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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Transuranic Waste
EM contractors at WIPP, Los Alamos earn most of ’24 fee
Both the prime for the Department of Energy’s transuranic waste disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., and the legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory received good reviews from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management for fiscal 2024. The Huntington Ingalls Industries-led cleanup contractor, Newport News Nuclear BWXT (N3B)-Los Alamos, earned 82% of its subjective […]
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Transuranic Waste
Feds, contractors, others still face 2024 to-do lists
Before government types and contractors around the Department of Energy complex clear out for the winter holidays, many still have items to check off their 2024 to-do lists. Here are a few: Dec. 19: Was the deadline for responses to an Office of Environmental Management request for information on Deactivation and Remediation work at the […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: DOE seeks comment on ETEC cleanup; Lujan bill urges more lab tech; New bosses appointed
The Department of Energy is seeking public comment between now and Feb. 17 on soil cleanup at the Energy Technology Engineering Center site inside the Santa Susana Field Laboratory property in Simi Valley. DOE said Dec. 19 it is publishing a notice of intent to prepare a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and is holding a […]
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Transuranic Waste
EM contractors at WIPP, Los Alamos earn most of ’24 fee
Both the prime for the Department of Energy’s transuranic waste disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., and the legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory received good reviews from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management for fiscal 2024. The Huntington Ingalls Industries-led cleanup contractor, Newport News Nuclear BWXT (N3B)-Los Alamos, earned 82% of its subjective […]
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Transuranic Waste
Feds, contractors, others still face 2024 to-do lists
Before government types and contractors around the Department of Energy complex clear out for the winter holidays, many still have items to check off their 2024 to-do lists. Here are a few: Dec. 19: Is the deadline for responses to an Office of Environmental Management request for information on Deactivation and Remediation work at the […]
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Contracts & Procurement
N3B has final two-year option picked up at Los Alamos
The Department of Energy’s legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is having its final two-year option picked up by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, the Huntington Ingalls Industries-led venture said Thursday. Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) said in a press release DOE is picking up its second and […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Wrap up: EnergySolutions looks at reactors; Locals discuss LANL monument; Fluor CFO to retire; more;
EnergySolutions, Salt Lake City, will consider putting nuclear reactors under development at Terrestrial Energy, a Charlotte, N.C., on some of the Utah-based company’s sites, the companies said Wednesday. In a joint press release, the companies said they signed a memorandum of understanding “to collaborate on the siting and deployment of Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) […]
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Budget & Policy
Enviro liability, pits, cyber atop OIG concerns for DOE
The Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex has entered fiscal 2025 facing more than a half-trillion dollars in environmental liability, the rising threat of cyber-attack and the need to revive plutonium pit production. Those are a few takeaways in a DOE Office of Inspector General (OIG) management challenges report about the department’s Office of Environmental […]
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Transuranic Waste
NRC clears Waste Control Specialists to keep federal transuranic waste
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this month gave the formal go-ahead for stranded transuranic waste from the Los Alamos Laboratory to remain in commercial storage for another two years. NRC cleared Waste Control Specialists to hold on to the waste until Dec. 31, 2026, according to a letter dated Nov. 22 and posted online by the commission […]
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National Laboratories
Santa Fe commissioners met with coalition opposed to LANL powerline
Santa Fe County commissioners met this week with a coalition for the Caja del Rio plateau that has proposed making the plateau near the Los Alamos National Laboratory a monument, one of them said Wednesday. Commissioner Anna Hansen told the Monitor about Wednesday’s meeting in an email the week after the local Santa Fe New […]
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National Laboratories
Santa Fe commissioners to meet with coalition opposed to LANL powerline
Santa Fe County commissioners were scheduled to meet Wednesday with a coalition for the Caja del Rio plateau to discuss making the plateau near the Los Alamos National Laboratory a monument, one of them said Tuesday. Commissioner Anna Hansen told the Monitor about Wednesday’s scheduled meeting in an email the week after the local Santa […]
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Transuranic Waste
NRC clears Waste Control Specialists to keep federal transuranic waste
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this month gave the formal go-ahead for stranded transuranic waste from the Los Alamos Laboratory to remain in commercial storage for another two years. NRC cleared Waste Control Specialists to hold on to the waste until Dec. 31, 2026, according to a letter dated Nov. 22 and posted online by the […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
NNSA refutes anti’s amicus brief, says agency looked at environmental effect of Los Alamos pits
The National Nuclear Security Administration, in asking a court to deny an activist’s amicus brief in an ongoing lawsuit, said it conducted a review of producing warhead cores in New Mexico. At the end of October, Greg Mello, executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group in Albuquerque, N.M., filed a proposed amicus brief saying […]
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National Laboratories
LANL transmission line ‘necessary,’ lab field office manager writes
