National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Parsons has secured two task orders from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)  to design and deploy counter-nuclear smuggling systems across the Middle East and Africa. The Middle East Region 3 and Africa Region 2 task orders cover counter-nuclear smuggling initiatives in 25 countries, according to an Aug. 27 company announcement. NNSA is a semiautonomous […]

Fremont, Calif.-based Pacific Fusion broke ground in Albuquerque, N.M. for its $1 billion fusion research and manufacturing campus Tuesday morning. The fusion company plans to build a fusion facility at the campus that will contain its demonstration fusion system, which is hoped to achieve net facility gain by 2030, according to Pacific Fusion’s Tuesday press […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Fremont, Calif.-based Pacific Fusion have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore collaboration on high-yield fusion, high-energy-density science and related technical areas. The MOU was signed by NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams and Pacific Fusion co-founder and Chief Technical Officer Keith LeChien as the company broke ground on […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is planning roughly $140 billion in uranium enrichment efforts through 2105, but has not provided Congress with required cost information, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. NNSA’s current inventory of low-enriched uranium and highly enriched uranium is expected to meet national security requirements into the 2040s, […]

A newly released JASON study says plutonium in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile is aging slowly and that observed degradation does not currently threaten weapons performance. The March 25 study, Plutonium Aging: Executive Summary, was conducted by JASON – a scientific advisory board for the U.S. military – at the request of Congress to assess […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has extended Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ contract to manage and operate the Savannah River Site through Sept. 30, 2027, as the agency evaluates proposals for the next contract. NNSA exercised the remaining option period on the Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ (SRNS) prime contract, an action with an estimated value […]

OMAHA, Neb. — The National Nuclear Security Administration expects to complete assembly of the remaining B61-13 subassemblies by the end of the calendar year, roughly one year ahead of schedule, Administrator Brandon Williams said Thursday. Speaking in an interview with Exchange Monitor on the sidelines of the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) Deterrence Symposium, Williams highlighted […]

A joint venture between Navarro Research & Engineering and Los Alamos Technical Associates (LATA) has been awarded a subcontract for waste management at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The contract, awarded by Y-12’s Bechtel-led prime Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) could be worth up to $160 million […]

OMAHA, Neb. – Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), said here Thursday Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is accelerating plutonium pit production, with the site targeting 100 pits by December 2028. Speaking at the U.S. Strategic Deterrence Symposium, Williams said reforms across NNSA are producing results in major modernization […]

Exchange Monitor is entering its annual August break that occurs while Congress is in recess. As a result, Weapons Complex Monitor will not be published on Friday Aug. 14 and Friday Aug. 21. The normal weekly publication schedule will resume on Friday Aug. 28. News folks will still be on duty during the break and […]

A nuclear watchdog group in New Mexico has filed suit against the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) seeking to force disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of a study concerning costs of plutonium pit production. The complaint was filed July 23 by Nuclear Watch New Mexico in U.S. […]

Pacific Fusion and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California have demonstrated the long-term operation of a next-generation pulsed-power technology, with a prototype system surpassing 3,000 electrical pulses, or “shots,” under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). The achievement advances the laboratory’s prototype, named Sirius, beyond proof-of-concept and toward Technology Readiness Level 5 by […]

Fusion technology developer Fuse signed a five-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with prime contractor Mission Support and Test Services at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), expanding its collaboration across the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) enterprise. A CRADA deal establishes a framework for research on next-generation fusion technologies, tritium capabilities, higher neutron […]

The 2026 United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) Deterrence Symposium will take place Aug. 5-6 in Omaha, Neb. at the CHI Health Center. The theme this year is “Peace through strength: turning defense strategy into decisive deterrence action,” according to the website. Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), will speak on Thursday. […]

The Donald Trump White House has drafted a memo to Congress, pushing for legislation to remove Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the sole site for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste. The 1987 amendments of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act established Yucca Mountain as the sole repository for high-level waste. However, plans for Yucca were […]

South Carolinians are split on the federal government’s desire to build a data center at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, with supporters focusing on jobs and technological advances, and detractors expressing concerns about potential environmental impacts.  On July 20, DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that it tasked Amentum with securing […]

Washington state’s open primary Aug. 4 will decide what two candidates will be on the November ballot to succeed Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) to represent the 4th congressional district, which includes the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. There are 11 candidates running for the office that Newhouse is vacating in January, according to the Spokesman-Review […]

With a flammable gas analysis complete, the Department of Energy said Tuesday the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, S.C., could soon be ready to resume shipments of the more radioactive type of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. SRS can soon resume shipping drums of remote-handled transuranic waste […]

Legislation introduced this week in the House Science, Space and Technology Committee would direct the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to set up an artificial intelligence (AI) nuclear evaluation program. The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) and is cosponsored by Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.). The Advanced Artificial Intelligence Nuclear Evaluation Program […]

The White House on July 22 announced plans to invest $5 billion into its new Genesis Mission initiative to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for science-related efforts.  “America has no shortage of bold ideas or talented scientists, and the response to the Genesis Mission proves that,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in the White House release, […]

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has received a $156 million contract from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to provide mobile counter-unmanned aircraft systems for the Office of Secure Transportation’s Project Solar Shield. The sole-source, single-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract will support the NNSA Office of Secure Transportation (OST), Kratos announced July 21. OST is responsible for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has delivered its fifth next-generation Global Burst Detector (GBD) sensor payload to the U.S. Space Force to monitor nuclear detonations above-ground globally. The payload will be integrated onto a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite before launch, where it will join an existing constellation of sensors that continuously monitor the […]

Legislation introduced this week in the House Science, Space and Technology Committee would direct the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to set up an artificial intelligence (AI) nuclear evaluation program. The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) and is cosponsored by Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.). The Advanced Artificial Intelligence Nuclear Evaluation Program […]

The White House on July 22 announced plans to invest $5 billion into its new Genesis Mission initiative to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for science-related efforts.  “America has no shortage of bold ideas or talented scientists, and the response to the Genesis Mission proves that,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in the White House statement, […]

A group that is a vocal critic of the Department of Energy and the nuclear industry in South Carolina said last week it has many questions about federal plans to develop a data center at the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, S.C. DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said last week it plans […]

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has received a $156 million contract from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to provide mobile counter-unmanned aircraft systems for the Office of Secure Transportation’s Project Solar Shield. The sole-source, single-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract will support the NNSA Office of Secure Transportation (OST), Kratos announced July 21. OST is responsible for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has delivered its fifth next-generation Global Burst Detector (GBD) sensor payload to the U.S. Space Force to monitor nuclear detonations above-ground globally. The payload will be integrated onto a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite before launch, where it will join an existing constellation of sensors that continuously monitor the […]

Amentum has been selected by the Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to negotiate a lease for a data center at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the organizations said Monday. NNSA picked Amentum to enter into “phased” lease negotiations for a data center and accompanying on-site generation, NNSA and Chantilly, […]

The city of Oak Ridge, Tenn. is still looking for a replacement site for a municipal airport after the original location was tapped for nuclear industry expansion, City Manager Randy Hemann told Exchange Monitor Thursday. In an emailed statement with the Monitor, Hemann said the city is still engaged in considering alternate sites that “meet […]

The city of Oak Ridge, Tenn. is still looking for a replacement site for a municipal airport after the original location was tapped for nuclear industry expansion, City Manager Randy Hemann told Exchange Monitor Thursday. In an emailed statement with the Monitor, Hemann said the city is still engaged in considering alternate sites that “meet […]