Stockpile Stewardship

The National Nuclear Security Administration mismanaged development of two machines used to measure the explosive power of nuclear weapons, leading to program delays and cost overruns, the Government Accountability Office found in a recent report.  To continue its long-running program to test the effectiveness of nuclear weapons without actually detonating one, the NNSA established the […]

If confirmed as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. C. Q. Brown vows support for nuclear weapons modernization efforts underway at the U.S. National Laboratories and will undertake a review of the nuclear arsenal to identify capability “gaps,” he said in recent written testimony.  Brown testified before the Senate […]

If confirmed as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. C. Q. Brown vows support for nuclear weapons modernization efforts underway at the U.S. National Laboratories and will undertake a review of the nuclear arsenal to identify capability “gaps,” he said in recent written testimony.  Brown testified before the Senate […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Kim Budil has been selected by Fast Company as one of the Most Creative People in Business for 2023. The annual list, in its 15th year, recognizes individuals making an impact in society via daring achievements in their chosen fields, from tech to design to healthcare. Budil was selected for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to perform two subcritical explosive experiments at the Nevada National Security Site in the fiscal year that ends Oct. 1, 2024, according to Deputy Administrator for Defense Nonproliferation Corey Hinderstein. Since the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CBTB) took effect in 1992, NNSA has performed 33 subcritical experiments at the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to perform two subcritical explosive experiments at the Nevada National Security Site in the fiscal year that ends Oct. 1, 2024, according to Deputy Administrator for Defense Nonproliferation Corey Hinderstein. Since the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CBTB) took effect in 1992, NNSA has performed 33 subcritical experiments at the […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories have successfully performed a second joint abnormal thermal environment test for the W80-4 Life Extension Program, the labs recently announced.  Carried out April 5 at Sandia’s Cross Wind Test Facility in New Mexico, this abnormal thermal environment test, or ATE-2, was a fast-heat, fully engulfing system-level fuel […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories have successfully performed a second joint abnormal thermal environment test for the W80-4 Life Extension Program, the labs recently announced.  Carried out April 5 at Sandia’s Cross Wind Test Facility in New Mexico, this abnormal thermal environment test, or ATE-2, was a fast-heat, fully engulfing system-level fuel […]

Understanding the cradle-to-grave requirements of modern nuclear weapons will require significantly more powerful computing capacity than the U.S. nuclear enterprise plans to develop, the National Academy of Sciences reported Thursday. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) “needs to fundamentally rethink the strategy for its next generation of high-performance computing” in order to achieve “post exascale” […]

Understanding the cradle-to-grave requirements of modern nuclear weapons will require significantly more powerful computing capacity than the U.S. nuclear enterprise plans to develop, the National Academy of Sciences reported Thursday. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) “needs to fundamentally rethink the strategy for its next generation of high-performance computing” in order to achieve “post exascale” […]

Though the National Nuclear Security Administration plans to dramatically ramp up plutonium pit production around the time a key arms control treaty expires in 2026, there are no plans to test fire any weapons, agency Administrator Jill Hruby said Monday in New Mexico. Hruby sat through two hours of questioning – and occasional haranguing – […]

Citing a national security memorandum that describes a reduced need for the B83 thermonuclear gravity bomb, the National Nuclear Administration proposed cutting funding for the weapon in its 2024 budget request.  The NNSA proposed cutting $28 million from funding for management of the B83 in its fiscal 2024 budget request, owing to “updated program requirements […]

Materials shortages, technology changes and other factors have pushed major enhancements to a nuclear-weapon testing facility in Nevada back three years and inflated the overall project cost to $1.8 billion, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s 2024 budget request. Supply chain disruptions and other problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the […]

Materials shortages, technology changes and other factors have pushed major enhancements to a nuclear-weapon testing facility in Nevada back three years and inflated the overall project cost to $1.8 billion, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s 2024 budget request. Supply chain disruptions and other problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the […]

The technology that powers the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s main nuclear-weapon testing center is a viable bedrock for a nuclear fusion power plant, the lab’s director testified Tuesday in Congress. Based on data available today from Livermore’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), “it is feasible to develop a fusion energy power plant based on the inertial […]

