National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

In a housecleaning move to continue wrapping up legal issues surrounding the terminated plutonium recycling plant at the Savannah River Site, a federal judge in South Carolina last week officially dismissed a 2018 state lawsuit against the Department of Energy. In the two-page decision filed on Feb. 20, District Judge J. Michelle Childs wrote that […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina enacted an emergency response early this week when a vehicle attempting to enter a secure area activated explosive detection systems. Site barricades remained open through the duration of the emergency response Tuesday morning and there was “no indication of a consequence beyond the Savannah River […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Pentagon plan deploy W87-0 warheads, without new plutonium pit cores, on some Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missiles missiles. The plan, confirmed Thursday through an NNSA spokesperson, could give the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapon agency more time to get a pair of planned pit factories up […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers anticipates in late April issuing a formal request for proposals for environmental cleanup of the radioactively contaminated Luckey Site in Ohio under its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). A draft solicitation went out on Feb. 20 for comments through March 5. The Army Corps this week did […]

Operations at the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) project in Utah resumed within just a few days earlier this month after a truck overturned while carrying a load of waste, an Energy Department spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. A truck carrying a container of uranium mill tailings rolled onto its side while rounding a corner […]

BWX Technologies said this week it had reached a significant milestone in preparing for production and commercialization of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), while acknowledging that its overall program has fallen behind schedule. Based in Lynchburg, Va., the company is best known as a manufacturer of naval reactors and contractor for the Department of Energy. […]

The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday began to ink the contours of the 2021 nuclear weapons budget fight to come, when the panel’s chair wondered why the White House wants to give the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) a $2.5 billion raise with the agency sitting on $8 billion in unspent appropriations. The White […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina enacted an emergency response Tuesday morning when a vehicle attempting to enter a secure area activated explosive detection systems. Site barricades remained open through the duration of the emergency response and there was “no indication of a consequence beyond the Savannah River Site boundaries,” according […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Tuesday it plans to soon start work on a South Carolina plutonium disposal project — operations that will consume about one-third of the amount Congress appropriated for the project in the current 2020 federal budget year. This site preparation work for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition project at the […]

The Navy’s only manufacturer of nuclear reactors, BWX Technologies, said Tuesday that the service’s plans to procure just one Virginia-class attack submarine in fiscal 2021 could hit the company’s bottom line. BWXT President and CEO Rex Geveden said in the quarterly earnings call with analysts that while there is a “long way to go on getting […]

Funds for the Department of Energy’s planned program for interim storage of nuclear waste in the upcoming budget would be focused on headquarters operations in Washington, D.C., with smaller amounts distributed to Idaho and Nevada, according to figures released Monday. The Energy Department on Feb. 10 requested $27.5 million for an Interim Storage and Nuclear […]

In a housecleaning move to continue wrapping up legal issues surrounding the terminated plutonium recycling plant at the Savannah River Site, a federal judge in South Carolina last week officially dismissed a 2018 state lawsuit against the Department of Energy. In the two-page decision filed on Feb. 20, District Judge J. Michelle Childs wrote that […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) seeks nearly a fourfold funding increase for development of the W87-, silo-based intercontinental ballistic-missile warhead in fiscal 2021, plus more than $1 billion to help build the plutonium cores for that warhead, according to new budget details released Monday. The budget proposal from the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear […]

Energy Department contractor BWX Technologies took in $501 million of revenue during the fourth quarter of 2019, a 5% uptick over $478 million a year earlier. In addition, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company reported late Monday that revenue of nearly $1.9 billion for the 12 months ended Dec. 31 set a new record and represented a […]

Complications with the B61-12 and W88 Alt-370 programs might delay production of new intercontinental ballistic missile fuzes at the Kansas City National Security Campus by more than a year, Pentagon budget documents show. The Air Force will need 10 months longer than expected, 41 months total, to purchase long-lead parts for the the ICBM Fuze […]

