Vol. 27, No. 36 
Air Force aims for F-35 nuclear certification in January, but jets won’t be ready then
-
Budget & Policy
Just in case, DOE dusts off government shutdown plan
With no stopgap funding plan imminent and a Sept. 30 deadline looming, the Department of Energy and other feds are reacquainting themselves with contingency plans to carry out in case of a government shutdown. At the Exchange Monitor deadline, House Republicans, still arguing amongst themselves over what should go into a continuing budget resolution to […]
-
Contracts & Procurement
Possible suitors for Pantex M&O pact emerge
Jacobs Solutions, Huntington Ingalls, BWX Technologies and others are among those seeking the National Nuclear Security Administration’s decade-spanning, $30-billion contract to manage the agency’s nuclear-weapons service center in Texas. Pantex and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., are currently managed for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) by Consolidated Nuclear Security, a […]
-
Budget & Policy
Congress to reconcile sharp differences over 2024 defense policy bill
The annual must-pass defense policy bill that sets spending limits for Department of Energy nuclear weapons programs is headed for its final debate in Congress after the House on Tuesday voted for a conference with the Senate. At a high level, the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate this year crafted wildly different versions of […]
-
Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Pentagon extends X-energy contract for portable military micro-reactor another year
The Defense Department extended an existing contract with X-energy Reactor Company under the military’s Project Pele initiative to develop a transportable, cost-effective advanced nuclear microreactor prototype for use in remote military locations. X-energy expects to advance the design of its prototype – which could ultimately be used for commercial or industrial use in civilian applications […]
-
Cleanup & Remediation
DOE to investigate tree clearing death at Oak Ridge
The Department of Energy’s enforcement arm has told two contractors it will investigate a fatal tree clearing accident in August near the Central Training Facility at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. In a pair of Sept. 8 letters, the Office of Enforcement within DOE’s Office of Enterprise Assessments informed East Tennessee Mechanical Contractors and […]
-
Contracts & Procurement
Meeting about Pantex construction contract moved off site
Consolidated Nuclear Security moved a meeting for potential bidders on a construction contract for the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, to a nearby college from the nuclear-weapons maintenance site, the contractor wrote in an online notice. “[D]ue to the number of requests we have moved the venue off site to prevent issues with badging,” the […]
-
National Laboratories
Wrap up: Lockheed rockets; tritium at Watts Bar; LANL physicist passes away and more
Lockheed Martin wants to build solid rocket motors to compete with the military’s two current main suppliers, Northrop Grumman’s Orbital ATK and L3Harris’ Aerojet Rocketdyne. “We are endeavoring as a defense company to create another supplier,” James Taiclet, the president of Lockheed Martin, testified at a Sept. 20 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s […]