Vol. 27, No. 13 
Labor shortage outlasts COVID, delays nuclear-weapons infrastructure, NNSA administrator says
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
Senators still favor nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missile that was zeroed out in Biden budget
The Biden Administration’s desire to cancel a new lower-yield nuclear submarine-launched cruise missile still doesn’t sit well with the leadership of the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee. Both subcommittee Chair Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and ranking member Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) support a submarine launched cruise missile tipped with a nuke, called SLCM-N, at […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
Centrus may be ready to begin demonstration of uranium-enriching gas centrifuge in May
Centrus plans to introduce uranium hexafluoride into its new high assay, low enriched uranium cascade in Ohio around May 22, according to a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from the company. The commission published the letter online Tuesday. The missive was dated March 23 and was signed by Mathew Snider, enrichment operations plant manager […]
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Non-Proliferation
Belgium converts medical isotope production to low-enriched uranium, removing proliferation opportunity
Belgium can use low-enriched uranium to produce a valuable medical isotope instead of the highly-enriched uranium it used to import from the United States for that purpose, the National Nuclear Security Administration said Tuesday. Converting Belgium’s National Institute of Radioelements medical isotope production to low-enriched uranium was marked as a major nuclear non-proliferations milestone. More […]
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High-Level & Tank Waste
Savannah River transfers first batch of spent uranium from new de-inventory program
After several years of planning, the initial discard of uranium solution from the new Accelerated Basin De-inventory program at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., was successfully transferred to the SRS liquid waste program from the H Canyon Chemical Separations Facility, the Department of Energy said last week. The newly implemented Accelerated Basin De-inventory […]
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Budget & Policy
DNFSB still looking for operations exec, board tells Congress in annual report
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is still looking for a successor to its first executive director of operations, who left in August, the board said in a recent report to Congress. “The board is actively recruiting to fill that vacancy in 2023,” according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s 33rd Annual Report to […]
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National Laboratories
Wrap up: Finger amputation investigation; New PNNL lab director; U.S. stops sharing nuke data with Russia and more
The Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments enforcement office is launching an investigation into the amputation of a worker’s finger at the Savannah River Site on Dec. 1, according to a letter sent to site President and CEO Stuart MacVean. Dated March 23 but posted online on Tuesday, the letter says DoE will investigate […]