National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

WASHINGTON — Modernization of U.S. nuclear weapons and delivery systems is moving too slowly and the Pentagon has heard about it, Nebraska’s senior U.S. senator said here Tuesday at a think tank. “When we’re in classified briefings and I hear from the military and the department, they give me dates on when things are going […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is looking for sea transport of nuclear materials from east Asia, according to a solicitation posted Friday on a government contracting database. Offers are due August 16, and work would be done within two years of the solicitation, according to an unclassified statement of work appended to the solicitation.   […]

Teresa Robbins from Y-12 was appointed assistant principal deputy administrator of operations at National Nuclear Security Administration headquarters, according to an email seen by the Exchange Monitor. The newly created headquarters job, NA-4 for short, siphons off some of the responsibilities previously given to the agency’s top-ranking civil servant, the associate principal deputy administrator, or […]

Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the second quarter, which the global engineering company with a big footprint in the Department of Energy, attributed to long-term government and commercial contracts, according to a Friday press release. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $169 million, or $0.97 a share, up from […]

Plans to relocate the Nevada National Security Site’s Las Vegas-area campus are on hold for lack of funds, a National Nuclear Security Administration spokesperson told the Monitor Thursday. “The move from the North Las Vegas Facility to a new location was evaluated…because it was identified as a project that could potentially occur in the next […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration released a report last week that said the U.S. nuclear stockpile had 3,748 warheads as of September 2023. Information on the nuclear weapons stockpile was last released and updated in October 2021, when the stockpile had 3,713 warheads. The number of nuclear warheads is down 88% from its peak in […]

An amended record of decision published Tuesday clears an environmental hurdle for sending contaminated soil to the Nevada National Security Site from the Department of Energy’s section of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California. The Nevada Nuclear Security Site (NNSS) expects to receive between 3-million and 4-million cubic feet of soil potentially contaminated with […]

Editor’s note, Aug. 01. The story was updated with comment from Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). WASHINGTON — Senate appropriators on Thursday proposed a 2025 Department of Energy budget that would pile funding the House wants to put into nuclear weapons into nuclear-weapons cleanup. That’s according to a detailed bill report the Senate Appropriations Committee released […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee planned to mark up Thursday its version of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s 2025 budget, the committee announced. The full committee markup was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Eastern time in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 106. The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025 is one […]

An amended record of decision published Tuesday clears an environmental hurdle for sending contaminated soil to the Nevada National Security Site from the Department of Energy’s section of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California. The Nevada Nuclear Security Site (NNSS) expects to receive between 3-million and 4-million cubic feet of soil potentially contaminated with […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration released a report last week that said the U.S. nuclear stockpile had 3,748 warheads as of September 2023. Information on the nuclear weapons stockpile was last released and updated in October 2021, when the stockpile had 3,713 warheads. The number of nuclear warheads is down 88% from its peak in […]

The secretary of energy discussed plans for modernizing the Cernavoda nuclear power plant and other U.S.-Romania civil nuclear and energy projects in Bucharest July 23-24, according to a Department of Energy press release. Jennifer Granholm, the U.S. secretary of energy, gave keynote remarks on Wednesday at the 5th annual ministerial meeting of the Partnership for […]

Workers at the Savannah River Site in June removed the last pieces of plutonium recycling equipment from a building that will house the site’s pit plant, the site’s management contract said Wednesday. Over 18 months, workers removed over 2,500 gross tons of material from the area, according to the press release from Savannah River Nuclear […]

After hours of debate on more than 60 amendments this week, the House of Representatives canceled a planned vote on several 2025 appropriations bills, including the one that funds the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration. Media reported Wednesday that a fractious, razor-thin Republican majority could not wrangle enough votes in their own […]

PanTeXas Deterrence announced four key personnel who will lead management of the Pantex Plant alongside Kelly Beierschmitt, president of the BWX Technologies-led venture, the parent announced Tuesday. The four other senior managers leading PanTeXas Deterrence are: Carl Beard, production operations director. Beard has five years of experience at the Pantex Plant and experience in pit […]

