Plutonium Pit Production

Delays in producing new plutonium pits at two National Nuclear Security Administration sites are “very disturbing,” given the need to modernize nearly every element of the U.S. nuclear arsenal in coming decades, a former NNSA policy director said Wednesday. “During the Cold War, the U.S. produced up to 2,000 warhead pits per year at the […]

Hensel Phelps, a construction subcontractor working at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, recently completed concrete placements for four warehouses that will provide more than a football field’s worth of additional storage capacity and workspace.  Approximately 5,000 cubic yards of concrete were laid for the foundation on June 15, a milestone the lab announced […]

The recent unprecedented expansion of the Los Alamos National Laboratory workforce will continue for at least another year before leveling out at around 2,0000 employees, a senior lab official told the Los Alamos County Council on Tuesday. All told, there are 17,244 people employed at Los Alamos in various capacities from professional National Nuclear Security […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday passed a spending bill that would give the National Nuclear Security Administration nearly $2 billion more than the $22.1 billion the White House sought and almost exactly the $24 billion the House has proposed.  The bill, approved 29-0 by the committee, also includes larger-than-requested appropriations for plutonium pit factories […]

Nearly $19 billion is included in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s 2024 spending bill for National Nuclear Security Administration nuclear-weapon programs, with funding boosts for planned facilities that will process plutonium and uranium for refurbished nuclear weapons. The Appropriations Committee began marking up the Energy And Water Development Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bill Thursday morning. The […]

The recent unprecedented expansion of the Los Alamos National Laboratory workforce will continue for at least another year before leveling out at around 2,0000 employees, a senior lab official told the Los Alamos County Council on Tuesday. All told, there are 17,244 people employed at Los Alamos in various capacities from professional National Nuclear Security […]

Some of the 1,502 amendments filed in the House for an annual defense policy bill deal directly with the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise, including a call to allow the National Nuclear Security Administration more time to make 80 new plutonium pits annually. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) filed an amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, which manages and operates portions of the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site wants to hire a company for an undisclosed “large capital project,” according to a notice on the federal government contracting website.  Located about 15 miles south of Aiken, South Carolina, the Savannah River Site (SRS) comprises 310 contiguous […]

The newly inked agreement between New Mexico’s Environment Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration about what to do with radioactive waste will prioritize old waste ahead of byproducts of an impending ramp-up in plutonium pit production. A New Mexico Environment Department spokesman said the “settlement agreement prioritizes legacy waste ahead of newly generated waste […]

The newly inked agreement between New Mexico’s Environment Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration about what to do with radioactive waste will prioritize old waste ahead of byproducts of an impending ramp-up in plutonium pit production. A New Mexico Environment Department spokesman said the “settlement agreement prioritizes legacy waste ahead of newly generated waste […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, which manages and operates portions of the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site wants to hire a company for an undisclosed “large capital project,” according to a notice on the federal government contracting website.  Located about 15 miles south of Aiken, South Carolina, the Savannah River Site (SRS) comprises 310 contiguous […]

A new 10-year draft permit for the Department of Energy’s underground transuranic waste disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., will prioritize legacy waste from cleanup activities over new waste resulting from the impending ramp-up in plutonium pit production at nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory, the New Mexico Environment Department said late Tuesday. The settlement heads off […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration wants to expand its supplier base for the highly engineered glove boxes needed to speed up production of new plutonium pits for nuclear weapons.  The airtight, pressurized containers, are in high demand at NNSA facilities such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is gearing up to produce at least 30 […]

The story “Los Alamos wants to speed glovebox buying, widen supplier base” [Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, June 28, 2023] should have said NNSA plans to hire Merrick Strategic Management Solutions, with an anticipated contract award date of August 28.

