Vol. 28, No. 6 
Without DOE cylinders to hold it, Centrus will not deliver required HALEU this year
-
Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Rockfall incidents inside Nevada’s U1a mine draw enforcement attention
Mission Support and Test Services is under investigation for two incidents in the summer of 2023 in which falling rock injured employees at the deep-underground explosive testing facility it is building in Nevada for the National Nuclear Security Administration. The enforcement arm of NNSA’s Office of Enterprise Assessments notified Mission Support and Test Services (MSTS) […]
-
Innovation & Infrastructure
Cost ceiling for minor NNSA projects boosted to $34 million
To account for inflation, the National Nuclear Security Administration has petitioned Congress and been approved to bump up the threshold for minor construction projects to $34 million. That is up from a $30 million threshold set by the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA also provided the NNSA with “pilot authority” to […]
-
Budget & Policy
National security bill with aid for NNSA’s Ukraine efforts clears first hurdle in Senate
The Senate on Thursday cleared a hurdle to vote on a bill that would bolster the National Nuclear Security Administration’s budget for monitoring potential radiological threats in Ukrainian combat zones. Senators on Thursday voted 67-32 to end debate on the bill, clearing the way for a final floor vote that was not scheduled at deadline […]
-
Plutonium Pit Production
Los Alamos glovebox fire sprinklers could cause criticality, safety watchdog says
Los Alamos glovebox fire sprinklers could cause criticality, safety watchdog says Los Alamos National Laboratory is trying to prevent accidental criticalities caused when fires inside gloveboxes trigger a building’s sprinkler system, which might allow water to touch fissile material, according to a federal safety watchdog. In a report dated Jan. 19, the National Nuclear Security […]
-
Contracts & Procurement
Jacobs reports strong first earnings after merger announcement
Earnings rose at Jacobs, Dallas, in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, which the global engineering, procurement and construction company attributed partly to international infrastructure projects. Tuesday’s press release marked the first earnings results from Jacobs since the company’s Nov. 20 announcement of a plan to merge its government contracting and cyber business lines with Virginia-based Amentum. […]
-
Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
STRATCOM may accelerate, increase LRSO buy, commander says
WASHINGTON — U.S. Strategic Command may accelerate and increase its buys of Raytheon-made AGM-181 Long Range Standoff Weapon cruise missiles beyond the 1,087 now planned, commander Gen. Anthony Cotton said here on Feb. 2. Asked if the command was examining those options, given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s posturing about using low-yield nuclear weapons after his […]
-
Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Wrap up: Inert nuclear rocket shows up in Washington State; unauthorized Bluetooth device at Sandia; truck hits pedestrian at LANL and more
Police in Bellevue, Wash., last month got an alarming call from an Air Force Museum in Ohio, alerting them that a town resident had offered to donate a pre-Vietnam unguided nuclear rocket. The department’s bomb squad responded to find the remains of an AIR-2 Genie Rocket, produced until 1962. The unguided air-to-air rocket would have […]