National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Months of testing in 2017 provided strong evidence that spent nuclear fuel can be safely transported by sea, road, and rail, according to a researcher with the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories. A team of researchers from the United States, South Korea, and Spain over 54 days from June to October collected 8 terabytes […]

The House and Senate disagree about whether to fund construction of new tritium facilities at the Savannah River Site in fiscal 2019, according to their latest appropriations proposals. The Senate Appropriations Committee, in a bill approved late last week, fully backed the Trump administration’s $27 million request for new tritium-related infrastructure at the South Carolina […]

Months of testing in 2017 provided strong evidence that spent nuclear fuel can be safely transported by sea, road, and rail, according to a researcher with the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories. A team of researchers from the United States, South Korea, and Spain over 54 days from June to October collected 8 terabytes […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee wants the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico to start planning for accommodating 34 metric tons of processed plutonium that was supposed to be converted into nuclear reactor fuel at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) in South Carolina. Energy Secretary Perry officially canceled the MOX […]

Senate appropriators favor continuing sustaining an Obama-era program to create a so-called interoperable nuclear warhead that could fly on future Air Force and Navy missiles — a program their House counterparts have proposed canceling. That is according to the detailed bill report accompanying the fiscal 2019 energy and water bill the Senate Appropriations Committee approved […]

Making good on a recent threat, South Carolina on Friday sued the Department of Energy over its plan to halt construction of a plutonium recycling plant at the Savannah River Site. In a 42-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said shuttering the MOX program will breach a deal between […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is due to award the next management and operations contract for the Los Alamos National Laboratory this week, according to the timetable the agency set in a request for proposals last year. But with May about to fall off the calendar, there is hardly any time to get the new […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved Charles Verdon of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) defense programs office. The committee approved Verdon’s nomination by a voice vote. The nuclear engineer, currently principal associate director at Livermore’s weapons and complex integration directorate, now needs approval from the […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration does not think it needs to conduct additional environmental study of the next-generation Uranium Processing Facility being built at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. That is the preliminary conclusion of the semiautonomous civilian steward of the nation’s nuclear weapons programs, expressed Monday in a 69-page […]

South Carolina could sue the Department of Energy today over plans to terminate the Savannah River Site’s MOX project, state Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a letter Tuesday to DOE Secretary Rick Perry. The Energy Department earlier this month formalized plans to convert the unfinished Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) for production of […]

The House of Representatives easily passed its version of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday, sending the Senate a strongly bipartisan bill that calls for the National Nuclear Security Administration to begin work on a low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic-missile warhead. The same day, the Senate Appropriations Committee also overwhelmingly approved funding for the […]

Both congressional appropriations committees have now cleared the National Nuclear Security Administration to start work on a low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic-missile warhead in fiscal 2019, with Senate appropriators approving $65 million for the proposed weapon as part of a spending bill passed Thursday. House appropriators approved the same amount for the warhead, which is to be made […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved Charles Verdon of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) defense programs office. The committee approved Verdon’s nomination by a voice vote. The nuclear engineer, currently principal associate director at Livermore’s weapons and complex integration directorate, now needs approval from the […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration does not think it needs to conduct additional environmental study of the next-generation Uranium Processing Facility being built at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. That is the preliminary conclusion of the semiautonomous civilian steward of the nation’s nuclear weapons programs, expressed Monday in a 69-page […]

The House of Representatives started floor consideration Tuesday of a 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which would allow the Department of Energy to create a new low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic-missile warhead by modifying some existing weapons. Floor debate, scheduled through Thursday, began a few hours after the House Rules Committee approved the rules of debate for […]

WASHINGTON —The National Nuclear Security Administration would receive not quite $15 billion if a Department of Energy budget bill approved Tuesday by a Senate Appropriations subcommittee becomes law. The bulk of the money — $10.9 billion — would fund nuclear-weapon operations at the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency, with the rest split almost evenly between […]

In what could be a bid to save a major nuclear-nonproliferation project in his state, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) was to meet Monday with President Donald Trump in Washington, sources said. Earlier this month, McMaster — an early political supporter of the president — said he wanted to appeal to Trump personally to […]

Chris Roscetti will become technical director for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) on June 23, the independent federal health-and-safety watchdog for Department of Energy nuclear programs announced Friday. Roscetti, a naval submarine veteran, previously served as the board’s associate technical director for nuclear programs and analysis, and has also served as DNFSB deputy […]

The University of Texas on Friday approved an extra $7 million for the institution’s bid on the next Los Alamos National Laboratory management and operations contract with the Department of Energy. The funding will help pay costs associated with taking over management of the nuclear weapons lab, if the university wins the competition. The University […]

The week came and went without any announcement from the National Nuclear Security Administration about who would manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the next decade — but the identity of one more bidder was revealed to Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor. Engineering giant Jacobs, of Dallas, is part of a team that also […]

The blockbuster lawsuit between the Department of Energy and the prime contractor for the unfinished Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) will go to trial in April 2019, a federal judge ordered this week. Judge Thomas Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims handed down the order the week after DOE made official its […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would get the $65 million it seeks in fiscal 2019 for a low-yield nuclear warhead, but nothing for a new warhead-core factory in South Carolina, under a budget bill approved this week by the House Appropriations Committee. The bill, voted to the floor Wednesday 29-20 along party lines, also […]

A leaked report from a nominally independent office within the National Nuclear Security Administration offers a trove of new details about the plan the agency must sell to Congress in order to start producing nuclear-warhead cores in South Carolina. On May 10, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said he would officially cancel the Mixed Oxide Fuel […]

The House Rules Committee will craft the rules of debate for the chamber’s fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act beginning Monday, and already members have proposed several amendments related to Department of Energy nuclear programs. One proposed amendment, from Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), would entirely strip out $65 million the House Armed Services Committee authorized […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration said Wednesday it is gearing up to provide another $40 million in cooperative agreements supporting commercial programs to develop production capabilities for the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). That would be on top of $100 million pledged in recent years to four projects led by three companies: NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration said Wednesday it is gearing up to provide another $40 million in cooperative agreements supporting commercial programs to develop production capabilities for the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). That would be on top of $100 million pledged in recent years to four projects led by three companies: NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, […]

Las Vegas-based Longenecker & Associates said Tuesday it has hired nuclear industry veteran Mike Briggs to the newly created post of senior program manager for operational support. Briggs, who has worked on major projects within the Energy Department complex, will oversee L&A’s operational support business, which includes training, nuclear safety, and radiation protection. “As L&A […]

The House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a $16 million funding haircut for cleanup of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Tennessee. If the spending level survives the congressional appropriations process, financing from the Energy Department’s Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund for the project would drop from about $195 million in […]

If the University of Texas wins a $20-billion-plus contract to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the institution will need as much as $7 million more than it initially budgeted to pay for the contract’s transition period. The university needs the money “to provide bridge financing to support the successful transition of management for the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would get the $65 million it seeks in fiscal 2019 for a low-yield nuclear warhead, but nothing for a new warhead-core factory in South Carolina, under a budget bill approved Wednesday by the House Appropriations Committee. Overall, the NNSA would receive more than $15 billion for 2019: 4.5 percent more […]