National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

A COVID-19 scare that shut down construction of the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina for about two weeks, with work resuming in mid-April, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Tuesday. “On April 6, an SPD [Surplus Plutonium Disposition] construction worker called in sick. In an abundance of […]

It will take a couple more weeks than earlier thought to certify it is time to begin constructing a new calciner in Building 9212 of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee: the U.S. defense-uranium hub that manufactures the secondary stages for nuclear weapons. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) “anticipates approval of the Y-12 […]

Federal contractors would get leniency for missing deliverables because of their COVID-19 response plans, and prime contractors would be in line for quicker payments, under a Democratic-authored relief bill slated for a vote Friday in the House of Representatives – and which President Donald Trump has said he would veto. The Senate’s Republican leadership also […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) order of 225,000 Chinese-made personal respirator masks will arrive, at the soonest, weeks later than hoped. The semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapon agency ordered the masks from suburban-Atlanta-area small business American Dream Builders on April 27 and had hoped for delivery by this past Monday, May 11. But on […]

It will take a couple more weeks than earlier thought to certify it is time to begin constructing a new calciner in Building 9212 of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee: the U.S. defense-uranium hub that manufactures the secondary stages for nuclear weapons. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) “anticipates approval of the Y-12 […]

Jan Carlin has stepped down as managing director of the Waste Management Symposia (WMS), the nonprofit organizer of the annual conference in Phoenix for the nuclear cleanup and waste management industries. Carlin, a nuclear business consultant, started on the job in September 2017 and had only intended to remain for two years, but stayed on […]

Federal contractors would get leniency for missing deliverables because of their COVID-19 response plans, and prime contractors would be in line for quicker payments, under a Democratic Party-authored relief bill that debuted Tuesday in the House of Representatives – and was flatly rejected by the Senate’s Republican leadership. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency […]

The COVID-19 scare that shut down construction of the Surplus Plutonium Disposition project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina lasted about two weeks, with work resuming in mid-April, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Tuesday evening. “On April 6, an SPD [Surplus Plutonium Disposition] construction worker called in sick.  In an abundance […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is set today to begin testing its own employees for COVID-19, a spokesperson for the Department of Energy facility in northern New Mexico confirmed Monday. The local Los Alamos Reporter broke the news Monday. Los Alamos is the second National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) nuclear weapons lab to begin testing. […]

The COVID-19 pandemic in April halted construction on the Savannah River Site’s Surplus Plutonium Disposition Project: the replacement for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility that will help the U.S. government dispose of 34 metric tons of weapon-usable plutonium. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) called a stop-work on the project in the second week […]

Experiments resumed at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California in late April, following a COVID-19 shutdown, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said late Friday. The high-powered laser facility’s MShock series of tests resumed with a shot on April 26, followed by more shots that week, the semiautonomous Department […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) tracked five new cases of COVID-19 across its national workforce this week, raising the cumulative total since the outbreak started to 70. However, after accounting for recoveries, the count of active confirmed cases across the enterprise was down to 25, agency headquarters in Washington said Friday. The respiratory disease had […]

While some program delays are “inevitable” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has done an adequate job of sustaining its nuclear-weapon work while minimizing the spread of disease among its workforce, the House’s top GOP military policy maker said Thursday. “There has been some criticism at NNSA, just like in […]

The White House this week shoveled more than 30 nominations to the newly returned Senate, including two for positions on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.  Former Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chair Joyce Connery was nominated to serve a term ending Oct. 18, 2024, while Thomas Summers, former vice commander of the 91st […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has decided it will not further extend the public comment period for an environmental review of the planned pit production plant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Last month, at the request of constituents organized by the Santa Fe advocacy organization Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Sens. Tom […]

The Donald Trump administration this week nominated Marshall Billingslea, the former Treasury Department antiterrorism official nominally in charge of nuclear arms control negotiations, as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. Billingslea, as special presidential envoy for arms control, is already the point person for the White House’s more-or-nothing attempt to secure a […]

A panel of federal appeals judges this week appeared split about whether the law allows the Department of Energy to pay South Carolina $200 million for warehousing tons of plutonium at the Savannah River Site since 2016. The Energy Department does not deny that it would be on the hook for those fines  — written […]

Contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security dodged more than $1 million in fines from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for criticality safety violations in 2017 and 2018 at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. At issue were accumulations of fissile material in processing equipment housed in Building 9212, the Cold War-era uranium processing facility at […]

The Energy Department’s Carlsbad Field Office should update the technical review process for sites that ship transuranic material to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, according to a new interim federal report. The DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) said April 29 it wants the Carlsbad Field Office to carry out technical reviews […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has decided it will not further extend the public comment period for an environmental review of the planned pit production plant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Last month, at the request of constituents organized by the Santa Fe advocacy organization Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Sens. […]

The Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico temporarily closed parts of the MESA complex where it produces radiation-hardened microelectronics for nuclear weapons after someone working there tested positive for COVID-19. However, the labs network said it planned to reopen Buildings 858N and 858EF on Thursday morning, after shutting them down for deep cleaning. Sandia is […]

The two senators who ordered a report about the Donald Trump administration’s attempts to sell nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia said this week they would consider changing the law to mandate more transparency from the White House about such efforts. In a joint statement Monday, Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said […]

Centrus Energy CEO Daniel Poneman will receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star from the Japanese government for his work as deputy energy secretary during the Barack Obama administration. Japan will recognize Poneman for “his contributions towards enhancing the relationship between Japan and the United States of America in the energy sector,” […]

The White House on Monday shoveled 30 nominations to the newly returned Senate, including two for positions on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Former DNFSB Chair Joyce Connery was nominated to serve a term ending Oct. 18, 2024, while Thomas Summers, former vice commander of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force […]

The Donald Trump administration on Monday nominated Marshall Billingslea, the former Treasury Department antiterrorism official nominally in charge of nuclear arms control negotiations, as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. Billingslea, as special presidential envoy for arms control, is already the point person for the White House’s more-or-nothing attempt to secure a […]

Attorneys for South Carolina and the Department of Energy are set to argue tomorrow before a panel of appeals judges about whether a lower court erred in not forcing the agency to pay the state hundreds of millions of dollars for storage of weapon-usable plutonium. Legal counsel were to argue over the telephone in the […]

The Senate returns to Capitol Hill today, and the Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled a hearing Thursday to consider the nominations of three Pentagon officials. Ambassador to Norway Kenneth Braithwaite has been nominated to become the next Navy secretary, Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Charles Brown is nominated to become the next Air Force […]

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Department of Energy nuclear-weapon site closest to a major metropolitan area, is preparing for another month of stay-at-home orders in surrounding Alameda County, Calif., which has a high number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Livemore is still performing only essential national security work and still requires most of its […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Pantex Plant in Texas said Monday it has assembled the “first production capability unit” of the W88 Alt-370 submarine-launched nuclear warhead, a precursor to the first production unit intended to prove the entire warhead design is ready for mass manufacturing. The phrase “first production capability unit” officially debuted in […]

New Mexico’s delegation to the U.S. Senate last week asked the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to further delay into mid-June the public comment period on an environmental review of pit production at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich (both D-N.M.). wrote to NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty on April 22. […]