A plaintiff who claims false statements by the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico led to the breakup of his marriage served legal papers on the government defendant, he told a federal court last week. After being warned by U.S. District Court Judge Steven Yarbrough that the case would be dismissed unless […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is slowing its hiring and growth with aims to alleviate overcrowding in the community, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said in answer to a local’s question at a large and vocal town hall Monday. “We’re not going to continue to grow the lab,” Jill Hruby, head of the […]

A federal safety watchdog will hear testimony from government agencies next month on best practices for taking care of aging nuclear infrastructure, some of which is a half-century old. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has set a public hearing Aug.14 at its Washington, headquarters to hear testimony from representatives of the Government Accountability […]

The Department of Energy has implemented all 34 corrective actions required by a June 2021 settlement agreement over mislabeled waste sent to the Nevada National Security Site from the Y-12 National Security Site in Tennessee, officials said last week. Completion of enhanced waste verification at the Nevada Site, before and after waste arrives, was noted […]

Top Department of Energy executives for the weapons complex Monday evening got an earful from a large and vocal crowd of New Mexico residents on everything from plutonium pit production to proposed new electric power lines near the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Also at one point during the 90-minute meeting, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

A federal safety watchdog will hear testimony from government agencies next month on best practices for taking care of aging nuclear infrastructure, some of which is a half-century old. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has set a public hearing Aug.14 at its Washington, headquarters to hear testimony from representatives of the Government Accountability […]

Workers at the Savannah River Site in June removed the last pieces of plutonium recycling equipment from a building that will house the site’s pit plant, the site’s management contract said Wednesday. Over 18 months, workers removed over 2,500 gross tons of material from the area, according to the press release from Savannah River Nuclear […]

A federal safety watchdog will hear testimony from government agencies next month on best practices for taking care of aging nuclear infrastructure, some of which is a half-century old. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has set a public hearing Aug.14 at its Washington, headquarters to hear testimony from representatives of the Government Accountability […]

Two amendments dealing with the National Nuclear Security Administration were agreed to and two anti-nuclear amendments failed during a 2025 appropriations debate Tuesday on the House floor. The 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, H.R. 8997, reached the House floor Tuesday, but lawmakers ended their day without a vote on the […]

PanTeXas Deterrence announced four key personnel who will lead management of the Pantex Plant alongside Kelly Beierschmitt, president of the BWX Technologies-led venture, the parent announced Tuesday. The four other senior managers leading PanTeXas Deterrence are: Carl Beard, production operations director. Beard has five years of experience at the Pantex Plant and experience in pit […]

A plaintiff who claims false statements by the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico led to the breakup of his marriage served legal papers on the government defendant, he told a federal court last week. After being warned by U.S. District Court Judge Steven Yarbrough that the case would be dismissed unless […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is slowing its hiring and growth with aims to alleviate overcrowding in the community, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said in answer to a local’s question at a large and vocal town hall Monday. “We’re not going to continue to grow the lab,” Jill Hruby, head of the […]

Top Department of Energy executives for the weapons complex Monday evening got an earful from a large and vocal crowd of New Mexico residents on everything from plutonium pit production to proposed new electric power lines near the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Also at one point during the 90-minute meeting, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

The Department of Energy has implemented all 34 corrective actions required by a June 2021 settlement agreement over mislabeled waste sent to the Nevada National Security Site from the Y-12 National Security Site in Tennessee, officials said last week. Completion of enhanced waste verification at the Nevada Site, before and after waste arrives, was noted […]

Editor’s note: the election digest tracks lawmakers whose constituencies include Department of Energy nuclear sites. Most lawmakers with big nuclear constituencies look, as usual, safe to win reelection this November. However, a few are retiring and some are in tight races. The Exchange Monitor’s election digest is tracking them all. Among the expected Senate retirees […]