Vol. 26, No. 24 
House, Senate split on killing B83 and SLCM-N
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Plutonium Pit Production
Congress should ‘move forward’ with NNSA’s plan for plutonium pits, Armed Services chair says
The National Nuclear Security Administration has not won Rep. Adam Smith’s (D-Wash.) unconditional trust, but it has convinced him to authorize the agency’s plan to produce plutonium pits in two states, the House Armed Services chair told reporters Wednesday. “Yes, I believe we are going to move forward with what the NNSA [National Nuclear Security […]
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Budget & Policy
House approps releases first draft of FY23 defense budget; SLCM-N out
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee was set to mark up the first draft of the Pentagon’s fiscal 2023 budget on Wednesday, and the bill contains no funding for the nuclear-tipped Sea Launched Cruise Missile, according to a summary the subcommittee released Tuesday morning. The legislation, telegraphed in March by the recommendation in President Joe Biden’s […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Three weapons uranium systems at Y-12 delayed along with Uranium Processing Facility
Three uranium processing systems for nuclear weapons at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., will be delayed for six months or more, a federal nuclear safety agency reported last week. Y-12’s electrorefining and direct chip melt front-loading furnace projects each will be delayed six months, according to a recent report by the […]
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National Laboratories
Los Alamos ending on-site COVID-19 testing
Los Alamos National Laboratory will end on-site COVID-19 testing in July and shift most of the responsibility for preventing the spread of the disease on site to employees, according to a memo from lab director Thomas Mason. “Although regional case rates are expected to decrease over the next several weeks, public health experts predict COVID-19 […]
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National Laboratories
Oak Ridge Laboratory workers agree to settle vaccination case
Oak Ridge Laboratory workers settle vaccination case in federal court Six employees at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have settled their lawsuit contesting the COVID-19 vaccination policy implemented by prime contractor UT-Battelle, according to documents filed in federal court this week. U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley Jr. officially closed the […]
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National Laboratories
GAO finds that Los Alamos safety culture ‘needs improvement,’ according to NNSA
Triad National Security has made the Los Alamos National Laboratory a little safer since taking over as the prime contractor in 2018, but the National Nuclear Security Administration believes there is more work to do, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. Since taking the reins from Los Alamos National Security — removed eight […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
South Carolina divvies up plutonium settlement money
State lawmakers in South Carolina this week to approved distribution of $525 million from a federal settlement the state won in 2020 after the Department of Energy failed to meet deadlines for removing plutonium from the Savannah River Site. The bicameral state legislature’s House and Senate ratified a budget bill apportioning the money from the […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Round up: heroics at SRS; hate at Y-12; BWXT buys ship-parts maker
A Savannah River Nuclear Solutions employee got an award from the company for pulling a small child out of a busy road in November, the company wrote in a press release. Sarah Prosser found the toddler wandering down “a busy four-lane highway) on Nov. 30, 2021, according to the release from the Department of Energy’s […]