Warhead & Weapons Development

The ranking Democrat on the Senate panel that writes the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) annual funding bill said Wednesday she would not vote for a budget that keeps the B83 nuclear gravity bomb in service. Meanwhile, New Mexico’s senior senator laid into the Energy Department subagency’s top official about plans to move production of nuclear-weapon cores […]

Uniformed Air Force and Navy officers will join senior Pentagon officials today in the Senate for a hearing on nuclear weapons policy, programs, and strategy. The hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee strategic forces subcommittee is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. Invited witnesses are: Guy Roberts, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and […]

Scores of Democratic congresspeople wrote to President Donald Trump on Monday to complain that the White House’s plans to add new low-yield nuclear warheads to the U.S. arsenal is dangerous and fiscally irresponsible. That was the takeaway of a letter dated March 26 and signed by 43 Democrats, including Rep. Adam Smith (R-Wash.): ranking member […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry and the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) both assured Congress this week that the two new low-yield warheads called for in the Donald Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review can fit in projected agency budgets. Perry and NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty faced the same question Thursday on separate sides […]

At least where it concerns maintaining the U.S. nuclear arsenal under the care of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, the National Security Strategy that President Donald Trump released this week does not depart radically from the nuclear modernization plan set in place by his predecessor. The United States must sustain “a nuclear […]

President Donald Trump this week signed the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which makes it harder to move plutonium pit production out of New Mexico, calls for a competition to design a new nuclear warhead for ballistic missiles, and authorizes Congress to keep funding a controversial plutonium-conversion facility. Trump inked the bill Tuesday, nearly […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) acknowledged the third test of 2017 for components of the updated B61-12 gravity bomb the agency is developing as part of the $1-trillion-plus U.S. nuclear modernization program. The two qualification flights took place Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, the NNSA said in a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) acknowledged the third test of 2017 for components of the updated B61-12 gravity bomb the agency is developing as part of the $1-trillion-plus U.S. nuclear modernization program. The two qualification flights took place Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, NNSA wrote in a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) this week announced back-to-back milestones on warhead refurbishments intended to preserve the potency of U.S. nuclear submarine and cruise missiles. On Tuesday, the NNSA said it modified the first W80-1 air-launched cruise-missile warhead under a program launched in 2012 to help keep the weapon suitable for service into the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Monday revealed it tested components of the B61-12 gravity bomb intended it is developing as part of the U.S. nuclear modernization effort. The two qualification flights took place Aug. 8 at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, the NNSA said in a press release published on its website. […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Monday revealed it tested components of the B61-12 gravity bomb intended it is developing as part of the U.S. nuclear modernization effort. The two qualification flights took place Aug. 8 at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, the NNSA said in a press release published on its website. An […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) this week authorized the beginning of the W88 Alteration 370 program’s production engineering phase, part of the agency’s work in ensuring the reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent. The W88 thermonuclear warhead is deployed on the Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile carried on Ohio-class submarines. The warhead, in […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and Air Force Global Strike Command earlier this month conducted two joint flight tests of mock B61-7 and B61-11 nuclear gravity bombs. Two B-2A Spirit stealth bombers dropped the joint test assemblies over the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada in the successful test, the NNSA said in a press release. […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Monday it has officially OK’d the production engineering phase of the B61-12 warhead life-extension program, marking the program’s entry into the final phase of development before production. This milestone follows four years of work in the development-engineering phase, the NNSA said, noting that the first production unit is […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Tuesday said it had added 10,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity for electronic parts at its Kansas City, Mo., National Security Complex (KCNSC), under budget and ahead of schedule. The facility produces electronics and other non-nuclear parts for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The new space is converted “White Space” […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) is seeking expressions of interest from entities that can convert enriched lithium chloride and enriched lithium hydride to lithium metal for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, according to a notice posted last week. Lithium is used for the manufacture of nuclear weapons components; the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex must ramp up maintenance at its existing uranium operations facilities to meet mission needs until new plants, including the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), are available, the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office (IG) found in a report released Tuesday. Y-12’s enriched uranium processing operations are housed in the aging 9212 […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex must ramp up maintenance at its existing uranium operations facilities to meet mission needs until new plants, including the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), are available, the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office (IG) found in a report released Tuesday. Y-12’s enriched uranium processing operations are housed in the aging 9212 […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) is seeking expressions of interest from entities that can convert enriched lithium chloride and enriched lithium hydride to lithium metal for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, according to a notice posted last week. Lithium is used for the manufacture of nuclear weapons components; the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has formally amended its approach to meeting enriched uranium requirements at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee by upgrading some existing enriched uranium processing facilities and constructing a multi-building Uranium Processing Facility (UPF). An amended record of decision published Tuesday represents the final step in the process to […]

Interoperability requirements for the core of nuclear warheads under the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) “3+2” modernization strategy may lead to trade-offs and complications for the U.S. nuclear stockpile, according to a report by the independent science advisory group JASON. The NNSA publicly released the executive summary of the January 2015 report this week. The […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced on Feb. 26 it had finished dismantling canned subassemblies for the W69 warhead at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The canned subassembly, along with the plutonium pit, is part of the warhead’s nuclear explosive package. During the warhead dismantlement process, plutonium pits are stored […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 2/5/2016 Casting operations with highly enriched uranium were temporarily “paused” last month because of a perceived “deficiency” in nuclear criticality safety in a part of Building 9212 at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee. The issue was reported in an area associated with Stack 110, which is the primary ventilation […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 1/15/2016 The state of design competition at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) national security laboratories is not adequate to maintain design and production skills within the nuclear enterprise, according to the co-chairs of a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee created by the request of Congress to study […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/24/2015 The Pantex Plant has implemented a new Nuclear Explosive Engineering Procedure and has resumed nuclear-explosive disassembly after an unexpected issue during a lifting operation forced workers to halt dismantlement activities on June 17, Pantex spokesman George Rangel confirmed to NS&D Monitor on Wednesday. A recently released Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety […]

Pantex has implemented a new Nuclear Explosive Engineering Procedure and resumed nuclear explosive disassembly operations after an unexpected issue occurred during a lifting operation, forcing workers to halt dismantlement activities on June 17, Pantex spokesman George Rangel confirmed to Weapons Complex Morning Briefing yesterday. A recently released Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board site representative report […]

Nuclear explosive disassembly operations paused at Pantex on June 17 after an “unexpected condition” was encountered during a “lifting operation with a vacuum fixture,” according to a recently released Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board representative report dated June 19. Because this situation is not addressed by the standard Nuclear Explosive Operating Procedure (NEOP), Y-12/Pantex contractor […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Pantex has resumed work on the B61 and W80 warhead programs after a “code blue” situation at the plant in early May sidelined operations on the programs for weeks, a Pantex spokesperson told NS&D Monitor this week. The NNSA Production Office (NPO) on June 1 issued two Safety Evaluation Reports […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 The Air Force and National Nuclear Security Administration completed the first development flight test of the B61-12 gravity bomb at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada on July 1, according to a July 8 NNSA press release. “This test marks a major milestone for the B61-12 Life Extension Program, demonstrating end-to-end […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory has designated new leadership for its Weapons Program and Operations divisions, according to an announcement released last week. Robert Webster will become the Weapons Program’s Principal Associate Director in charge of LANL’s “primary mission, assuring the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear deterrent,” the notice says. He previously held […]