Vol. 22, No. 2 
Current Warheads are Top Priority for NNSA in Leaked Nuke Posture Review
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA Administrator Klotz to Retire Jan. 19
WASHINGTON — National Nuclear Security Administrator Frank Klotz told NS&D Monitor on Tuesday he will retire from the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapon agency on Jan. 19. If he leaves the agency as planned in two weeks, the retired Air Force lieutenant general will have helmed the NNSA for three years, nine months, and 12 days, including […]
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Budget & Policy
NNSA Could Do With Less Semiautonomy, DOE No. 2 Tells Congress
WASHINGTON — The semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) might not need all the semiautonomy it has now, Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said here Tuesday in congressional testimony. As part of a three-hour hearing on modernizing the Department of Energy, Brouillette said it was “awkward” that the NNSA has its own legislative affairs […]
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Life Extension Programs
Time Ticking for SRS Contract With Tritium Ops
With fewer than six months left on the incumbent’s contract, the Department of Energy still has not started competition for the next Savannah River Site management and operations deal — the pact that includes running the National Nuclear Security Administration’s tritium program. The NNSA extracts tritium gas, which boosts the yield of nuclear weapons, at the […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
South Carolina Local Governments Want NNSA’s Pit Mission
Local governments near the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina this week said they would be glad if the facility took over manufacturing plutonium pits for the National Nuclear Security Administration. On Tuesday, the nine-member Aiken County Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution “Supporting and Encouraging the Department of Energy/National Nuclear […]
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Budget & Policy
Trump’s DOE General Counsel Nominee Doesn’t Want Job Anymore
David Jonas, who President Donald Trump last year nominated to be the Department of Energy’s general counsel, no longer wants the job, according to a LinkedIn post Jonas published late Jan. 7. “In considering the additional months that would be required for final confirmation, as well as my professional responsibilities at FH+H Law Firm, I […]
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Naval Nuclear Propulsion
DOE, Navy, Seek Bids for Naval Nuclear Lab Manager
As part of a joint procurement with the U.S. Navy, the Department of Energy last week solicited bids for a potentially 10-year contract to manage the Naval Nuclear Laboratory. Incumbent Bechtel Marine Power Corp. has been on the job since 2009. The current and follow-on contract includes management and operation of DOE’s Bettis Atomic Power […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
South Carolina Sues Feds Again Over Plutonium Removal
South Carolina on Monday sued the federal government again to claim $100 million it says it is owed for the Department of Energy’s failure to remove 1 metric ton of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium from the state. The complaint filed in U.S. Court of Federal Claims, State of South Carolina vs. The United States of America, […]
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Budget & Policy
DNFSB Sets Plan for Government Shutdown
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the safety watchdog for Department of Energy nuclear sites around the country, has issued a new plan for operations in the event of a federal government shutdown. Congress has until Jan. 19 to pass a budget for the remainder of fiscal 2018, or another continuing resolution to keep the […]