The National Nuclear Security Administration wants to expand its supplier base for the highly engineered glove boxes needed to speed up production of new plutonium pits for nuclear weapons.  The airtight, pressurized containers, are in high demand at NNSA facilities such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is gearing up to produce at least 30 […]

The House Appropriations Committee late Thursday approved a bill that would give the National Nuclear Security Administration a slightly larger 2024 budget than requested, owing mostly to added funding for a plutonium pit plant being built in South Carolina. After a lengthy markup session that ran late into the night, the committee voted 34-to-24, essentially […]

Early Thursday, a House committee approved a bill to cap National Nuclear Security Administration spending in 2024 at about $23.8 billion and blocked a plan to repeal legal deadlines to make new nuclear weapon cores. The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would also approve $70 million to fund development of a sea-launched variant of […]

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – By December 2024, the Los Alamos National Laboratory will produce a proof-of-concept pit for a new intercontinental ballistic missile warhead, a senior lab official said here Thursday during an extremely rare media tour of the building where workers will cast the weapon’s plutonium core. That pit will not go into one […]

Early Thursday, a House committee approved a bill to cap National Nuclear Security Administration spending in 2024 at about $23.8 billion and blocked a plan to repeal legal deadlines to make new nuclear weapon cores. The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would also approve $70 million to fund development of a sea-launched variant of […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory management has been put on notice after a series of safety violations two years ago sent red flags all the way up to National Nuclear Security Administration leadership. Triad National Security, led by Battelle Memorial Institute, The Texas A&M University System and the University of California, violated Department of Energy safety […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory management has been put on notice after a series of safety violations two years ago sent red flags all the way up to National Nuclear Security Administration leadership. Triad National Security, led by Battelle Memorial Institute, The Texas A&M University System and the University of California, violated Department of Energy safety […]

Production of tritium and plutonium pits could prove a significant limiting factor in the introduction of a new nuclear weapons delivery method like a sea-launched cruise missile and other attempts by the U.S. to beef up its nuclear arsenal to counter Russia and China, according to an official at the National Strategic Research Institute.  Christopher […]

Production of tritium and plutonium pits could prove a significant limiting factor in the introduction of a new nuclear weapons delivery method like a sea-launched cruise missile and other attempts by the U.S. to beef up its nuclear arsenal to counter Russia and China, according to an official at the National Strategic Research Institute.  Christopher […]

Tennessee environmentalists and anti-nukers literally prayed for NRC to prevent a planned license amendment that would let BWX Technologies subsidiary Nuclear Fuel Services purify uranium for the National Nuclear Security Administration.  “Dear Chairman Hanson,” reads a postcard sent by multiple activists to NRC Chair Christopher Hanson. “As a fellow person of faith, I believe in […]

At least five glove-box breaches occurred at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in late March through mid-April, though none of the incidents resulted in worker skin contamination or otherwise compromised their health, according to two reports from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.  Two of the breaches at the lab’s PF-4 Plutonium Facility occurred in […]

At least five glove-box breaches occurred at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in late March through mid-April, though none of the incidents resulted in worker skin contamination or otherwise compromised their health, according to two reports from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.  Two of the breaches at the lab’s PF-4 Plutonium Facility occurred in […]

New security access facilities have arrived at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina as the complex prepares for increased construction activity in K Area including installation of new Surplus Plutonium Disposition project gloveboxes. A new four-lane facility, with glass panels used across the DOE complex, will replace a much smaller, single-lane […]

The flood of employees leaving National Nuclear Security Administration sites that peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic has ebbed and the workforce needed to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons complex is short-staffed but holding, the head of the agency said Wednesday.  “The overall attrition is close to normal now at both Los Alamos and Sandia and […]

The Los Alamos Fire Department responded to 34 fire false alarms at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2022 and the obsolete alarm system continues to malfunction in 2023, according to reports from the site.  An ongoing effort to replace the existing fire alarm system at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Plutonium Facility at TA-55, also […]

The Los Alamos Fire Department responded to 34 fire false alarms at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2022 and the obsolete alarm system continues to malfunction in 2023, according to reports from the site.  An ongoing effort to replace the existing fire alarm system at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Plutonium Facility at TA-55, also […]