National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

A civil-military panel approved designs for an upgrade of the W88 nuclear ballistic missile warhead carried aboard U.S. submarines, the National Nuclear Security Administration said Tuesday in a press release. Panel members, drawn from within and outside of the Department of Energy agency, approved system-level designs for the W88’s upgraded arming, fuzing, and firing (AF&F) […]

While no one was hurt and no special nuclear material was damaged, the outgoing prime contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory lost about $3 million in award fees in fiscal 2017 because it broke Department of Energy rules and shipped plutonium by plane instead of by truck. In June 2017, Los Alamos National Security […]

The head of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration was set to retire Friday, and the Department of Energy has declined to identify his successor. As Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor’s sister publication, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, first reported last week, longtime government man and retired Air Force general Frank Klotz will retire from federal […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration dinged Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) for delays on a nuclear-bomb life-extension program in fiscal 2017 in a generally positive performance evaluation report published Thursday. Overall, CNS earned about $36 million in fees for managing the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency’s Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex in Tennessee and Pantex Plant in […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions took home $13.1 million in fiscal 2017 fees for the nuclear-weapon work it manages for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. That was roughly 84 percent of the total available $15.7 million fee for the budget year that ended on Sept. 30 of […]

The Department of Energy praised the prime contractor at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for on-time work on nuclear warheads and bombs in fiscal 2017, but clipped some award fee dollars because of delays with electrical upgrades at the California weapons lab. Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS) earned about $40 million in fees for 2017: […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear-weapon and nonproliferation programs teetered on the brink of a funding lapse Friday at deadline for Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, caught up in larger policy and political waves that threatened to temporarily shut down the entire federal government. So, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued fresh guidelines for its civil […]

A $100-million-plus project to dramatically increase the computing power available for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s simulated nuclear weapons tests has cleared its final environmental hurdle, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. In a regulatory document called a supplement analysis, the agency’s National Nuclear Security Administration said “no further NEPA [National Environmental Protection Act] documentation is required” […]

The Savannah River Site’s management and operations contractor hired about 550 employees last year in an effort to offset personnel lost due to retirement. Some of the new Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) hires are operators, who assist in the operation of a process or equipment within a nuclear facility at the Department of Energy […]

Concerns are growing over safety violations at the Savannah River Site’s defense facilities, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in a recent letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. The Jan. 4 letter, signed by DNFSB Chairman Sean Sullivan, said safety issues identified in a Sept. 8, 2017, report from staff at the DOE watchdog […]

It is time for Congress to take a look at the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories and their contribution to the agency’s mission, according to Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas). During a Jan. 9 House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee hearing on DOE modernization, Barton said he plans to draft a bipartisan reauthorization bill for […]

The Energy Department could in late February issue its final request for proposals for construction of the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., according to recently released presolicitation documents. The agency expects prospective bidders will have 30 calendar days from the date of the final RFP […]

A $100-million-plus project to dramatically increase the computing power available for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s simulated nuclear weapons tests has cleared its final environmental hurdle, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. In a regulatory document called a supplement analysis, the agency’s National Nuclear Security Administration said “no further NEPA [National Environmental Protection Act] documentation […]

The Energy Department could issue its final request for proposals in late February for construction of the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., according to recently released presolicitation documents. The agency expects prospective bidders will have 30 calendar days from the date of the final RFP […]

The one-month stopgap budget House Republicans unveiled this week would if passed let only one part of the Department of Energy, its Inspector General’s Office, exceed the fiscal 2017 spending levels at which the rest of the agency has been stuck at for nearly four months. The so-called continuing resolution would extend 2017 spending levels […]

After a series of temporary spending measures, major media outlets are reporting that the chance of a federal government shutdown is growing more likely at the end of the day Friday when the latest stop-gap ends. Congress on Dec. 21 adopted its third budget continuing resolution to all federal agencies operational through Jan. 19. Should […]

A civil-military panel approved designs for an upgrade of the W88 nuclear ballistic missile warhead carried aboard U.S. submarines, the National Nuclear Security Administration said Tuesday in a press release. Panel members, drawn from within and outside of the Department of Energy agency, approved system-level designs for the W88’s upgraded arming, fuzing, and firing (AF&F) […]

It is time for Congress to take a look at the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories, and their contribution to the agency’s mission, according to Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas). During a House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee hearing on DOE modernization last week, Barton said he plans to draft a bipartisan reauthorization bill for […]

David Jonas, who President Donald Trump last year nominated to be the Department of Energy’s general counsel, no longer wants the job, according to a LinkedIn post Jonas published late Jan. 7. “In considering the additional months that would be required for final confirmation, as well as my professional responsibilities at FH+H Law Firm, I […]

With fewer than six months left on the incumbent’s contract, the Department of Energy still has not started competition for the next Savannah River Site management and operations deal — the pact that includes running the National Nuclear Security Administration’s tritium program. The NNSA extracts tritium gas, which boosts the yield of nuclear weapons, at the […]

As part of a joint procurement with the U.S. Navy, the Department of Energy last week solicited bids for a potentially 10-year contract to manage the Naval Nuclear Laboratory. Incumbent Bechtel Marine Power Corp. has been on the job since 2009. The current and follow-on contract includes management and operation of DOE’s Bettis Atomic Power […]

South Carolina on Monday sued the federal government again to claim $100 million it says it is owed for the Department of Energy’s failure to remove 1 metric ton of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium from the state. The complaint filed in U.S. Court of Federal Claims, State of South Carolina vs. The United States of America, […]

Local governments near the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina this week said they would be glad if the facility took over manufacturing plutonium pits for the National Nuclear Security Administration. On Tuesday, the nine-member Aiken County Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution “Supporting and Encouraging the Department of Energy/National Nuclear […]

WASHINGTON — National Nuclear Security Administrator Frank Klotz told NS&D Monitor on Tuesday he will retire from the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapon agency on Jan. 19. If he leaves the agency as planned in two weeks, the retired Air Force lieutenant general will have helmed the NNSA for three years, nine months, and 12 days, including […]

WASHINGTON — The semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) might not need all the semiautonomy it has now, Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said here Tuesday in congressional testimony. As part of a three-hour hearing on modernizing the Department of Energy, Brouillette said it was “awkward” that the NNSA has its own legislative affairs […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration should prioritize work on existing warheads, but also modify some of those warheads for new nuclear capabilities, according to a draft of President Donald Trump’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) that leaked Thursday. Also, according to the leaked document, the agency should remain ready to resume explosive nuclear tests, and […]

The Hanford Site has five major procurements in the pipeline between now and fiscal 2020, according to an announcement published Jan. 3 by the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC). Three of the five solicitations could extend for up to 10 years; a fourth for up to seven years; and the length […]

Local governments near the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina this week said they would be glad if the site took over manufacturing plutonium pits for the National Nuclear Security Administration. On Tuesday, the nine-member Aiken County Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution “Supporting and Encouraging the Department of Energy/National Nuclear […]

WASHINGTON — National Nuclear Security Administrator Frank Klotz told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing on Tuesday he will retire from the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapon agency on Jan. 19. If he leaves the agency as planned in two weeks, the retired Air Force lieutenant general will have helmed the NNSA for three years, nine months, and […]

WASHINGTON — The semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) might not need all the semiautonomy it has now, Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said here Tuesday in congressional testimony. As part of a three-hour hearing on modernizing the Department of Energy, Brouillette said it was “awkward” that the NNSA has its own legislative affairs […]