National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

A Nov. 9 article in Weapons Complex Morning Briefing incorrectly indicated Kevin Hall had been manager of the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) in Tennessee. Hall, now president at Juno Management Professionals, served as manager of the Office of Science Integrated Support Center at Oak Ridge.

Centrus Energy said Thursday its net loss decreased and its revenue grew during the third quarter ended Sept. 30. The Bethesda, Md.-based uranium enrichment company reported a net loss of $8.5 million for the quarter, well below the $41.3 million net loss for the third quarter of 2016. Net loss connected to common stockholders was […]

The University of Texas has not suspended work on its bid to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a spokesperson for the Austin-based institution said Friday. “Bid preparation is in progress and will be reviewed by the Board of Regents later this month,” a University of Texas spokesperson wrote in an email to Weapons […]

Dennis Wilson has been elected as the new chairman of the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB) in Tennessee for fiscal 2018. The panel of up to 22 members makes recommendations to DOE regarding operations at the Oak Ridge Reservation, home to a large-scale cleanup of former uranium enrichment operations. ORSSAB held […]

The Savannah River Site’s management and operations contractor faces a $320,000 penalty after being cited by the Department of Energy for retaliating against an employee who reported a safety issue. The Energy Department issued a preliminary notice of violation (PNOV) to Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) on Wednesday. The violation, according to the department, occurred when […]

If it holds up under protest, the $4.7 billion contract for liquid waste management at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina will provide BWX Technologies with one of its bigger wins as a prime contractor in recent years, executives said during a quarterly call on Tuesday. But management said it would […]

Jay Mullis, the acting manager of the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) in Tennessee since October 2016, is now the permanent manager. A 30-year federal employee, Mullis had since February 2015 been deputy manager for the DOE office that oversees cleanup of former uranium enrichment activities at the Oak Ridge Reservation. […]

More days have passed than remain in astronomical autumn, which means Los Alamos National Security could soon announce the interim Los Alamos National Laboratory director who will replace the retiring Charles McMillan and run the site until the company’s contract expires Sept. 30, 2018. McMillan, who has led Los Alamos National Laboratory for about six […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) wants to perform larger explosive tests to support nuclear arms-maintenance and counterrorism research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, according to a Nov. 3 regulatory filing. The 65-year-old nuclear weapons research facility in Livermore, Calif., wants to increase the size of the non-nuclear explosive tests it is allowed to […]

The federal government this week doubled down on its request that the Court of Federal Claims dismiss South Carolina’s lawsuit over disposal of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. The filing arrived just days after the prime contractor on the Department of Energy facility designed to convert that plutonium into […]

Cornell University and the University of Notre Dame have received $27.5-million worth of Department of Energy grants to study high-energy physics potentially applicable to nuclear-weapon sustainment, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Tuesday. Cornell’s Multi-University Center of Excellence for Pulsed-Power-Driven High Energy Density Science will get $15-million to study high energy density plasmas from […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently announced that it somewhat-less-recently recognized contractors and national laboratory staff at the Nevada National Security Site for technical contributions to nuclear stockpile stewardship. Earlier this week, the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency shared the names of those projects with NS&D Monitor. The following teams at the former nuclear weapon-testing […]

The University of Texas’ Board of Regents on Thursday deferred official approval of the institution’s planned bid to run the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory by more than two weeks, to Nov. 27. The board was scheduled to take action on the proposal Thursday — the Austin-based system in August approved $4.5 million […]

More days have passed than remain in astronomical autumn, which means Los Alamos National Security could soon announce the interim Los Alamos National Laboratory director who will replace the retiring Charles McMillan and run the site until the company’s contract expires Sept. 30, 2018. McMillan, who has led Los Alamos National Laboratory for about six […]

Jay Mullis, the acting manager of the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) in Tennessee since October 2016, is now the permanent manager. A 30-year federal employee, Mullis had since February 2015 been deputy manager for the DOE office that oversees cleanup of former uranium enrichment activities at the Oak Ridge Reservation. […]

