Vol. 25, No. 26 
‘I Do Not Trust Savannah River’ but ‘We’re Not Going to Kill’ GBSD, House Armed Services Chair Says After Savannah River Pit Review
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Plutonium Pit Production
Enviros Sue to Stop Savannah River Pit Plant Until NNSA Does Another Environmental Review
Environmentalists this week sued to stop the National Nuclear Security Administration from building a plutonium pit plant at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., alleging violation of environmental law. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should have to reopen the environmental record for the planned Savannah River Plutonium Pit Production Facility (SRPPF) and a […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
‘Challenging’ to get 30 Pits a Year at Los Alamos in 2026, Director Says
The proof-of-concept plutonium pit for the next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile warhead is still on the slate for fiscal year 2023, but cranking out 30 copies annually just three years after that will be “challenging,” the director of the world’s first nuclear weapons lab said last week. But “I would rather push to a timeline that […]
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Contracts & Procurement
2nd Bid Protest Filed Over SRS Security Contract Decision
SOC, a Day & Zimmermann company, filed a bid protest June 28 over the Department of Energy’s decision to stand by a February award of a security services contract to Securitas-led SRS Critical Infrastructure Security. It is the second challenge filed by a losing bidder with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over the $1-billion contract awarded at […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
North Wind Nabs $22M Remediation Deal at Knolls Atomic Lab
North Wind Site Services has won a Department of Energy remediation contract, potentially worth $22 million over five years, at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna, N.Y., the agency said this week in a press release. West Virginia-based North Wind Site Services is part of North Wind Group, which in turn is owned by […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Feds Drop Long-running Home Office False Claims Act Case at SRNS
A U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina agreed last week to grant a Department of Justice motion to dismiss a False Claims Act lawsuit filed in 2016 against Fluor and the Fluor-led management contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site over millions of dollars in reimbursement for home office expenses. The one-page […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Centrus Gets NRC Approval for New Enrichment Cascade in Ohio
Centrus Energy got approval in June from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate a 16-machine cascade at DOE’s Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio, that is intended to take uranium to the upper bounds of low-enrichment. Centrus can operate the cascade until May 31, 2022, under the license amendment the commission approved June 11. The Bethesda, Md.-based […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
New Wildfires at Old Nevada Test Areas Mostly Contained Going Into Holiday
More wildfires at the Nevada National Security Site, reported a couple weeks after responders contained the 24,000-acre Cherrywood fire, were “successfully controlled” and about 80% contained at deadline Friday, the site said. In a statement Thursday, the Nevada National Security Site estimated that between 260 acres and 275 acres burned in the western section of […]
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International
UK Nuclear Complex Management Renationalized
The United Kingdom was scheduled to renationalize management of its nuclear weapons production complex this week after almost 30 years of letting industry hold the reins. The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) was to become a wholly-owned arms-length body controlled by the U.K. Ministry of Defence on Thursday, ending 20-plus years of management under the Jacobs-led […]