National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

SAVANNAH, GA. — Triso-X is targeting Dec. 6, 2027, for production of its first “pebble” of fabricated nuclear fuel at its facility located on land formerly owned by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, a company executive told a conference here Thursday. The 215,000-square-foot fuel fabrication facility, called TX-1, will employ about […]

The Department of Energy has announced a new pilot program to expedite the testing of advanced nuclear reactor designs at DOE’s national laboratories. The DOE intends to streamline the nuclear reactor testing and hopes to have “at least three reactors achieve criticality by July 4, 2026,” according to its Wednesday press release. Created in accordance […]

Oklo’s subsidiary Atomic Alchemy has begun site characterization work for a potential radioisotope production facility at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The Santa Clara, Calif. based advanced nuclear technology company Oklo made the announcement in a Tuesday press release. Its subsidiary, Atomic Alchemy, is based in Idaho Falls, Idaho and focuses on providing […]

The New Mexico Environment Department wants the Department of Energy and its prime contractor for Los Alamos National Laboratory to take more precautions before it repackages four containers of tritium waste. At the same time, the state Environment Department is angry at how Los Alamos National Laboratory has handled the tritium waste over time and […]

The New Mexico Environment Department wants the Department of Energy and its prime contractor for Los Alamos National Laboratory to take more precautions before it repackages four containers of tritium waste. At the same time, the state Environment Department is angry at how Los Alamos National Laboratory has handled the tritium waste over time and […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee expressed their disapproval Wednesday to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on a proposed 11% cut in the Department of Energy’s budget for the labs. “I love the national labs, they deliver tremendous value to us in our history, and they will in the […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said the National Nuclear Security Administration’s upgrade to safety controls, including to gloveboxes, is a “significant improvement” to safety at the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility. The safety watchdog’s comments come in a letter dated May 21 to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, as well as to Teresa Robbins, […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said the National Nuclear Security Administration’s upgrade to safety controls, including to gloveboxes, is a “significant improvement” to safety at the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility. The safety watchdog’s comments come in a letter dated May 21 to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, as well as to Teresa Robbins, […]

Oklo’s subsidiary Atomic Alchemy has begun site characterization work for a potential radioisotope production facility at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The Santa Clara, Calif. based advanced nuclear technology company Oklo made the announcement in a Tuesday press release. Its subsidiary, Atomic Alchemy, is based in Idaho Falls, Idaho and focuses on providing […]

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), in a naval hearing last week, said an aircraft carrying a B61 bomber will be a “much reduced cost” alternative to the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile aboard a conventional submarine. “I am not opposed to, you know, having a tactical nuclear option at sea,” Kelly said at a Senate Armed Services […]

The Government Accountability Office last week recommended the National Nuclear Security Administration formalize plans for transitioning responsibilities for radiological safety in Ukraine to Ukrainian partner organizations. “While NNSA [National Nuclear Security Administration] took steps to manage fraud risk at the individual contract level, it did not conduct a program-level fraud risk assessment tailored to its […]

The Department of Energy’s prime contractor at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has turned to a former DOE executive with more than 35 years in nuclear management to succeed its retiring CEO. Flour-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) Friday announced Jeff Griffin, a senior vice president, has been picked to succeed Dennis Carr […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in testimony at Congress Tuesday that there should be “clarity” on the reorganization and workforce shrinking at the Department of Energy. “The Department of Energy is filled with a bunch of tremendous, hardworking, committed men and women trying to better the direction for our country,” Wright said at a […]

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited has selected BWX Technologies-led Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada as the preferred bidder for the C$1.2-billion per year contract to manage Canadian National Laboratories. Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada are made of three primary partners of BWXT Government Group, Amentum Environment and Energy, and Kinectrics. Battelle Memorial Institute is also […]

SAVANNAH, GA. — The Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina should receive a certificate of completion for the offsite Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative this summer, Edwin Deshong said Wednesday. During the Radwaste Summit, Deshong gave a brief update on the status of the new research and meeting facility being built a few […]