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was set to fire the first test in its Nimble series of subcritical experiments in the late summer, a senior lab official said here Wednesday. “The first one [called Nob Hill] is scheduled for August of this year, the next one [Twin Peaks] will be hopefully a […]

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Upgrades to a nuclear-weapon test facility in Nevada are falling further behind schedule, government officials and weapon-site managers said here Wednesday. Officially called Enhanced Capability for Subcritical Experiments (ECSE), the upgrades involve expanding the Nevada National Security Site’s U1a underground complex and installing a sophisticated new x-ray camera to measure explosive plutonium […]

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Upgrades to a nuclear-weapon test facility in Nevada are falling further behind schedule, government officials and weapon-site managers said here Wednesday. Officially called Enhanced Capability for Subcritical Experiments (ECSE), the upgrades involve expanding the Nevada National Security Site’s U1a underground complex and installing a sophisticated new x-ray camera to measure explosive plutonium […]

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was set to fire the first test in its Nimble series of subcritical experiments in the late summer, a senior lab official said here Wednesday. “The first one [called Nob Hill] is scheduled for August of this year, the next one [Twin Peaks] will be hopefully a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration submitted a plan to Congress detailing the agency’s needs over the next decade for new experimental capabilities to test nuclear weapons and materials, a scientist from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said Wednesday. Lasers, used at the Livermore’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) and the University of Rochester’s Omega Laser Facility, […]

A National Nuclear Security Administration plan bound for Congress will detail the agency’s needs over the next decade for new experimental capabilities to test nuclear weapons and materials, the agency said this week. Lasers, used at the Livermore’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) and the University of Rochester’s Omega Laser Facility, and pulsed power, used at […]

Two of the three shots in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Nimble series of subcritical experiments should fire by early fiscal year 2024, with the third and final to follow not more than two years after, a lab spokesperson said this week. “It is anticipated that two shots, Twin Peaks and Nob Hill, will be […]

The Nevada National Security Site plans to allow subcritical experiment packages back onto the hoist leading to the U1a underground experimental complex in the spring, a site spokesperson said Wednesday. After an active desert monsoon season in August and September, the Nevada site discovered some muck at the bottom of the entrance shaft to the […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Nimble series of subcritical experiments in Nevada should wrap up in fiscal year 2024, about a year later than the California nuclear-weapons lab once planned. The Nimble series “is scheduled to be complete later in FY23 & early FY24” a lab spokesperson wrote in an email on Monday, referring to government […]

The Secretary of Energy and the department’s top nuclear-weapons official were to brief press at 10:00 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday about what media reported is a record-setting energy output at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The briefing was to be livestreamed. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Livermore’s California campus […]

The cost of the next subcritical nuclear testing facility in Nevada crept up a little, according to an audit report published Monday by the Department of Energy’s Inspector General. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) now projects a maximum combined cost for the U1a Complex Enhancement Project (UCEP) of $577 million, a little more than […]

The cost of the next subcritical nuclear testing facility in Nevada crept up a little, according to an audit report published Monday by the Department of Energy’s Inspector General. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) now projects a maximum combined cost for the U1a Complex Enhancement Project (UCEP) of $577 million, a little more than […]

The second and larger of two nearly round-the-clock mining projects in Nevada to expand the main U.S. zero-yield, nuclear-weapon test site should wrap up in 2026, the National Nuclear Security Administration said this week. The agency approved the final design for the U1a Complex Enhancement Project (UCEP) 20 subproject June 23, about a week before […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration completed the smaller of two subprojects that aim to expand an underground, zero-yield nuclear-weapon testing laboratory in Nevada, the agency said Tuesday. The Access and Life Safety Infrastructure portion of the greater U1a Complex Enhancements Project hit the CD-4 milestone on June 30, the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory’s new high-performance computing system, called Venado, assembled by Hewlett Packard and to be delivered in 2023, will be the first in the U.S. powered by the Grace central processing unit designed by Nvidia, the lab said. The lab announced the impending delivery of its next high-performance computer system last week […]