Vol. 21, No. 45 
Regents Approve UT Bid to Run LANL — Barely
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National Laboratories
AECOM Does Not Plan to Pursue Next LANL Management Contract, Source Says
AECOM does not plan to be part of the next Los Alamos National Laboratory management team, a source said Thursday. The Los Angeles-based engineering services giant is one of the junior industry partners on Los Alamos National Security (LANS): the incumbent lab prime now managing the the roughly 70-year-old nuclear-weapons facility under a contract worth […]
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National Laboratories
Wallace to Replace McMillan as LANL Director on New Year’s Day
Terry Wallace will become director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory effective Jan. 1, replacing Charles McMillan, the lab announced Tuesday. Wallace is a stopgap director who will serve only about nine months at the helm Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) before a new management contractor — and a new director — steps in. That […]
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Budget & Policy
No Budget Clarity for DOE Nuke Programs as Congress Contemplates New CR
Funding for federal agencies runs out Dec. 8, but Congress is working on another short-term fix to keep the government running for a little while longer, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday. The new budget year, fiscal 2018, began on Oct. 1, but the federal government for now remains funded at prior-year levels. “We’re […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
There Has Never Been a New NNSA Head This Early In a New Administration
More than 10 months into the Donald Trump administration, the White House has not nominated anyone to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) — something entirely consistent with the few organizational precedents the agency has established in its short history. Yet Trump prides himself on shattering Washington precedents and is, according to rumor, on […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
MSTS Officially On the Job at Nevada Nat’l Security Site
Mission Support and Test Services officially took over management of the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site on Friday, the agency’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration said. The Nevada National Security Site is the former Nevada Test Site where the United States conducted explosive atmospheric and underground nuclear weapon tests. The site today conducts […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Cutting Weapons Complex Won’t Curb Modernization Costs, CBO Official Says
WASHINGTON — The author of a congressional report that pondered ways to trim billions of dollars in U.S. nuclear-weapon spending over the next 30 years speculated recently that targeting the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex would not yield considerable savings. “You might find some more savings there, but I don’t think that changes the […]
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National Laboratories
Low Bid, Past Performance Put Contractor Over the Top in Sandia Competition, NNSA Doc Shows
The Honeywell-led National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS) was the lowest bidder and the most technically qualified of four teams that competed for a 10-year, $2.5-billion-plus contract to manage the Sandia National Laboratories last year, according to a newly released procurement document. The details come from a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) source […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Nuclear Safety Board to Brew Recommendation for DOE Behind Closed Doors
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board plans to consider at least one nuclear safety recommendation to the Department of Energy during closed-door meetings in early December, according to notices published Monday. The specific topics to be discussed by the five-member Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) on Dec. 6 and Dec. 18 are unknown. In notices posted online, the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
BWXT Promotes Carter to Senior VP for Government, Communications
BWX Technologies has named Regina W. Carter as its senior vice president, government affairs and communications. Carters has been a vice president for the company since 2015. In addition to heading up government affairs and communications, Carter also serves as a member of BWXT’s executive staff and strategic planning team, BWXT President and CEO Rex […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Judge Deciding If Federal Claims Court Can Rule in $100M MOX Suit
A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge said Tuesday she needs to determine if her court can decide if South Carolina should receive $100 million from the Department of Energy over missed plutonium disposal deadlines at the Savannah River Site. In the order, Judge Margaret Sweeney granted DOE’s request to defer a ruling on the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Northrop Grumman Deal For Orbital ATK On Track After Shareholder Vote
Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Orbital ATK’s [OA] stockholders on Wednesday voted in favor of their company’s being acquired by Northrop Grumman [NOC], keeping the pending deal on track for a close in the first half of 2018. The nearly $8 billion acquisition still must receive regulatory approvals. Orbital ATK said that holders of more than 99 percent […]
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National Laboratories
UPF, Sandia Centrifuge Among IG’s List of DOE Management Challenges in 2018
The Uranium Processing Facility in Tennessee, a centrifuge in Texas, and the national heavy water inventory are among the management challenges the Department of Energy’s Inspector General’s Office foresees for the agency in fiscal 2018, according to a Nov. 27 special report. The Inspector General’s (IG) Office fretted that DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]
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Life Extension Programs
NNSA Reveals Another B61-12 Hardware Flight Test
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 […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
New Labor Contract Kicks In at Kansas City NNSA Plant
A new labor contract phased last week for about 900 Honeywell employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus, the union announced. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 778 ratified a new tentative agreement with management Nov. 19, the local said on its website. Members never went […]
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Non-Proliferation
California Working With NNSA on Dirty Bomb Protection
The state of California is participating in a National Nuclear Security Administration program to reduce the possibility of medical isotopes becoming ammunition for dirty bombs, the semi autonomous Department of Energy agency said Tuesday. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Cesium Irradiator Replacement Program helps academic and medical institutions replace devices that use radiological materials, […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Top HASC Democrat Urges More Foreign Partnerships To Ease Demand On U.S. Military
Marc Selinger Defense Daily Faced with budget constraints that are unlikely to ease anytime soon, the U.S. military should build more relationships with foreign countries to counter threats in a more cost-effective way, according to the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). The military could reduce its overseas presence by making greater […]