Vol. 24, No. 26 
NNSA Pushing Consolidated Nuclear Security Out at Pantex, Y-12
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
GAO Asks If Cost-Savings Methods at Pantex/Y-12 Could Work at Other NNSA Sites
A day after the National Nuclear Security Administration announced it would not pick up the remaining options on the existing management deal for its Y-12 and Pantex sites, the Government Accountability Office on Wednesday urged the agency to study whether the outgoing contractor’s cost-saving methods could work at other nuclear-weapon sites. Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) […]
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Budget & Policy
House Armed Services Will Authorize NNSA’s Requested Budget
After a truncated hearing season filled with furrowed brows, skepticism, and hawkish posturing about unspent appropriations, the House Armed Services Committee is authorizing even more funding than the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) requested for fiscal year 2021 — and they’re not even cutting a submarine from the Navy to do it. Committee staff made […]
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Budget & Policy
Pentagon Would Get More Control of NNSA Budget Under Senate Committee’s NDAA
The Department of Defense would get more control over the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons budget under the Senate version of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) unveiled this week. The Senate Armed Services Committee filed the text of the bill, which sets funding limits and policy for defense programs, late Tuesday evening. […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA Revises COVID-19 Tally, With 32 Active Cases This Week
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was tracking fewer active cases of COVID-19 across the civilian nuclear weapons complex this week, but the agency revised its tally to exclude Department of Energy employees in other branches. That cut 26 cases out of the agency’s weekly tally, which the NNSA has shared with Nuclear Security & […]
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Budget & Policy
Dem Lawmakers Want to Prohibit Use of 2021 Approps to Prep for Nuke Tests
Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) said Tuesday she wants the next Department of Energy budget bill to prohibit spending that contributes in any way to nuclear-explosive tests. Titus made the request during the House Appropriations Committee’s annual member day hearing, which gives congresspeople a few minutes to publicly discuss measures they want in the various spending bills […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Senate Armed Services Endorses Two DNFSB Nominations
The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday reported out two nominations to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) via voice vote. The nominations of serving DNFSB member Joyce Connery and new nominee Thomas Summers now advance to the full Senate, which had not scheduled a floor vote at deadline Friday for Nuclear Security & […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Final RFP Released for Savannah River Laboratory
The Department of Energy on Friday issued the final request for proposals (RFP) for a stand-alone management contract for the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. The laboratory contract is expected to be worth $380 million per year, or potentially $3.8 billion over 10 years. The agreement carries a five-year base period and an […]
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National Laboratories
New Mexico Cites ‘Widespread’ Contamination Problem at Road Near Los Alamos Lab
Radioactive contamination is more widespread than first thought along a road outside the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). The area is part of a tract of land, which includes the site of a planned housing development, transferred from LANL to Los Alamos County […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Centerra Yanks GAO Protest Stemming From SRS Procurement
Centerra Group, the incumbent provider of paramilitary security at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, has withdrawn a Government Accountability Office (GAO) protest over procurement of a follow-on contract. Centerra filed the protest May 8, but then withdrew it on June 9, according to a notice posted on the GAO website. The […]
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Reactor Licensing & Regulation
NRC Dings International Isotopes for Failures Connected to Seattle Contamination Event
International Isotopes’ failure to adequately address the 2018 breach of a radioactive source at its Idaho headquarters contributed to a similar, larger event months later in Seattle, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Following a routine inspection earlier this year, the agency on Monday cited the Idaho Falls-based nuclear medicine company with apparent individual violations […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
NRC Reviewing Centrus License Application to Produce 19.75% Enriched Uranium Fuel
Like death and taxes, the federal regulatory process continues amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by Centrus Energy’s submission of a license application to enrich a 19.75% enriched uranium fuel. The review should be finished by June 2, 2021, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). That is almost a year sooner than the deadline […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Y-12 Workers Ratify New Five-Year Labor Contract
The labor group representing some 1,450 workers at the Department of Energy’s Y-12 National Security Complex last week struck a new five-year labor deal with the Tennessee site’s Bechtel National-led manager. Members of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council (ATLC), an umbrella organization representing upward of 20 unions, ratified the agreement June 18. The previous […]
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National Laboratories
Lack of Notice About Off-Site Waste Shipments Costs Los Alamos Lab $300k
The Los Alamos National Laboratory got whacked with some $300,000 in fines this month for failing to notify the New Mexico state government about eight off-site waste shipments in 2017 and 2018. The eight shipments, comprising 18 containers, happened while contractor Los Alamos National Security was still in charge of the northern New Mexico nuclear-weapon lab. […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA Taps Green Bay Company for 20th Anniversary Souvenirs
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) ordered 2,000 custom lapel pins at a cost of about $5.45 each from Medalcraft Mint, of Green Bay, Wis., to mark the agency’s 20th anniversary. The NNSA did not specify, in its award to Medalcraft Mint, the people to whom it plans to distribute the pins. There are enough […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Publication Notice
The next issue of Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor will be published on Thursday, July 2, in observance of the Independence Day holiday.