Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico designs nuclear weapons and serves as the NNSA’s lead site for plutonium pit production. Coverage tracks pit manufacturing milestones, safety and security findings, the laboratory’s management contract, budget requests, and legacy waste cleanup.
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Cleanup & Remediation
Nuclear Industry Veteran Joins Longenecker
Las Vegas-based Longenecker & Associates has hired Brian Bielecki, a longtime manager with experience at Department of Energy sites and the nuclear power industry, as its group vice president for mission assurance. The Energy Department subcontractor announced the addition Monday, the same day Bielecki joined the company. Bielecki, who reports to Senior Vice President for […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
DOE Tells Los Alamos to Fix Old Issues Management Practices Ahead of New Plutonium Mission
Los Alamos National Laboratory management contractor Triad National Security must quickly change the issues-management practices it inherited from its predecessor to prevent problems with plutonium facilities from spiraling out of control and derailing planned production of nuclear-weapon cores starting in 2026, the Energy Department said in a report Monday. The report comes from DOE’s Office […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
Expert Wanted for Deposition in Nevada Plutonium Lawsuit Retired From DOE
A key figure in federal lawsuits involving weapon-usable plutonium moved last year to the Nevada National Security Sitehas retired from the Department of Energy, the agency confirmed this week. Henry Allen Gunter left DOE after a long federal career, a spokesperson for DOE’s Environmental Management Office at Savannah River confirmed in an email Tuesday. The […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Triad Seeks Bids for Pit Waste Treatment
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) expects in October to solicit bids for design and construction of a facility to treat liquid transuranic waste generated by future production of fissile nuclear-weapon cores, called plutonium pits, according to a recent procurement note. Triad National Security, which since November has managed the New Mexico facility for the National Nuclear […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
Congressionally Mandated Study Finds NNSA Pit Plan ‘Potentially Achievable’
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) plan to produce the fissile nuclear-weapon cores known as plutonium pits in two states is “potentially achievable,” according to a new study the agency publicized, but did not release, this week. Congress last year ordered the secretary of defense, in consultation with NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, to commission a […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Energy Department IG Reportedly Looking at Los Alamos Communities Group
The Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General would not confirm or deny this week whether it is investigating a regional organization in New Mexico that advocates for local governments around the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The office does not comment on the existence of any “investigative matters,” the DOE IG’s Felicia Jones said by telephone […]
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Transuranic Waste
Triad to Seek Bids for Pit-Waste Treatment Plant at LANL
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) expects in October to solicit bids for design and construction of a facility to treat liquid transuranic waste generated by future production of fissile nuclear-weapon cores, called plutonium pits, according to a recent procurement note. Triad National Security, which since November has managed the New Mexico facility for the National Nuclear […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Energy Department IG Looking at Los Alamos Communities Group
The Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General would not confirm or deny this week whether it is investigating a regional organization in New Mexico that advocates for local governments around the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The office does not comment on the existence of any “investigative matters,” the DOE IG’s Felicia Jones said by telephone […]
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Transuranic Waste
Reopened Los Alamos Facility Makes First TRU Shipment to WIPP since 2014
The newly reopened Radioactive Assay Nondestructive Testing (RANT) facility at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has made its first shipment of transuranic material to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in nearly five years. Prior to last week, there had been no TRU waste loading at the facility since May 2014. […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Energy Department IG Looking at Los Alamos Communities Group
The Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General would not confirm or deny this week whether it is investigating a regional organization in New Mexico that advocates for local governments around the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The office does not comment on the existence of any “investigative matters,” the DOE IG’s Felicia Jones said by telephone […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Energy Department IG Reportedly Looking at Los Alamos Communities Group
The Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General would not confirm or deny this week whether it is investigating a regional organization in New Mexico that advocates for local governments around the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The office does not comment on the existence of any “investigative matters,” the DOE IG’s Felicia Jones said by telephone […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
Triad to Seek Bids for Pit-Waste Treatment Plant at LANL
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) expects in October to solicit bids for design and construction of a facility to treat liquid transuranic waste generated by future production of fissile nuclear-weapon cores, called plutonium pits, according to a Monday procurement note. Triad National Security, which since November has managed the New Mexico facility for the National Nuclear […]
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Transuranic Waste
Reopened Los Alamos Facility Makes First TRU Shipment to WIPP since 2014
The newly reopened Radioactive Assay Nondestructive Testing (RANT) facility at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has made its first shipment of transuranic material to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in nearly five years. Prior to last week, there had been no TRU waste loading at the facility since May 2014. […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Los Alamos Cleanup Contractor Names New President
Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos has named Glenn Morgan as its new president and program manager overseeing legacy cleanup operations at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Morgan replaces Nick Lombardo, who retired in January, according to N3B. Morgan has been serving as acting program manager since January after joining N3B […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Los Alamos Cleanup Contractor Names New President
Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos has named Glenn Morgan as its new president and program manager overseeing legacy cleanup operations at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Morgan replaces Nick Lombardo, who retired in January, according to N3B. Morgan has been serving as acting program manager since January after joining N3B […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Big Savings Anticipated in ‘End State’ Cleanup Approach, DOE Says
The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management (EM) expects to speed cleanup of its nuclear sites by decades and save “$100s of millions” in life-cycle costs, according to the Donald Trump administration’s fiscal 2020 budget request. The request, issued in March, would trim the DOE nuclear remediation appropriation from $7.2 billion in fiscal 2019 to […]
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Transuranic Waste
Texas Approves Continued Storage of Los Alamos Waste at WCS
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has given its blessing for Waste Control Specialists (WCS) to continue storing transuranic waste from the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory through late December 2020. The commission on March 20 issued an amendment to Waste Control Specialists’ state radioactive materials license allowing it to retain the potentially […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP Marks 20th Anniversary
The Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received its first shipment of defense transuranic waste 20 years ago this week. The Energy Department, WIPP prime contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership, and officials in southeastern New Mexico plan various activities in March and April to mark the 20th anniversary of the inaugural shipment, which […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Wrap Up: Auditor Retained to Look at Hanford Tank Proposals
The Department Energy’s Office of Environmental Management retained a firm to audit proposals for the potential 10-year, $13 billion Tank Closure Contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state. A contract valued at about $415,000 was awarded to Maryland-based CohnReznick, which has done fee-reasonableness audits for DOE in the past. The contract for the proposal […]
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Transuranic Waste
Texas Set to Approve Continued Storage of Problem Los Alamos Waste at WCS
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is poised to give its blessing for Waste Control Specialists (WCS) to continue storing potentially problematic transuranic waste from the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory through late December 2020. The chief clerk for TCEQ is expected this week to issue an amendment to Waste Control Specialists’ state […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Los Alamos Cleanup Contractor Plans Industry Day in April
The legacy cleanup contractor for the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has scheduled an industry day for prospective subcontractors April 10-11 in Santa Fe. Current and future subcontracting opportunities will be the focus of the event planned by Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B). On the slate are mandatory pre-bid meetings […]
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Contracts & Procurement
N3B Awards 1 Los Alamos Subcontract, Issues RFP for Another
The legacy cleanup vendor for the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has awarded a subcontract for a company to tear down an old processing building for radioactive liquid waste and do certain other work at Technical Area 21. Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) said Thursday the contract went to Albuquerque-based […]
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National Laboratories
Labs Face Funding Cuts for DOE Environmental Cleanup
The Department of Energy indicated Monday it intends in the upcoming budget year to cut tens of millions of dollars from environmental remediation funding at some of its national laboratories. As part of the continuing rollout of the Trump administration budget plan for fiscal 2020, the Energy Department released preliminary funding tables for its laboratories. […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
Nevada Site Exec Rejoins LANL, Heads to NNSA HQ to Aid Pit Mission
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) tapped John Benner, who in early March returned to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, to aid the agency with future warhead core production at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The lab subsequently detailed Benner to Washington, where the longtime Los Alamos staffer will work […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
Nevada Site Exec Rejoins LANL, Heads to NNSA HQ to Aid Pit Mission
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) tapped John Benner, who in early March returned to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, to aid the agency with future warhead core production at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The lab subsequently detailed Benner to Washington, where the longtime Los Alamos staffer will work […]
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National Laboratories
DOE Labs Face Funding Cuts for Environmental Cleanup
The Department of Energy indicated Monday it intends in the upcoming budget year to cut tens of millions of dollars from environmental remediation funding at some of its national laboratories. As part of the continuing rollout of the Trump administration budget plan for fiscal 2020, the Energy Department released preliminary funding tables for its laboratories. […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
South Carolina Asks Appeals Judge Not to Block Additional Plutonium Shipments to Nevada
A federal appeals court should throw out Nevada’s request to block further shipments of weapon-usable plutonium to the Nevada National Security Site, since the Department of Energy has already shipped the material there, according to a Friday filing by the state of South Carolina. Nevada is trying to get the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of […]
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Transuranic Waste
DOE Inspector General Criticizes Former Los Alamos Contractor’s Management of Waste Project
The former management and operations contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico failed to fully overcome setbacks in development of a new radioactive waste facility at the site, according to the Energy Department. In a March 1 report, DOE’s Office of Inspector General cited problems Los Alamos National Security faced with an […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
NNSA to Tackle Two-State Pit Complex, MFFF Replacement With Slight Budget Boost in 2020
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plans in fiscal 2020 to begin converting a canceled plutonium disposal facility in South Carolina into a plutonium pit factory while starting work on a replacement disposal facility. At a total of about $2 billion, the agency’s requested 2020 Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation budget “provides significant resources for strategic materials […]
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Transuranic Waste
DOE Inspector General Criticizes Former Los Alamos Contractor’s Management of Waste Project
The former management and operations contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico failed to fully overcome setbacks in development of a new radioactive waste facility at the site, according to the Energy Department. In a March 1 report, DOE’s Office of Inspector General cited problems Los Alamos National Security faced with an […]





