Plutonium Pit Production

It could cost up to $37 billion to acquire the pair of plutonium pit production facilities needed to produce new nuclear weapon cores for the rest of this century, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said at a conference last week. The range, provided by Administrator Jill Hruby at the annual Strategic Weapons […]

It could cost up to $37 billion to acquire the pair of plutonium pit production facilities needed to produce new nuclear weapon cores for the rest of this century, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said at a conference last week. The range, provided by Administrator Jill Hruby at the annual Strategic Weapons […]

The Savannah River Site in South Carolina will produce at least half the plutonium pits for the Navy’s W93 warhead after the facility opens next decade, a federal official said Wednesday. “We don’t think we can get that facility up in time to do all of the W93 builds, but it’s important that we have […]

Environmentalists suing the federal government got two more weeks to file briefs in their case about a planned South Carolina plutonium pit factory, according to an order filed late last week. The case, involving the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) plans to make nuclear weapon first-stage cores in South Carolina and New Mexico, has been […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Tuesday officially announced Michael Mikolanis as its new top federal official at the agency’s Savannah River Site field office near Aiken, S.C. The Exchange Monitor reported in December that Mikolanis would make the move to the Savannah River Site from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The NNSA announced Mikolanis’ […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Tuesday officially announced Michael Mikolanis as its new top federal official at the agency’s Savannah River Site field office near Aiken, S.C. The Exchange Monitor reported in December that Mikolanis would make the move to the Savannah River Site from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The […]

Environmentalists suing the federal government got two more weeks to file briefs in their case about a planned South Carolina plutonium pit factory, according to an order filed late last week. The case, involving the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) plans to make nuclear weapon first-stage cores in South Carolina and New Mexico, has been […]

Settlement talks collapsed weeks ago between the Department of Energy and environmental groups who sued the agency over its plan to produce nuclear-weapons cores in South Carolina, a Tuesday court filing shows. “Both parties were hopeful that the nearly two-month mediation process would bear fruit and focused their attention on those settlement efforts,” Todd Kim, […]

Speed cameras will soon be installed to help curb speeding and aggressive driving along the truck route at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s top local fed told county officials last week. The laboratory is “finding ways to try and better manage traffic flow,” National Nuclear Security Administration […]

Speed cameras will soon be installed to help curb speeding and aggressive driving along the truck route at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s top local fed told county officials last week. The laboratory is “finding ways to try and better manage traffic flow,” National Nuclear Security Administration […]

The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is drafting its formal response to public comments filed on the Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration field office said last week. The environmental assessment public comment period ended Feb. 20 on the upgrade project for the […]

Settlement talks collapsed weeks ago between the Department of Energy and environmental groups who sued the agency over its plan to produce nuclear-weapons cores in South Carolina, a Tuesday court filing shows. “Both parties were hopeful that the nearly two-month mediation process would bear fruit and focused their attention on those settlement efforts,” Todd Kim, […]

The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is drafting its formal response to public comments filed on the Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration field office said last week. The environmental assessment public comment period ended Feb. 20 on the upgrade project for the […]

Speed cameras will soon be installed to help curb speeding and aggressive driving along the truck route at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s top local fed told county officials last week. The laboratory is “finding ways to try and better manage traffic flow,” National Nuclear Security Administration […]

The White House this week requested about $25 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, more than $860 million, or 3.6%, above the 2024 appropriation signed into law late last week. The agency also said in the budget request that the cost of a planned South Carolina facility to make the nuclear-weapon first-stage cores called […]

A bill that would have let New Mexico and Los Alamos County tax production of plutonium pits died quietly in the New Mexico legislature after a committee of jurisdiction declined to take up the measure. This week, when the legislative session ended, the bill was still waiting for action in the New Mexico House of […]

A bill that would have let New Mexico and Los Alamos County tax production of plutonium pits died quietly in the New Mexico legislature after a committee of jurisdiction declined to take up the measure. On Wednesday, with only one more scheduled day in the state’s legislative session, the bill was still waiting for action […]

A New Mexico legislative committee this month passed a bill to stop the prime contractor of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from claiming state tax credits for making nuclear-weapon cores. If signed into law the bill would go into effect on July 1 and exclude Los Alamos National Laboratory prime contractor Triad National Security from […]

Los Alamos glovebox fire sprinklers could cause criticality, safety watchdog says Los Alamos National Laboratory is trying to prevent accidental criticalities caused when fires inside gloveboxes trigger a building’s sprinkler system, which might allow water to touch fissile material, according to a federal safety watchdog. In a report dated Jan. 19, the National Nuclear Security […]

The Department of Energy is looking at two incidents of skin contamination at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility in New Mexico during January, according to a recent report from a federal safety agency. In one the likely source was a contaminated phone in a laboratory room, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is trying to prevent accidental criticalities caused when fires inside gloveboxes trigger a building’s sprinkler system, which might allow water to touch fissile material, according to a federal safety watchdog. In a report dated Jan. 19, the National Nuclear Security Administration said it provided formal comments on a plan to limit […]

The Department of Energy is looking at two incidents of skin contamination at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility in New Mexico during January, according to a recent report from a federal safety agency. In one the likely source was a contaminated phone in a laboratory room, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board […]

Departing officers of an advisory board for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina said this week they are feeling less anxious about the National Nuclear Security Administration taking over the 310-square-mile property on Oct. 1. That’s when the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) , a semi-autonomous branch of DOE, is scheduled […]

WASHINGTON — The Los Alamos National Laboratory’s plan to produce 30 nuclear weapon cores annually by 2028 satisfies current military needs, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said here Friday. That date, given earlier in the summit by the head of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, “meets my needs in that regard for W87-1” Gen. […]

Departing officers of an advisory board for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina said this week they are feeling less anxious about the National Nuclear Security Administration taking over the 310-square-mile property on Oct. 1. That’s when the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) , a semi-autonomous branch of DOE, is scheduled […]

WASHINGTON — The Los Alamos National Laboratory should be able to produce 30 nuclear weapon cores annually by 2028, the lab’s director said here Wednesday. “At the moment the plan we’re working to is 2028,” Thomas Mason, director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, told the Exchange Monitor here on the sidelines of the Monitor’s […]

About two years after it released a draft of the document, the National Nuclear Security Administration published a final environmental review of its plant to dispose of dozens of tons of surplus, weapon-usable plutonium. The nuclear weapons agency published its final Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program (SPDP) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in the Federal Register on […]

About a year after it released a draft of the document, the National Nuclear Security Administration published a final environmental review of its plant to dispose of dozens of tons of surplus, weapon-usable plutonium. The nuclear weapons agency published its final Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program (SPDP) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in the Federal Register on […]

There were at least six separate contamination incidents at Los Alamos National Laboratory between December and January, according to a series of safety watchdog reports.  Most recently, two incidents occurred within a week in early January in Technical Area 55, according to summaries by the lab. Just before 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 4 an employee […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is extending the public comment period regarding a new 14-mile electric power transmission line serving the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Public comment on the Los Alamos National Laboratory Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project Draft Environmental Assessment opened on Dec. 19 and will be extended for another month […]