Vol. 22, No. 6 
Senators Snarl Over Plutonium Missions at Confirmation Hearing for NNSA Administrator-Designate
-
Budget & Policy
Nothing New for NNSA in Blockbuster Budget Deal
The Department of Energy will remain frozen at fiscal 2017 spending levels through at least late March, under the stopgap spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump on Friday morning after an overnight government shutdown — the second of fiscal 2018. The bill is the fifth continuing resolution of the fiscal […]
-
Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Plans for Pits and Low-Yield Warheads Expected in FY19 Budget Request Next Week
Plans for pit-production and new warheads figure to feature in the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2019 budget request, which at deadline Friday for Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor was still expected to be released Monday. While no details had leaked out as of Friday, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) appeared well positioned for a […]
-
Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
New Sub-Launched Warheads a ‘Bargaining Chip’ With Russia, Mattis Says
WASHINGTON — About a month after word first leaked that the White House wanted to develop a pair of new low-yield nuclear warheads, Defense Secretary James Mattis this week characterized the proposal as a “bargaining chip” to persuade Russia to freeze what the United States says is a nuclear-capable cruise missile program. In congressional testimony […]
-
Non-Proliferation
White House Nominates Oak Ridge Associate Lab Director to Lead NNSA Nonproliferation
President Donald Trump plans to nominate a nuclear physicist from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s roughly $2-billion-a-year nonproliferation division, the White House said Thursday. In a notice posted online, the administration said it intends to nominate Brent Park, who also serves as an ORNL associate laboratory […]
-
Plutonium Pit Production
S.C. Lawmakers Back State Taking NNSA’s Pit Mission
Members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation this week got on board with constituents’ calls for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration to start manufacturing nuclear-warhead cores at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R) say the pit mission — currently entrenched at the Los Alamos National […]
-
National Laboratories
N.M. House to Take Up National Lab Tax Bill
Legislation that allows New Mexico to collect gross receipts taxes from nonprofit entities that run Department of Energy national laboratories there flew through the state Senate and now is set for its first committee stop in the House of Representatives. The House Taxation and Revenue Committee had not yet scheduled action on the bill at […]
-
Budget & Policy
N.J. Democrat Raises Potential for Outside Regulation of DOE
The U.S. Department of Energy’s record of policing itself is “mixed at best,” and the agency might benefit from independent oversight by an entity such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said Tuesday. Pallone made his remarks during a House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee hearing on U.S. nuclear infrastructure. The lawmaker […]
-
National Laboratories
AECOM Posts $4.9 Billion in Quarterly Revenue
Department of Energy contractor AECOM on Tuesday reported $4.9 billion in revenue for the first quarter of its fiscal year, ended Dec. 31, 2017. That was 12.7 percent higher than the $4.35 billion recorded in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The Los Angeles-based global infrastructure company reported quarterly net income and diluted earnings per […]
-
Contracts & Procurement
Jacobs’ Earnings Fall on CH2M Buyout, but CEO Bullish
Jacobs Engineering Group reported $2 million in net earnings for its latest financial quarter, a steep year-over-year dive from $61 million linked to its recent acquisition of CH2M. Earnings for Jacobs’ fiscal 2018 first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017, took a hit from the $3.27 billion CH2M acquisition and a one-time tax charge, the company […]
-
Plutonium Pit Production
Feds Can Seize Money, Property From Guilty MOX Subcontractor
A federal judge has ordered a former Department of Energy subcontractor to pay back $4.4 million stolen from the federal government while conducting work for the Savannah River Site MOX project in South Carolina. Aaron Vennefron must pay the money via cash, forfeiture, and any other means needed, according to the order. Former project subcontractors […]
-
Non-Proliferation
Russia Says it Met New START Goals
Russia met a Monday deadline to place its count of deployed long-range nuclear delivery systems and warheads below levels prescribed in the keystone New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Russian Foreign Ministry said this week. The 10-year bilateral treaty, known as New START, went into force in 2011 and required the U.S. and Russia to cap […]