The Defense Department plans to use the proposed W93 submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missile (SLBM) warhead to eventually replace the current W76 and W88 warheads without increasing the size of the nuclear stockpile, according to a senior Pentagon official. The U.S. currently uses the W76 and W88 families of warheads on the Trident II D5 SLBMs […]

As the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) seeks a larger-than-expected budget increase for 2021, another branch of the Department of Energy is seeking much less funding for cleanup of excess nuclear-weapon production sites The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is requesting about $200 million for remediation at NNSA-owned facilities in the budget year […]

Federal law may allow a $3.5 million discrimination lawsuit against the security contractor for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to continue even after a federal judge found the statute of limitations had passed for the case, according to newly hired legal counsel for the plaintiff. Marcialena Brown, an African-American woman, did not realize […]

Federal law may allow a $3.5 million discrimination lawsuit against the security contractor for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to continue even after a federal judge found the statute of limitations had passed for the case, according to newly hired legal counsel for the plaintiff. Marcialena Brown, an African-American woman, did not realize […]

Engineering and procurement giant Fluor said Tuesday it has decided not sell its government contracting business, which does business with the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex and the Department of Defense. The Irving, Texas-based company announced the now-canceled sale in September. Belt-tightening over the past year, along with the anticipated sale later in 2020 […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plans to issue the MITRE Corp.-operated JASON group of civilian scientists more nuclear security work by the end of April, according to a procurement note published last week. The agency announced its intention to keep JASON on the job in February. The Feb. 13 procurement note provides further details about […]

Federal law may allow a $3.5 million discrimination lawsuit against the security contractor for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to continue even after a federal judge found the statute of limitations had passed for the case, according to newly hired legal counsel for the plaintiff. Marcialena Brown, an African-American woman, did not realize […]

By Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Higher taxes led Leidos to report a slight dip in its fourth quarter earnings, but sales were strong and adjusted earnings easily topped analysts’ estimates. Net income in the quarter fell nearly 4% to $181 million, $1.26 earnings a share, from $188 million, or $1.25 a share, a year ago. Per-share […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., produced more than 500 kilograms of purified uranium in fiscal 2019, beating its internal target by 12 kilograms, according to recent figures posted on the site’s blog. The total for 2019 was 512 kilograms of metal purified by the site’s Enriched Uranium Production unit, beating the […]

The Defense Department’s top policy director submitted a letter of resignation Wednesday, saying he will leave his post at the end of the month and stating plainly that his departure was prompted by President Donald Trump. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood assumed his role in August 2018, and will be succeeded by James […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program in late 2019 awarded BWX Technologies a roughly $1 billion contract to provide reactor components for Ford-class aircraft carriers, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company announced Monday. The $1 billion figure includes options, BWX Technologies said in a press release. The value of the base award, at over $665 […]

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has promoted Huban Gowadia to principal associate director of global security, where she will lead the California nuclear weapons facility’s nonproliferation and nuclear counterterrorism programs. Livermore’s Global Security Security Principal Directorate also includes the Department of Energy’s programs to counter chemical, biological, and explosive threats. The directorate employs about 800 […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking $53 million in fiscal 2021 for the planned W93 sea-based ballistic-missile warhead: two years sooner than the agency previously thought it would need funding for the weapon. A spokesperson for the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency confirmed the figure Thursday morning. In the 2020 budget […]

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has promoted Huban Gowadia to principal associate director of global security, where she will lead the Californi nuclear weapons facility’s nonproliferation and nuclear counterterrorism programs, the lab announced recently. Livermore’s Global Security Security Principal Directorate also includes the lab’s efforts to counter chemical, biological, and explosive threats. The lab announced […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking $53 million in fiscal 2021 for the planned W93 sea-based ballistic-missile warhead: two years sooner than the agency previously thought it would need funding for the weapon. A spokesperson for the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency confirmed the figure Thursday morning. In the 2020 budget […]