National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Lawmakers set the stage for the nuclear weapons debate to come in the next Congress with a wave of bills and rhetoric that burned the post-Thanksgiving fog from Washington this week. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — upon whom partisans and the press have heaped presidential buzz — provided a capstone Thursday with a speech at […]

The federal government and South Carolina expressed optimism Monday that they can settle a $100 million claim over plutonium that remains stranded in the state. “Pursuant to the Court’s Order filed October 24, 2018 … the parties report that at this time they continue to believe that it is possible to resolve the pending disputes […]

The Department of Energy should consider performing a lengthy environmental review of its plan to dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus weapon-usable plutonium by burying the material deep underground, a congressionally chartered panel said Friday. The department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) might find the disposal plan easier to manage if it produces […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) fiscal 2018 budget increase handily outpaced the rise in dollars under contract, according to a report from the agency’s Office of the Inspector General late last week. The DOE budget rose about 10 percent to some $34.5 billion between fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2018, while the amount of money under […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) says it has deployed a system at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico that can “detect, identify, track and intercept unsanctioned and suspicious drones.” The Department of Energy agency announced the news in a press release Nov. 19, shortly before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Los Alamos’ new counter-unmanned aircraft […]

NS&D Monitor took a break last week for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, but out affiliate publication, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing did not. Here’s a recap of some of the nuclear security enterprise news covered last week. DOE Investigating CNS For ‘Criticality Safety Weaknesses’ The Department of Energy’s Enterprise Assessments (EA) office will investigate Consolidated Nuclear […]

WASHINGTON — William Bookless, nominated to be second-in-command at the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), defended the agency’s plan to build two nuclear-warhead-core factories in the face of a double-edged inquisition from a pair of Senate Democrats here Thursday. Facing pressure from a third Democratic lawmaker during his confirmation hearing, the physicist and longtime […]

Nearly lost amid higher-profile nomination hearings in high-octane committees this week is a nuts-and-bolts piece of legislation that could open the door for more whistleblower disclosures in the nuclear weapons, waste, and power industries. The bill, slated for a hearing Thursday in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee along with several other pieces of legislation, […]

The management and operations contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., recently hired 24 new workers for tritium operations and plans to continue ramping up the staff. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) manages production of tritium gas under the Savannah River Tritium Enterprise (SRTE). Tritium gas triggers the chain reaction […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) says it has deployed a system at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico that can “detect, identify, track and intercept unsanctioned and suspicious drones.” The Department of Energy agency announced the news in a press release Nov. 19, shortly before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. The NNSA did […]

Longenecker & Associates, the Las Vegas-based Energy Department subcontractor, has added a former Honeywell executive and a retired Air Force officer to its advisory board. The new members are retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Sandra Finan, now a consultant based in Spokane, Wash.; and ex-Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies (FM&T) President Chris Gentile, Longenecker […]

William Bookless, the Trump administration’s choice for second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), is set for a crucial confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The committee is scheduled to vet Bookless, a veteran nuclear weapons hand who spent decades at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other spots before retiring […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) fiscal 2018 budget increase handily outpaced the rise in dollars under contract, according to a report from the agency’s Office of the Inspector General late last week. The DOE budget rose about 10 percent to some $34.5 billion between fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2018, while the amount of money under […]

The Department of Energy and contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security lacked plans to deal with a small number of plausible hazards that could lead, among other things, to an inadvertent nuclear detonation at the nation’s prime nuclear-weapon assembly and disassembly site, according to a draft report the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) report made public […]

The Department of Energy’s Enterprise Assessments (EA) office will investigate Consolidated Nuclear Security for “nuclear criticality control weaknesses” at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s main uranium-handling site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The internal DOE oversight body informed Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) of the impending investigation on Nov. 13, according to a notice posted on the […]

The prime contractor of a canceled plutonium-disposal plant in South Carolina cried foul in a long-running lawsuit against its client, the National Nuclear Security Administration, after the government allegedly broke a promise not to dispute certain costs claimed under the nearly 20-year-old contract. MOX Services said the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) disputed more than […]

Terry Wallace, who was briefly director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the waning days of Los Alamos National Security’s management contract, is still with the lab in an emeritus role, a Los Alamos spokesperson told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. Wallace “continues to serve the Laboratory as Director Emeritus in the Office of National […]

An employee at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina has sued its management and operations contractor for more than $75,000, alleging he was severely injured while working on a trailer that had not been safely maintained. The lawsuit, filed Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court for South Carolina, says Henry Bradley […]

A Kansas City, Mo., company will help upgrade infrastructure at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California to accommodate future exascale computing capability, under a contract from lab prime Livermore National Security. Burns & McDonnell announced the award Monday. The company did not provide the financial terms of the contract, which involves design services for Livermore’s […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled on Nov. 29 to vet William Bookless, an experienced nuclear weapons scientist who spent much of his career at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to be second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Donald Trump administration on Aug. 16 nominated Bookless as principal deputy administrator for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was wrong to withhold about $1 million in wage-related payments under a now-canceled contract to build a plutonium disposal plant in South Carolina, a federal judge ruled Friday. The agency must now return the money withheld from MOX Services, prime contractor on the unfinished Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility […]

WASHINGTON — The aspiring chair of the House Armed Services Committee wants to scrap the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, whip up a multilateral Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces-style treaty, and take a run at making no-first-use the nuclear law of the land. Speaking here Wednesday at the Ploughshares Fund’s “Future of U.S. Nuclear Policy” conference, Rep. […]

WASHINGTON — The aspiring chair of the House Armed Services Committee wants to scrap the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, whip up a multilateral Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces-style treaty, and take a run a making no-first-use the nuclear law of the land. Speaking here Wednesday at the Ploughshares Fund’s “Future of U.S. Nuclear Policy” conference, Rep. […]

A Kansas City, Mo., company will help upgrade infrastructure at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California to accommodate future exascale computing capability, under a contract from lab prime Livermore National Security. Burns & McDonnell announced the award Monday. The company did not provide the financial terms of the contract, which involves design services for Livermore’s […]

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who is running for chair of the House Armed Services Committee in the incoming 116th Congress, is set today to make his first nuclear weapon-oriented speech since Democrats secured control of the House of Representatives in last week’s midterm elections. Smith is slated to speak at 9:20 a.m. Eastern time in […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was wrong to withhold about $1 million in wage-related payments under a now-canceled contract to build a plutonium disposal plant in South Carolina, a federal judge ruled Friday. The agency must now return the money withheld from MOX Services, prime contractor on the unfinished Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled on Nov. 29 to vet William Bookless, a veteran nuclear weapons scientist who spent much of his career at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to be second in command at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The Donald Trump administration on Aug. 16 nominated Bookless as principal deputy […]

The prime contractor for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility will lay off roughly a third of its workforce in early January, according to federally required layoff notices filed Nov. 8, two days after the U.S. midterm elections.  CB&I Project Services, now part of McDermott and a subcontractor-owner of Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) prime […]

George Rael, a longtime Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official, has joined Longenecker & Associates as a project manager at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico effective this week. Longenecker is a subcontractor to Triad National Security, which on Nov. 1 took over as the NNSA’s management and operations […]

The lead attorney at the Savannah River Site was honored by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for helping the agency pivot away from processing surplus weapon-usable plutonium at the South Carolina facility’s now-canceled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). Mary-Ellen Noone, counsel for the NNSA Savannah River Field Office, won the NNSA General Counsel […]