Vol. 22, No. 1 
The Year Ahead: NNSA
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Plutonium Penalty Restarts as South Carolina Mulls Summary Judgment Appeal
The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office confirmed Tuesday that the state has resumed penalizing the federal government for its continued failure to remove 1 metric ton of plutonium from the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site (SRS). The state also noted it is considering appealing a U.S. District Court judge’s dismissal of one $100 million claim from South Carolina […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA Contractor Seeks Quick Partial Payment in MOX Lawsuit
The prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) has demanded in federal court that its customer quickly return more than $20 million in contract fees the agency voided in 2016. It was the latest turn in a $200-million lawsuit CB&I AREVA MOX Services filed against DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear […]
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Budget & Policy
DOE Still Without General Counsel After Nomination Process Resets in New Year
The Department of Energy (DOE) will remain without a full-time general counsel for a while longer after a Senate rule that kicked in Wednesday automatically reset the confirmation process for the agency’s top lawyer. President Donald Trump nominated David Jonas as DOE general counsel in May, but the choice drew flack from Democrats on the […]
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National Laboratories
DOE IG Pings Livermore Contractor Over Receipts For Interagency Agreements
The prime contractor for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California did not properly document more than $1 million worth of work it did in 2015 under a number of interagency agreements, the Department of Energy’s inspector general reported just before the new year. The roughly $1.26 million in costs the Inspector General’s Office tagged were […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
UC Regent Pattiz Calling it Quits
Norman Pattiz, the University of California regent who oversees the institution’s work with Department of Energy nuclear weapons labs, will resign in February, news outlets reported Wednesday. Pattiz, who has served about 16 years on the Board of Regents, informed board Chairman George Kieffer of his decision in a Dec. 28 letter posted online by […]
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
GAO Report: New Columbia-Class Technology Risks May Postpone Deployment Of Lead Submarine
Rich Abbott Defense Daily A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress found that several technologies for the Columbia-class submarine program need more development and testing to prevent cost and schedule delays that could delay deployment of the lead submarine beyond a 2031 deadline. Twelve Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) are planned to replace the existing 14 Ohio-class vessels […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA Tips Hat to Retiring Defense Programs Officials
In an end-of-the-year press release, the National Nuclear Security Administration bid farewell to three longtime employees who have retired. The three retirees, all of whom spent at least some time in the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Defense Programs office are: Ralph Schneider, a Ph.D. physicist who was most recently director of the Office of […]