Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Community members from Santa Fe, N.M., marched Oct. 25 to protest a project by Los Alamos National Laboratory that would build a power line through the Caja del Rio Plateau, local media reported. Pueblo tribe members and other community members walked through Santa Fe, from the County Administration Building to the National Nuclear Security Administration […]

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday said it indefinitely reopened a public comment period on the Department of Energy’s July request to expand the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. “A request for an extension to the comment period was received from several stakeholders, most recently at the Agency’s informal public meetings held in […]

State and federal agencies plan a public meeting this week to discuss cleanup plans for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. A cleanup strategy favored by DOE and the other agencies would cost more than $70 million and involve complete removal of the prototype intended to eliminate long-term environmental […]

Third-quarter earnings fell slightly at Honeywell, Charlotte, N.C., the company, which is involved with management of several defense-nuclear sites, reported this week.  Net earnings for the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, were roughly $1.4 billion, or $2.16 a share, down from about $1.5 billion, or $2.27 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Latvia has made “clear improvements” to its nuclear and radiation safety, according to an agency press release last week. The government of Latvia requested that the Integrated Regulatory Review Service, which includes IAEA staff members, review the regulatory framework by the country’s Radiation Safety Centre of State Environmental Service […]

A judge this week gave parties involved in a three-year lawsuit against the Department of Energy another 12 days to reach a compromise over environmental review of the agency’s plutonium pit program, court papers show.  The new due date for a joint proposal by both parties is Nov. 4, according to a filing in the […]

Larry Cutlip, Centrus Energy Corp.’s senior vice president of field operations, last week said he would retire from the company in July, according to a Friday regulatory filing. Cutlip gave his notice on Oct. 16, according to a form 8-K Centrus, Bethesda, Md., filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cutlip “will retire his position […]

A delegation from the National Nuclear Security Administration visited the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization’s Lucas Heights campus in Sydney last week, the Australian agency’s press release said Monday. The visit followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries during the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency’s International Conference on […]

“Funding needs to happen” for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the State Department’s undersecretary for arms control said Tuesday at a think-tank event about nuclear power. “People hear the word energy, I mean nuclear, and they kind of run. A lot of people run for the hills,” Bonnie Jenkins, the undersecretary of state for arms […]

Jeff Allison’s retirement from his deputy manager position at Savannah River Field Office was announced Tuesday at the South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council meeting. A spokesperson from the Savannah River Field Office told the Monitor that Allison will retire at the end of the calendar year. Allison has served as the deputy manager since January […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) and its parent company Bechtel National donated money with aims to support victims of damage from Hurricane Helene in Tennessee, according to a press release by CNS. CNS, the management and operating contractor for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is donating $10,000 to East Tennessee Foundation’s Neighbor […]

The Department of Energy’s $900-million solicitation for proposals to deploy small light-water reactors includes an “opportunity” for nuclear security aid that, the agency said, could make the reactors more exportable. DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations dropped the long-expected solicitation on Thursday, offering domestic teams of power consumers, utilities, reactor designers and construction contractors a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions appointed James Dawkins as chief operations officer and executive vice president, according to Dawkins’ LinkedIn profile Saturday. In Dawkins’ new dual role, he will oversee the management and operations of National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) related programs at Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., according […]

The Government Accountability Office found ‘no basis’ to object to the Department of Energy’s approach to evaluating contenders for its National Training Center contract, according to its public decision on the incumbent’s bid protest. On Oct. 9, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied two protests by the Albuquerque, N.M.-based National Training Center’s incumbent, Kupono Government […]

James Peery, who has a tenure of over 30 years at National Nuclear Security Administration laboratories, announced his retirement last week, Sandia National Laboratories confirmed to the Monitor Tuesday. Peery served as lab director for Sandia National Laboratories from January 2020 to present, according to his bio on Sandia’s website. A spokesperson for Sandia told […]

This Friday, Oct. 18, will mark the end of the official term for Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chair Joyce Connery, but Connery will stay on longer to prevent the panel from losing a quorum, a spokesperson said Wednesday. A “quorum saving provision” in Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) rules allows Connery to stay […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Tuesday published a vision for the U.S. nuclear-weapons production complex that could exist in the decades when the last nuclear-arms-control treaty lapses and China finishes a major military modernization. The fruit of a year of work, the 40-page Enterprise Blueprint published Tuesday, and provided to the Exchange Monitor under […]

The Savannah River Site is hitting its self-imposed milestone to complete 60% of the design of the site’s plutonium pit facility, construction on which could start by December 2025, the head of the site’s prime contractor said Tuesday in a public meeting. “You’re talking somewhere between August and December of ‘25 is where I see […]

The story “NNSA, antis, get more time to negotiate agreement after agency loses pit lawsuit” [Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, Vol. 28 No. 39], should have said that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims said that “parties’ discussion and proposal should take into consideration Plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief.” The story should also have said […]

Commissioners from Santa Fe County, N.M., objected Tuesday to a project by Los Alamos National Laboratory that would build a power line through the Caja del Rio Plateau. In a letter from Santa Fe County commissioners to Ted Wyka, manager at Los Alamos Field Office, and Michiko Martin, regional forester at the U.S. Department of […]

The H Canyon Chemical Separations Facility at Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., began dissolving nuclear material from a Japanese research reactor, according to an agency press release. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency sent plutonium fuel, or Fast Critical Assembly fuel, from the reactor to the Savannah River Site. The Japanese agency also sent funding. […]

A federal judge last week did not reinstate an Iranian-born ex-professor to the University of Toledo in Ohio after the former faculty member sued the university on multiple counts of discrimination. Judge Jeffrey Helmick in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, western division, dismissed all of the plaintiff’s claims on Sept. […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s office of radiological security hosted a workshop in Thessaloniki, Greece, to showcase technologies aimed at reducing terrorism risks, the agency said Friday. Representatives and regulators from Algeria, Greece and Italy attended the workshop on Sept. 17-18 to listen to and network with experts from the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) […]

As part of a review of its new responsibilities under a bill passed this year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission might create a new branch focused on exports, or it might not, the agency’s head told media Tuesday. “We may do that, but that’s a discussion that we’re still taking a look at,” Christopher Hanson, chair […]

Andrii Korotkyi, head of security at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, was killed in a car explosion, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general Monday. “Any targeting of employees of nuclear power plants would constitute a blatant violation of this pillar fundamental for overall nuclear safety and security,” International Atomic […]

A judge Monday granted an extension for parties involved in a three year-old lawsuit against the Department of Energy to reach a compromise, a court document shows. The new due date for a joint proposal by both parties is Oct. 25, according to a filing in the case. Judge Mary Lewis last week ruled that […]

Savannah River Site returned to its normal operations Monday after the site was limited to essential personnel in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, a spokesperson told the ExchangeMonitor. “Phased resumption of workers returning back to the site began [in the] middle of last week,” the spokesperson told the Monitor in an email. “During the storm itself and immediate […]