The Department of Energy’s prime contractor at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has turned to a former DOE executive with more than 35 years in nuclear management to succeed its retiring CEO. Flour-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) Friday announced Jeff Griffin, a senior vice president, has been picked to succeed Dennis Carr […]

Senate Armed Services committee chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) released legislative text to the House-passed reconciliation bill Tuesday that would seek $96 million for classified nuclear deterrence programs. The $96 million is a $74 million increase from the House of Representatives version of the bill, passed in May with a razor-thin majority. It is part of […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security, the prime contractor at Y-12 National Security Complex, signed an agreement May 30 with University of Tennessee to create a new nuclear deterrence- and security-focused center in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The partners will develop the National Security Prototype Center to use both Y-12 and University of Tennessee resources to enhance manufacturing, a […]

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), a vocal nuclear critic and member of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee, told the Exchange Monitor over the phone Thursday that the extra funding for weapons activities in the White House budget could be better spent on non-proliferation or studying plutonium aging. “At the same time they’re increasing the […]

Senate Armed Services committee chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) released legislative text to the House-passed reconciliation bill Tuesday that would request $96 million to classified nuclear deterrence programs. The $96 million is a $74 million increase from the House version of the bill, passed in May with a razor-thin majority. It is part of the section […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security, the prime contractor at Y-12 National Security Complex, signed an agreement May 30 with University of Tennessee to create a new nuclear deterrence- and security-focused center in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The partners will develop the National Security Prototype Center to use both Y-12 and University of Tennessee resources to enhance manufacturing, a […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the Fluor-led prime contractor at Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., said this week crews have started constructing gloveboxes to make the explosive fissile cores of nuclear weapons. “Gloveboxes will be a key component of pit production operations within the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF),” Dennis Carr, CEO of Savannah […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is “on track” with its W88 warhead, the agency’s acting principal deputy administrator said in a Senate panel last week. “We’re on track with the W88, which is to achieve first production unit relatively soon,” James McConnell, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) acting principal deputy administrator, told the Senate […]

The Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has received a priority rating by the Department of Commerce to speed up the construction of the lab’s first two microreactor test beds. The National Reactor Innovation Center, led by INL, will operate the two microreactor test beds of the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) and Laboratory for […]

Oklo announced this week it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power to collaborate for future advanced nuclear projects.  Under the MOU, the two companies plan to explore opportunities to jointly progress the standard design development and verification of Oklo’s planned Aurora Powerhouse, according to Oklo’s Tuesday press release. […]

One of President Donald Trump’s May 23 executive orders instructs the secretary of energy to replace the surplus plutonium dilute and dispose program with one to process excess plutonium for fuel for advanced nuclear technologies. Trump’s executive order entitled “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base,” one of four nuclear-themed executive orders released last week, said the […]

North Augusta, S.C., a city near the Savannah River Site, recently opened its $2 million waste transfer station, a facility paid for with money from a $600 million settlement in South Carolina’s case against the Department of Energy.  The settlement stemmed from DOE cancelling of the SRS Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication (MOX) Facility, one that […]

While the National Nuclear Security Administration expects a final record of decision for pit production analysis should be complete by 2027, some stakeholders said this week they are “deeply concerned” about the “human cost” of plutonium pits. “This is very dangerous material,” one commenter said Wednesday during an online forum, speaking tearfully of how her […]

The Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has received a priority rating by the Department of Commerce to speed up the construction of the lab’s first two microreactor test beds. The National Reactor Innovation Center, led by INL, will operate the two microreactor test beds of the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) and Laboratory for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is “on track” with its W88 warhead, the agency’s acting principal deputy administrator said in a Senate panel last week. “We’re on track with the W88, which is to achieve first production unit relatively soon,” James McConnell, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s acting principal deputy administrator, told the Senate Armed […]