The Department of Energy is reviewing roughly 80 internal orders under an initiative called “Project Velocity” aimed at accelerating work across the nuclear weapons enterprise, Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said last month.
Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the effort is intended to streamline operations and reduce administrative barriers affecting mission delivery across the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), local publication Los Alamos Reporter said.
The initiative is meant to rewrite safety, construction and oversight rules to accelerate the modernization programs at NNSA. Project Velocity comes as NNSA faces mounting pressure to execute multiple modernization programs simultaneously, including plutonium pit production expansion, warhead life extension programs and infrastructure upgrades throughout the weapons complex.
Part of an Oct. 17 memo, Project Velocity was also mentioned at Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit in January by Thom Mason and Kim Budil, directors of Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories respectively.
While Davis did not specify which DOE orders are under review, the effort could affect procurement timelines, project approvals and management processes tied to weapons activities.
“They’re really focused on how we can accelerate mission delivery – how we can deliver those things the nation needs more efficiently and effectively and obviously in a reasonable cost,” Davis said.
Los Alamos is currently working to expand plutonium pit production while modernizing aging infrastructure and increasing advanced computing capacity for weapons simulations and artificial intelligence applications. Davis described the challenge as balancing ongoing operations with large-scale modernization efforts occurring simultaneously.
The initiative also comes as DOE and NNSA continue facing congressional scrutiny over delays and cost growth affecting major modernization projects, including pit production efforts at Los Alamos and the Savannah River Site.
Additionally, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board raised concerns in a March 17 letter that Project Velocity could affect the department’s process for revising nuclear safety directives and regulations. In the letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the board said it was unable to identify which safety standards it plans to review in fiscal 2026 because of “apparent recent changes” in how DOE manages and communicates revisions.
The board noted that DOE is embarking on Project Velocity, which may include revisions to numerous directives, and requested a briefing on all active efforts to revise or pilot alternative versions of safety standards affecting defense nuclear facilities. The board also urged DOE to continue using its Review and Comment process, or a comparable mechanism, to ensure safety experts and regulators remain engaged as changes are developed.