Vol. 23, No. 19 
Balky Capacitors Could Delay Two NNSA Nuke Refurb Programs
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Plutonium Pit Production
DOE, NNSA Chiefs Set for Face Time With Cortez Masto, Rosen in Nevada
Energy Secretary Rick Perry and the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration were set to meet Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) in Nevada on Friday, about a week after after the Silver State’s senior senator stopped blocking nominees for senior Department of Energy jobs because of a contentious plutonium shipment last […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
NNSA Won’t Start Savannah River Plutonium Disposal Until 2028
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) indicated Monday it will not start disposal of 34 metric tons of surplus weapon-usable plutonium in South Carolina until 2028 — a date by which the agency could accrue more than $1 billion in financial penalties for failing to remove the material from the South Carolina facility. The semiautonomous […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
MOX Services Sues for $53M in Unpaid Work at Savannah River Plutonium Disposal Plant
The Department of Energy’s contractor for the now-terminated plutonium recycling facility at the Savannah River Site is suing to recoup what it says is nearly $53 million the federal government failed to pay for its work. CB&I AREVA MOX Services added in its May 2 lawsuit that the Energy Department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration […]
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Non-Proliferation
As White House Waffles on New START, Lawmakers File Bills Backing Treaty’s Nuke Limits
Lawmakers over the past week filed a pair of bills to prop up the U.S.-Russian New START arms-control treaty, one of which aims to unite Congress in support of the bilateral pact, the other aiming to bind the U.S. to the treaty’s nuclear weapons limits even if Washington and Moscow do not extend the deal […]
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Budget & Policy
House Appropriators Envision More Energy and Water Funding for 2020
The House of Representatives’ fiscal 2020 Energy and Water appropriations bill that contains the National Nuclear Security Administration’s budget will include about 4% more funding than the enacted 2019 bill did, according to spending limits published this week by the House Appropriations Committee. The total allocation for the 2020 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, […]
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Stockpile Stewardship
Gang of Lawmakers Seeks Answers on JASON Transfer to NNSA
A big, mostly Democratic group of lawmakers from both sides of Capitol Hill wants the Pentagon to explain why it ditched its decades-old consultancy contract with the MITRE Corp.’s JASON group of scientists, a move that prompted the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to step in and fund the contract That is according to a […]
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Non-Proliferation
Thirteen People, Seven Floors Contaminated After Accident During Cesium Irradiator Swap
Thirteen people at a University of Washington research facility were exposed to cesium-137 last week when a contractor attempted to remove a blood irradiator as part of a Department of Energy-funded program. Personnel were removing a cesium irradiator manufactured by J. L. Shepherd and Associates from the premises on May 3 when the workers “nicked […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA Subcritical Plutonium Test Data and Schedule Unaffected by Rad Leak
There are no problems with the data from a recent subcritical plutonium experiment in Nevada, despite the unprecedented breach of the protective steel container in which the explosive test took place, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said. The breach also has not set back the schedule for other planned subcritical tests, despite personnel at […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Centrus Expects Contract for HALEU Cascade in ‘Near Term,’ CEO Says
Centrus Energy Corp. expects to receive a Department of Energy contract to produce an unspecified quantity of energy-dense low-enriched uranium “in the near term,” President and CEO Daniel Poneman said Thursday. “[W]e continue to negotiate with the Department of Energy on the contract to build a high-assay-low-enriched uranium [HALEU] demonstration cascade, utilizing our improved AC-100M […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
Safety Protocol Lapses Result in SRNL Work Suspension
The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) suspended work for two weeks last month after an employee accidentally cut the tip of a glove while handling metal samples that contained tritium, according to a recent report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The employee, a principle investigator, was not injured. But, according to the […]
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Contracts & Procurement
SRNS Ramps Up Hiring to Address Attrition, New Missions
The management and operations contractor for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has hired 900 employees to date in fiscal 2019, part of its efforts to offset workforce attrition and to ramp up current and upcoming missions. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) plans to hire up to 300 more workers before the fiscal year […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Hole in Valve Linked to April Hydrogen Fluoride Leak at Y-12
A hole in a calibration valve caused the hydrogen fluoride leak that prompted the operations contractor of the Y-12 National Security Complex to evacuate the main U.S. uranium processing building in early April, according to a recent report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). “Based on a visual inspection, a hole was identified […]
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
Columbia Program Manager Vows First New Nuke Sub Will Deploy On Time
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program has almost no margin for delays, but the boats will be built and deployed on time, and additional inspections of suppliers will continue, the Navy’s Columbia program manager said here this week. “We really have no margin for the lead [Columbia] ship, as well as every other [Ciolumbia] […]