National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Early delivery of equipment for a Savannah River Site (SRS) training facility is helping accelerate preparations for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) plutonium pit production mission, the agency said in a press release. NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Scott Pappano visited SRS in September to review construction of the High-Fidelity Training and Operations Center (HFTOC), […]

Y-12 National Security Complex has powered up two furnaces at its Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) for the first time, marking a milestone in testing equipment intended to support the site’s nuclear security mission. The initial startup of sintering and microwave casting furnaces begins a testing program for the new facility, according to an Oct. 8 […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Pentagon’s Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) have signed an agreement to strengthen information sharing and cooperation on counter-unmanned aircraft systems. The memorandum of understanding establishes a framework for NNSA and JIATF-401 to exchange counter-UAS test data, research and operational insights as the agencies work to address evolving […]

BWXT Technologies (BWXT) sees a potential multibillion-dollar opportunity as the U.S. government rebuilds domestic nuclear-fuel capabilities for national security, including enrichment capacity and production of unobligated uranium, company executives said during a Sept. 29 investor day. The company is currently working under a roughly $1.5 billion National Nuclear Security Administration contract to develop capabilities for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration conducted a “subsurface, non-nuclear chemical high-explosive experiment” at the Nevada National Security Site aimed at improving U.S. detection of low-yield nuclear explosions, the agency said Sept. 30. The experiment was conducted in the P Tunnel in Area 12 at NNSS and involved chemical high explosives and radiotracers, according to the […]

The Department of Energy is preparing a Manhattan Project-era facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex for demolition while recovering equipment that can be reused across dozens of National Nuclear Security Administration facilities. The department’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and NNSA are working with their respective contractors, United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Pentagon’s Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) have signed an agreement to strengthen information sharing and cooperation on counter-unmanned aircraft systems. The memorandum of understanding establishes a framework for NNSA and JIATF-401 to exchange counter-UAS test data, research and operational insights as the agencies work to address evolving […]

V2X has been awarded a position on a $46 million U.S. Air Force delivery order to produce equipment supporting integration of the Long Range Standoff (LRSO) cruise missile onto the B-52 bomber. The Reston, Va.-based company will provide carriage equipment under the Air Force’s Carriage Equipment Production Effort for the LRSO program, according to a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has not established clear criteria for when to use separate contract line items, potentially limiting oversight of major nuclear security projects, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. NNSA spent nearly $24 billion in fiscal 2025 on nine multiyear management and operating contracts that cover the government-owned sites […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is seeking a 29% fiscal 2027 budget increase to accelerate weapons production and new capabilities, and critics are questioning if this would be more money than NNSA can effectively spend. The proposed $32.8 billion NNSA budget would direct much of the increase toward Weapons Activities, which accounts for about 84% […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should use private-sector investment and technology to expand inertial confinement fusion capabilities for nuclear weapons research, according to a Washington Post op-ed published Sept. 17. Abigail Remler, an adviser to the Special Competitive Studies Project, and David Feith, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, argue that NNSA could […]

Congressional Democrats have introduced a resolution seeking to block a U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation agreement, citing concerns about uranium enrichment and limits on international inspections. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), and Don Beyer (D-Va.), introduced the joint resolution […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should use private-sector investment and technology to expand inertial confinement fusion capabilities for nuclear weapons research, according to a Washington Post op-ed published Sept. 17. Abigail Remler, an adviser to the Special Competitive Studies Project, and David Feith, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, argue that NNSA could […]

Savannah River Site is moving beyond its traditional environmental cleanup mission as the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration prepare to expand nuclear-fuel, plutonium and other national-security activities at the South Carolina site. The NNSA took over landlord responsibilities from DOE’s Environmental Management in October 2024. Edwin Deshong, manager of DOE Environmental Management’s […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The biggest challenge for the National Nuclear Security Administration is receiving “stable, predictable, sufficient, timely funding” from Congress, Thomas Ashlock, the agency’s associate administrator for congressional and intergovernmental affairs, said Tuesday. “Everyone would agree that a CR [continuing resolution] is not good,” Ashlock said, referring to a short-term stopgap spending bill that […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has removed all high-risk cesium-137 from Vermont, making it the 15th U.S. state or territory declared free of high-risk quantities of the radioactive material. This follows a July operation in which a team from Idaho National Laboratory removed a self-shielded cesium irradiator from the University of Vermont in Burlington […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recovered about $1.4 billion in indirect costs in fiscal 2024 from work it performed for outside partners, helping offset the costs of maintaining facilities and infrastructure, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). NNSA’s eight contractor-operated laboratories, plants and sites conducted nearly $15 billion in Strategic Partnership Projects (SPP) […]

The South Carolina Environmental Law Project (SCELP) is demanding the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) conduct a public environmental review of plans to provide 19.7 metric tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium to private nuclear companies. SCELP published the letter of demand Sept. 8 on behalf of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has approved the next major phase for modernizing the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), allowing the project to advance into design for replacing aging accelerator systems. NNSA said in a Wednesday press release it approved Critical Decision 1 (CD-1) – meaning it gave the green light to proceed […]

BWX Technologies has received a contract from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to develop a conceptual design for the first module of a new Lithium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.  The first phase of the award is a four-month, $4 million contract that covers the conceptual design […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has approved the next major phase for modernizing the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), allowing the project to advance into design for replacing aging accelerator systems. NNSA said in a Wednesday press release it approved Critical Decision 1 (CD-1) – meaning it gave the green light to proceed from […]

BWX Technologies has received a contract from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to develop a conceptual design for the first module of a new Lithium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The first phase of the award is a four-month, $4 million contract that covers the conceptual design […]

Nearly a year into his tenure leading the National Nuclear Security Administration, Brandon Williams says some of his most difficult decisions have involved challenging the way the agency has traditionally done business. “The hardest decisions are that we’re not going to do business as usual,” Williams told Exchange Monitor in an exclusive interview in August. […]

Michael Mikolanis, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Savannah River Field Office, will move back to Los Alamos in September to lead the agency’s field office there, local publication Aiken Standard reported. Mikolanis will succeed Ted Wyka, who retired in June after five years as manager of the NNSA Los Alamos Field Office, according […]

The Department of Energy’s national laboratories as well as the National Nuclear Security Administration have made use of uranium oxide produced by conversion plants at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky. That was one of the takeaways from an Aug. 20 meeting of the Paducah Citizens Advisory Board, according to […]

Parsons has secured two task orders from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)  to design and deploy counter-nuclear smuggling systems across the Middle East and Africa. The Middle East Region 3 and Africa Region 2 task orders cover counter-nuclear smuggling initiatives in 25 countries, according to an Aug. 27 company announcement. NNSA is a semiautonomous […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and Defense Threat Reduction Agency removed a disused cobalt-60 source from Guatemala, transporting the material to secured storage in the United States. The operation, which started in May, involved the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory and Guatemalan officials from the National Centre of Radioactive Wastes and Ministry of […]

The Department of Energy’s national laboratories as well as the National Nuclear Security Administration have made use of uranium oxide produced by conversion plants at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky. That was one of the takeaways from an Aug. 20 meeting of the Paducah Citizens Advisory Board, according to […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plans to install two new ammunition storage magazines at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Outdoor Live Fire Range, replacing existing structures that no longer meet current security requirements. The project, detailed in an August floodplain assessment released by the Department of Energy, would take place at Technical Area 72, where […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and Defense Threat Reduction Agency removed a disused cobalt-60 source from Guatemala, transporting the material to secured storage in the United States. The operation, which started in May, involved the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory and Guatemalan officials from the National Centre of Radioactive Wastes and Ministry of […]