The Los Alamos National Laboratory looked at ‘every possible alternative’ for building a powerline through Caja del Rio Plateau, the lab’s top federal manager wrote in a local newspaper over the weekend. “After years of study, debate and consultation that included the brightest minds at one of the world’s premier science and engineering laboratories, we […]
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National Laboratories
LANL transmission line ‘necessary,’ lab field office manager writes
The Los Alamos National Laboratory looked at ‘every possible alternative’ for building a powerline through Caja del Rio Plateau, the lab’s top federal manager wrote in a local newspaper over the weekend. “After years of study, debate and consultation that included the brightest minds at one of the world’s premier science and engineering laboratories, we […]
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National Laboratories
DNFSB announced new LANL resident inspector
Jason Kemp will take over as resident inspector at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M., the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board announced Monday. According to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) press release, Kemp’s duties as resident inspector would include advising on safety conditions for the defense nuclear facilities at Los Alamos, […]
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National Laboratories
LANL transmission line ‘necessary,’ lab field office manager writes
The Los Alamos National Laboratory looked at ‘every possible alternative’ for building a powerline through Caja del Rio Plateau, the lab’s top federal manager wrote in a local newspaper over the weekend. “After years of study, debate and consultation that included the brightest minds at one of the world’s premier science and engineering laboratories, we […]
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National Laboratories
DNFSB announced new LANL resident inspector
Jason Kemp will take over as resident inspector at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M., the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board announced Monday. According to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) press release, Kemp’s duties as resident inspector would include advising on safety conditions for the defense nuclear facilities at Los Alamos, […]
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Transuranic Waste
Los Alamos transuranic waste okay for two more years in commercial storage, NRC says
There would be no significant environmental impact from keeping long-stranded transuranic waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory at Waste Control Specialists’ disposal facility in Texas for another two years, the There Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday. The commission published its formal finding of no significant impact in the Federal Register about five months after Waste Control Specialists […]
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Transuranic Waste
DOE, WIPP prime prepare release legacy waste document
The Department of Energy and its prime contractor for it transuranic waste disposal site near Carlsbad, N.M., will release a report soon to help define what constitutes legacy transuranic waste, site managers said last week at a public meeting. The legacy waste disposal plan for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) should be out around […]
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National Laboratories
Protesters reportedly marched against LANL powerline project Oct. 25
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 […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE’s resumes suspended chromium plume work
The Department of Energy’s cleanup office has resumed its efforts to control a longstanding hexavalent chromium plume at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, local managers said last week. Partial resumption of what DOE calls its “interim measure” started Sept. 30 with up to to 3 injection wells and 3 extraction wells, Jessica […]
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Transuranic Waste
Los Alamos transuranic waste okay for two more years in commercial storage, NRC says
There would be no significant environmental impact from keeping long-stranded transuranic waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory at Waste Control Specialists’ disposal facility in Texas for another two years, the There Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday. The commission published its formal finding of no significant impact in the Federal Register about five months after […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE’s resumes suspended chromium plume work
The Department of Energy’s cleanup office has resumed its efforts to control a longstanding hexavalent chromium plume at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, local managers said last week. Partial resumption of what DOE calls its “interim measure” started Sept. 30 with up to to 3 injection wells and 3 extraction wells, Jessica […]
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National Laboratories
Protesters reportedly marched against LANL powerline project Friday
Community members from Santa Fe, N.M., marched Friday 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 (NNSA) […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Santa Fe commissioners call for alternatives to LANL power line placement over Pueblo land
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 […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Judge won’t reinstate Iranian-born professor who allegedly gave Iranian student access to NNSA code
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. […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Judge won’t reinstate Iranian-born professor who allegedly gave Iranian student access to NNSA code
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. […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
NNSA “diamond-stamped” first plutonium pit for W87-1 warhead
The National Nuclear Security Administration on Tuesday finished its First Production Unit of a plutonium pit for the planned W87-1 warhead, an agency press release said. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) verified, or “diamond stamped,” the pit, the fissile core of a warhead first stage, after it met the requirements for readiness to be […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Unexplained lane departure was cause of fatal crash that killed former LANL director, police say
A woman driving westbound on the main thoroughfare through Los Alamos left her lane and ran head-on into an SUV driven by Charles McMillan, killing him, the Los Alamos Police Department said. Charles McMillan, 69, was the only person to die in the crash in Los Alamos, N.M. Sept. 6. His wife Janet McMillan, and […]