The federal government this week doubled down on its request that the Court of Federal Claims (CFC) dismiss South Carolina’s lawsuit over disposal of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. In a Tuesday court filing, lawyers representing DOE wrote that Judge Margaret Sweeney’s court has no jurisdiction over the matter, despite South […]

The House and Senate on Wednesday reached a compromise on this year’s defense authorization legislation, though the fate of a couple Department of Energy nuclear programs remained unknown at deadline Wednesday. What was known came from congressional summaries of the massive bill report that will accompany the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act to President […]

More days have passed than remain in astronomical autumn, which means Los Alamos National Security could soon announce the interim Los Alamos National Laboratory director who will replace the retiring Charles McMillan and run the site until the company’s contract expires Sept. 30, 2018. McMillan, who has led Los Alamos National Laboratory for about six […]

Cornell University and the University of Notre Dame have received $27.5-million worth of Department of Energy grants to study high-energy physics potentially applicable to nuclear-weapon sustainment, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Tuesday. Cornell’s Multi-University Center of Excellence for Pulsed-Power-Driven High Energy Density Science will get $15-million to study high energy density plasmas from […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently announced that it somewhat-less-recently recognized contractors and national laboratory staff at the Nevada National Security Site for technical contributions to nuclear stockpile stewardship. Earlier this week, the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency shared the names of those projects with Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. The following teams at the […]

If it holds up under protest, the $4.7 billion contract for liquid waste management at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina will provide BWX Technologies with one of its bigger wins as a prime contractor in recent years, executives said during a quarterly call on Tuesday. But management said it would […]

The U.S. Energy Department confirmed Tuesday that the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has finished treating 60 potentially combustible containers of radioactive waste, ending ahead of the latest targeted date and setting the stage for the next phase of nitrate salt processing. The drums contained a mix of remediated nitrate salts and organic […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) wants to perform larger explosive tests to support nuclear arms-maintenance and counterrorism research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, according to a Nov. 3 regulatory filing. The 65-year-old nuclear weapons research facility in Livermore, Calif., wants to increase the size of the non-nuclear explosive tests it is allowed to […]

Dennis Wilson has been elected as the new chairman of the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB) in Tennessee for fiscal 2018. The panel of up to 22 members makes recommendations to DOE regarding operations at the Oak Ridge Reservation, home to a large-scale cleanup of former uranium enrichment operations. ORSSAB held […]

The prime contractor on a Department of Energy facility designed to turn surplus nuclear-weapon plutonium into commercial reactor fuel said government meddling on the project made it impossible for the company to fulfill its contractual obligations and earn its fees, according to federal court papers dated Friday. The claim is part of an amended complaint […]

While would-be bidders mull over the Department of Energy’s request for proposals to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the next decade, a community representative is cautiously breathing a sigh of relief that the agency has made some concession to the local businesses for which the lab is lifeblood. The final solicitation was “surprising […]

Three workers and two rooms were radioactively contaminated after a botched maintenance job on a glove box at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility, the Department of Energy and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said. It was the latest in a series of safety snafus at Los Alamos to come to light during […]

Water leaked into a plutonium pit-storage area at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, after an August thunderstorm, the Department of Energy disclosed this month. On Aug. 13 and 14, thunderstorms dumped about 2 inches of rain on the north Texas city, according to data compiled by the National Weather Service. During the storm, “rain […]

It will cost about $1.2 trillion in current dollars to modernize and maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal over 30 years, including $261 billion in Department of Energy spending, the Congressional Budget Office said this week. Even fairly major changes to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) part of that portfolio would shave only about $10 […]

The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved two Trump administration nominees to the Energy Department by voice vote. Mark Wesley Menezes of Virginia was approved to be undersecretary for the Department of Energy. Also approved was Paul Dabbar of New York to be undersecretary for science. Most recently, Menezes worked as vice president of federal relations […]