National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Thursday released performance evaluations for the major site operations contractors across the U.S. nuclear security enterprise, and all earned the vast majority of the available fees. The NNSA contractors covered under the performance evaluations published manage seven sites across the country.  Notably, there was a changing of the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) last week presented Defense Programs Awards of Excellence to several hundred employees across five active sites in the nuclear security enterprise. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency every year recognizes personnel in its Stockpile Stewardship program who achieve “significant achievement by providing increased quality, productivity, cost savings, or enhanced […]

The Department of Energy’s this week inked a new contract with S&K Logistics to continue providing technical support services for the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. The deal is is worth up to $21.7 million, which includes about $9 million for the base year and an additional $12 million if an option is exercised […]

Even if Nevada succeeds in blocking a shipment of 1 metric ton of weapon-usable plutonium to a former nuclear explosive test site within its borders, the material could still leave South Carolina by a court-ordered deadline, the Silver State argued in federal court this week. The filing represents Nevada’s attempt to muscle South Carolina out […]

The former management contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico received a slap on the wrist from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) over a 2017 incident in which personnel entered a low-oxygen environment in violation of federal workplace safety laws. No one was hurt in the Sept. 13, 2017, incident, in […]

The Department of Energy has received approval from the state of Tennessee to proceed with demolition of two Manhattan Project-era buildings at the Biology Complex within the Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Reservation. Representatives from DOE and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) confirmed this week the state has given […]

Centrus Energy, the former government-owned U.S. Enrichment Corp., got a lifeline this week from the Department of Energy to build a new 16-machine enrichment centrifuge cascade in Ohio, potentially strengthening the company’s ability to help the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) produce tritium for nuclear weapons in about 20 years. Under a contract awarded Monday […]

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) garnered 83 percent of its potential fee for its first five months on the job as legacy cleanup contractor at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. After taking over from Los Alamos National Security, N3B earned roughly $2.4 million of a potential $2.9 million from […]

Some contractors around the U.S. nuclear security enterprise have already gotten a look at their annual performance evaluations for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, even while the documents have not yet been made public, an informed source said. In 2018, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) released performance evaluations for contractors at most of its […]

A federal appeals court on Tuesday permanently lifted a legal ban against closing the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) in South Carolina, cutting down the state’s argument that such a move amounted to creating an illegal, permanent plutonium repository. The decision was a legal formality, as the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

As roughly 600 people walked off the job for good Monday at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., one of the parent companies of the canceled plant’s prime contractor announced another 100-plus will depart in early March. CB&I Project Services Group, now owned by McDermott International, […]

The former management contractor of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico received a slap on the wrist from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) over a 2017 incident in which personnel entered a low-oxygen environment in violation of federal workplace safety laws. No one was hurt in the Sept. 13, 2017, incident, in […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday it has presented Defense Programs Awards of Excellence to several hundred employees across five active sites in the nuclear security enterprise. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency every year recognizes personnel in its Stockpile Stewardship program who achieve “significant achievement by providing increased quality, productivity, cost savings, […]

Neither South Carolina nor Nevada want anything to do with 1 metric ton of weapons-usable plutonium that has been legally evicted from South Carolina, and each state is due this week to tell a federal judge why the other should host the material. It is a case of one lawsuit leaking into another, with South […]

Michael Dunning retired as the acting head of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Weapons and Complex Integration Directorate on Wednesday, capping a 30 year career at the nation’s second-oldest weapons laboratory. “Michael Dunning has retired after a long and impactful career at LLNL,” a spokesperson for the California facility said by email Thursday. “It was […]

A federal judge last week denied South Carolina’s motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit demanding that the Department of Energy continue building the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site. Judge J. Michelle Childs, of U.S. District Court for South Carolina, wrote in her Dec. 28 order that she will not […]

William Bookless, the Donald Trump administration’s choice for second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration, was not confirmed before the 115th Congress adjourned Thursday. The Senate’s lack of action sends Bookless’ nomination back to the White House, which is free to nominate him again in the 116th Congress that convened Thursday, or not. The White […]

In the National Nuclear Security Administration’s world of warheads and bombs, the big question of 2019 is: will the newly divided Congress quash the newly funded W76-2 low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead? The GOP-controlled government last year funded the weapon to the tune of $65 million for fiscal 2019, over the loud protests of congressional […]

The management and operations contractor for the Savannah River Site has finalized a plan to assume responsibility for crucial components of the canceled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF): the controversial plutonium disposal plant that was, until October, to be built at the site. The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has less than a year to remove 1 metric ton of weapon-usable plutonium from South Carolina, and the agency will not rule out moving it before the end of January, according to a court filing the state of Nevada dropped just before the new year. The Silver State shared […]

Despite an ongoing partial government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Justice must argue a court case on Jan. 17 about whether the Department of Energy is allowed to store 1 metric ton of weapon-usable plutonium in Nevada, a federal judge said Wednesday. The Justice Department represents DOE in the lawsuit brought by Nevada in November […]

A federal judge last week denied South Carolina’s motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit demanding that the Department of Energy continue building the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site. Judge J. Michelle Childs, of U.S. District Court for South Carolina, wrote in her Dec. 28 order that she will not […]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who brandished her arms-control and anti-nuclear bonafides throughout 2018, announced Monday she might run for president in 2020. Warren said she has formed an exploratory committee for a presidential bid, fulfilling long-circulating rumors that she would seek the Democratic Party’s nomination in the […]

The management and operations contractor for the Savannah River Site has finalized a plan to assume responsibility for crucial components of the canceled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF): the controversial plutonium disposal plant that was, until October, to be built at the site.  The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced the […]

The Michigan Legislature this week passed legislation setting out restrictions on disposal of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) in state landfills, along with an accompanying funding bill. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) “has not made any decisions on these bills,” spokesman Ari Adler said by email this week. “He needs to review them […]

A federal appeals court’s October order to remove 1 metric ton of plutonium from South Carolina by Jan. 1, 2020, took effect this week, depriving the Department of Energy of some legal wiggle room to contest the directive. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., gave notice Tuesday that its October ruling was, […]

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Gabe Anseeuw this month became military assistant and executive staff director to Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, Department of Energy undersecretary for nuclear security and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Anseeuw replaced Cmdr. Christopher Osborn, who was Gordon-Hagerty’s interim right-hand for about six months. Osborn filled in after Capt. Owen Travis retired […]

The nominee for a high-level nuclear security jobs at the Department of Energy could get another trip through the Senate confirmation process for Christmas, according to a spokesperson for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Asked whether there was any chance that William Bookless — principal deputy administrator-designate for the National Nuclear Security Administration — might […]

The federal government’s nuclear health-and-safety watchdog has raised concerns about whether an exhaust tunnel at the Savannah River Site’s nuclear materials processing facility can withstand the impact of an earthquake. The concern is related to two ongoing issues at the facility that have not yet been remedied, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said […]

WASHINGTON — The White House has someone in mind to fill a vacancy on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the acting head of the independent nuclear-health-and-safety watchdog said in a public meeting here Thursday. Acting Chairman Bruce Hamilton would not identify the potential nominee. The DNFSB has been without a fifth board member since […]