiny of the nuclear arsenal modernization regime and paint a big target on the back of the low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile authorized this year. In the past few months, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), likely chair of the House Armed […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries said Tuesday its Newport News Shipbuilding had secure a roughly $200 million subcontract modification to provide long-lead components, including commodities materials, and labor for the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. Huntington Ingalls is a major subcontractor on General Dynamics Electric Boat’s roughly $5 billion Naval Sea Systems Command prime contract to develop and […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — The head of the joint Navy-Department of Energy naval reactors program said Wednesday construction on the first Columbia-class ballistic submarine will begin in 2021, but warned that “there will be problems” and that the Navy will “have to work hard to get her on patrol in 2031.” “We need Columbia boats,” Adm. […]

Nobody was really holding their breath Tuesday for the results of the midterm elections in reliably red South Carolina, but some 1,500 workers at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) were still holding their breaths for layoff notices at deadline for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. In a late-October letter to employees of the now-canceled […]

George Rael, a longtime Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official, has joined Longenecker & Associates as a project manager at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico effective this week. Longenecker is a subcontractor to Triad National Security, which on Nov. 1 took over as the NNSA’s management and operations […]

The head of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s naval reactors program, steward of the heavy-industry programs that provide nuclear propulsion systems for the Navy, is scheduled to speak Wednesday to industry and press just outside Washington, D.C., at the 36th annual Naval Submarine League conference. Adm. James Caldwell is on the slate for a half-hour […]