Vol. 22, No. 11

Plutonium Pit Production

Decision on Moving Pit Production Due in Early May, NNSA Chief Says

WASHINGTON — The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will decide in early May whether it wants to build nuclear-warhead cores known as plutonium pits at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., the agency’s new administrator said here Wednesday in congressional testimony. The Pentagon needs the NNSA by 2030 to produce 80 plutonium pits a […]
  • Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

    DOE Working on Waiver to Cancel MOX Plant, Despite Doubts on Capitol Hill

    Energy Secretary Rick Perry ducked and dodged in the first congressional hearing of the year about the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2019 budget, evading questions from the dais about when the agency would provide a congressionally mandated cost estimate that could allow it to cancel a massive plutonium disposal plant under construction at the Savannah […]

  • Budget & Policy

    DOE Could Get Final 2018 Budget Monday

    WASHINGTON — The Department of Energy’s final budget for the 2018 fiscal year that began last October might be published Monday, the agency’s top House appropriator told reporters Thursday. After a hearing on the 2019 budget with Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said congressional leaders “hope to put it [the bill] online” […]

  • Contracts & Procurement

    NNSA to Meet With LANL Bidders Next Week, One Bidder Says

    The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to host the teams bidding to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the next 10 years for face-to-face meetings next week, an official with one bidder said late Wednesday. “[B]idders will be receiving feedback on their proposals this week,” Kim Budil, vice president for national laboratories for the University […]

  • Plutonium Pit Production

    Local Leaders Support SRS Pit Production in Meeting with NNSA Administrator

    Local and state leaders in South Carolina told the new head of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) that the Savannah River Site would be the best place for plutonium pit production just before her visit to the Energy Department facility last week. NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, who has been on the job since […]

  • Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

    NNSA Should Publish Plan for ‘Entire Nuclear Security Enterprise,” National Academies Panel Says

    The new head of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, in office less than a month, should direct the agency to produce an overarching plan for the future of “the entire nuclear security enterprise,” a National Academies panel said in a report published Tuesday. “In response to the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review and […]

  • National Laboratories

    Majidi Takes Over as Director of Savannah River National Lab

    Vahid Majidi, a former Pentagon and national-lab hand who most recently worked in industry, is scheduled today to replace the departing Terry Michalske as director of the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. Majidi will be executive vice president at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), which runs the lab and the Savannah River Site’s non-liquid-waste-cleanup mission for […]

  • Cleanup & Remediation

    Advisory Group for Sickened Nuke Workers Still Unstaffed

    A small group of unpaid advisers that helps the Department of Labor process medical reimbursement claims from workers sickened at Department of Energy nuclear sites remained idle Monday, about a month after the terms of most of its members expired. The terms of all but one member of the agency’s Advisory Board on Toxic Substances […]

  • Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

    B-21 Experiencing Early Production “Hiccups,” Lawmaker Says

    Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, said there have been some early production “hiccups” with the B-21, notably with its engines. Wittman told reporters following a speech at the McAleese/Credit Suisse defense conference that there have been challenges with airflow through the B-21 engines. “This […]

  • Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

    Air Force Nears Plan To Replace B-52 Engines

    The U.S. Air Force is reviewing options for re-engining the B-52 bomber and intends to formally launch the acquisition effort later this year, a service official said Wednesday. William Roper, the Air Force’s new acquisition chief, said he conducted his first review with the re-engining team a few weeks ago and he expects to receive […]

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