National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

The U.S. Department of Energy said last week it is ahead of schedule in removing 1 metric ton of plutonium from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and should finish the court-mandated process by the end of the year. The Energy Department update was seemingly prompted by a March 1 letter that South Carolina […]

WASHINGTON — The United States should cut its nuclear arsenal, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee reaffirmed at a major nuclear policy conference here Tuesday. “We need to reduce our nuclear weapons presence,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said. However, “I don’t agree that we ought to get rid of all of our nuclear […]

New political leaders at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have tamped down on internal discord and improved the agency’s relationship with the Pentagon, but the Department of Energy weapons steward should appoint a senior executive to ensure progress does not end when those political leaders depart, the National Academies said in a new report. NNSA […]

BWX Technologies anticipates regulatory approval and initial revenue in the first quarter of 2021 on its generators for the medical isotope technetium-99m, according to its latest financial presentation. The Lynchburg, Va., company, better known as a contractor for the Departments of Defense and Energy, in 2018 began seeking a slice of the global business for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking a replacement for the recently retired chief of staff for the Defense Nuclear Security office: the part of the agency responsible for guarding nuclear-weapon sites and materials. The window to interview replacements for Mark Roman, who retired earlier this year after 22 years of federal service, was […]

Congress should consider raising the legal limit of full-time employees allowed to work at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Government Accountability Office said in a report this week. The NNSA may employ no more than the equivalent of 1,690 full-time employees, according to the federal law that created the Department of Energy’s semiautonomous […]

The Energy Department on Wednesday issued a final request for proposals for a potential $1 billion, 10-year paramilitary security services contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The current $990 million contract, held by Centerra-SRS, started in October 2009 and runs through Oct. 7. The latest DOE procurement schedule says the department could […]

The state of South Carolina has no better idea than anyone else outside the National Nuclear Security Administration  (NNSA) about whether the agency has yet shipped 500 kilograms of weapon-usable plutonium to the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, according to a recent court filing. In December 2017, a federal judge in South Carolina ordered the […]

The Department of Energy said this week it has not yet decided whether to accept highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. There is no schedule for a decision to be made. While Germany would pay for the mission, the total cost and potential technology concerns are being […]

An increased risk of radioactive contamination combined with the flouting of federal environmental laws should have persuaded a federal judge to block the Department of Energy from sending weapon-usable plutonium to Nevada, the Silver State told an appeals court this week. Nevada wants the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California to overturn U.S. District […]

The Senate Arms Services Committee on Thursday approved William Bookless, for the second time, to be second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration. The committee approved Bookless, along with three nominees for non-DOE senior administration jobs, by voice vote at the top of a hearing.  Bookless is a former senior physicist at the Lawrence Livermore […]

The relationship between the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Defense “has never been stronger,” the head of the semiautonomous Department of Energy stockpile steward this week. U.S. Strategic Command “is our customer. But they don’t think of themselves as our customer, they think of themselves as their partner,” NNSA Administrator Lisa […]

An increased risk of radioactive contamination combined with the flouting of federal environmental laws should have persuaded a federal judge to block the Department of Energy from sending weapon-usable plutonium to Nevada, the Silver State told an appeals court this week. Nevada wants the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California to overturn U.S. District […]

The relationship between the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Defense “has never been stronger,” the head of the semiautonomous Department of Energy stockpile steward said Tuesday. U.S. Strategic Command “is our customer. But they don’t think of themselves as our customer, they think of themselves as their partner,” NNSA Administrator Lisa […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking a replacement for the recently retired chief of staff for the Defense Nuclear Security office: the part of the agency responsible for guarding nuclear-weapon sites and materials. The window to interview replacements for Mark Roman, who retired earlier this year after 22 years of federal service, will […]

The state of South Carolina has no better idea than anyone else outside the National Nuclear Security Administration  (NNSA) about whether the agency has yet shipped 500 kilograms of weapon-usable plutonium to the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, according to a recent court filing. In December 2017, a federal judge in South Carolina ordered the […]

The messaging war over a clandestine shipment of plutonium to the Nevada National Security Site last year continued Saturday in the pages of the Las Vegas Review Journal, where Secretary of Energy Rick Perry insisted that his agency gave Nevada officials all the notice the federal government could about the shipment. The Department of Energy’s […]

The U.S. Department of Energy could do a better job of monitoring how its contractors spend billions of dollars in federal money, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday. A new GAO report recommends DOE entities, including the Office of Environmental Management and the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, put more emphasis on how management and […]

The U.S. Department of Energy could do a better job of monitoring how its contractors spend billions of dollars in federal money, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday. A new GAO report recommends DOE entities, including the Office of Environmental Management and the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, put more emphasis on how management and […]

A federal judge this week refused Nevada’s second request to legally block the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) from shipping weapon-usable plutonium to the state from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. U.S. District Judge Miranda Du, in an order published late Monday, refused to grant an injunction, writing that the request was […]

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) this week signed a bill that could require contractors operating the Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories to pay the state’s gross receipts tax, even if the contractors are nonprofit organizations. Grisham, the former Democratic congresswoman from Albuquerque, signed Senate Bill 11 on Thursday. The state House of Representatives in […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has certified its first new low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead as battle ready. In a Monday press release, the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency said it “successfully completed the First Production Unit (FPU) of the W76-2 warhead Feb. 22 at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas.” The W76-2 warhead is […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) finalized its first safety recommendation to the Donald Trump administration’s Department of Energy, urging the agency to improve the safety of nuclear explosives handling at the Pantex weapons assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas, documents published Tuesday show. In the recommendation, the independent federal board zeroed in on equipment and processes […]

The management and operations contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site could be headed to trial near the end of the year over a federal negligence lawsuit filed in November by a site employee. A scheduling order filed Monday in U.S. District Court for South Carolina outlines tasks that must be completed by […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) finalized its first safety recommendation to the Donald Trump administration’s Department of Energy, urging the agency to improve the safety of nuclear explosives handling at the Pantex weapons assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas, documents published Tuesday show. In the recommendation, the independent federal board zeroed in on equipment and processes […]

A federal judge this week refused Nevada’s second request to legally block the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) from shipping weapon-usable plutonium to the state from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. U.S. District Judge Miranda Du, in an order published late Monday, refused to grant an injunction, writing that the request was […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Monday that it has certified its first new low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead as battle ready. In a late-afternoon press release, the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency said it “successfully completed the First Production Unit (FPU) of the W76-2 warhead Feb. 22 at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas.” […]

The New Mexico Legislature has again passed a bill that could require contractors operating the Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories to pay the state’s gross receipts tax, even if the contractors are nonprofit organizations. The state House of Representatives in Santa Fe passed Senate Bill 11 on Sunday by a vote of 64-0. The […]

Three Department of Energy field managers in New Mexico said Thursday that an agency order issued last year will bring little change in a good relationship with an independent federal watchdog, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The officials offered the commitment at a DNFSB public hearing in Albuquerque, N.M. The four board members […]

Three Department of Energy field managers in New Mexico said Thursday that an agency order issued last year will bring little change in a good relationship with an independent federal watchdog, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The officials spoke at a DNFSB public hearing in Albuquerque, N.M. The four board members and about […]