National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

There should be no shortage of naval nuclear reactors when the U.S. shipbuilding industry begins churning out historic numbers of submarines before the end of the decade, the Navy’s senior submarine procurement official said Monday. Rear Adm. Scott Pappano, the Navy’s program executive officer for strategic submarines, said there are no signs that reactor demand […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to perform two subcritical explosive experiments at the Nevada National Security Site in the fiscal year that ends Oct. 1, 2024, according to Deputy Administrator for Defense Nonproliferation Corey Hinderstein. Since the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CBTB) took effect in 1992, NNSA has performed 33 subcritical experiments at the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration wants to expand its supplier base for the highly engineered glove boxes needed to speed up production of new plutonium pits for nuclear weapons.  The airtight, pressurized containers, are in high demand at NNSA facilities such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is gearing up to produce at least 30 […]

Sandia National Laboratories is adopting a permanent hybrid workforce, increasing the number of telecommuters and remote workers across the organization. Sandia also plans to establish several hubs around the country that eventually will allow classified work to be done at secure locations other than those in New Mexico and California. The move toward remote work […]

The story “Los Alamos wants to speed glovebox buying, widen supplier base” [Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, June 28, 2023] should have said NNSA plans to hire Merrick Strategic Management Solutions, with an anticipated contract award date of August 28.

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to perform two subcritical explosive experiments at the Nevada National Security Site in the fiscal year that ends Oct. 1, 2024, according to Deputy Administrator for Defense Nonproliferation Corey Hinderstein. Since the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CBTB) took effect in 1992, NNSA has performed 33 subcritical experiments at the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration wants to expand its supplier base for the highly engineered glove boxes needed to speed up production of new plutonium pits for nuclear weapons.  The airtight, pressurized containers, are in high demand at NNSA facilities such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is gearing up to produce at least 30 […]

There should be no shortage of naval nuclear reactors when the U.S. shipbuilding industry begins churning out historic numbers of submarines before the end of the decade, the Navy’s senior submarine procurement official said Monday. Rear Adm. Scott Pappano, the Navy’s program executive officer for strategic submarines, said there are no signs that reactor demand […]

The Senate Armed Service Committee’s version of the fiscal 2024 defense authorization bill includes $24.1 billion for nuclear defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, almost exactly in line with a House committee’s version of the bill.  The Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday said its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) […]

The House Appropriations Committee late Thursday approved a bill that would give the National Nuclear Security Administration a slightly larger 2024 budget than requested, owing mostly to added funding for a plutonium pit plant being built in South Carolina. After a lengthy markup session that ran late into the night, the committee voted 34-to-24, essentially […]

The Department of Energy is wagging its enforcement finger at Honeywell, which manages five of its nuclear security sites, for conducting firearms training for security personnel in sweltering heat at the Kansas City National Security Campus. On May 11, 2022, when it was 85 degrees outside, Honeywell conducted outdoor firearms training and qualification activities at […]

Employees suing Consolidated Nuclear Security over allegedly withheld wages responded late last week to the company’s request that a court throw the case out, again arguing that the contractor shorted them a paycheck in 2017. Plaintiffs James Myers, James Young and Douglas Messerli have so far been unsuccessful in certifying a class action lawsuit on […]

Employees suing Consolidated Nuclear Security over allegedly withheld wages responded late last week to the company’s request that a court throw the case out, again arguing that the contractor shorted them a paycheck in 2017.  Plaintiffs James Myers, James Young and Douglas Messerli have so far been unsuccessful in certifying a class action lawsuit on […]

The Department of Energy is wagging its enforcement finger at Honeywell, which manages five of its nuclear security sites, for conducting firearms training for security personnel in sweltering heat at the Kansas City National Security Campus.  On May 11, 2022, when it was 85 degrees outside, Honeywell conducted outdoor firearms training and qualification activities at […]

Department of Energy employees and contractors are no longer allowed to use the popular short-video app TikTok “or any successor application or service” from the Chinese-owned company ByteDance on government devices. The prohibition is law, as of the passing of the creatively-named “No TikTok on Government Devices Act,” which “prohibits the presence or use of […]

Members of the House Armed Services Committee propose to withhold funding for retirement of the W76-2 warhead unless the military and National Nuclear Security Administration can prove there is no need for the lower-yield submarine-launched weapon. The bill would also withhold 20% of travel funding for National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator Jill Hruby until […]

Last week’s breach of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine threatens the stability of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest, by draining a critical source of coolant water, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.  The breach of the dam early on June 6 caused a rapid drop in the water levels of the Kakhovka […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given the go-ahead for Centrus to demonstrate production of high assay low-enriched uranium at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site near Piketon, Ohio. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Regional Administrator Laura Dudes on June 12 wrote Mathew Snider, general manager of American Centrifuge Operating, to officially authorize the introduction of uranium […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories have successfully performed a second joint abnormal thermal environment test for the W80-4 Life Extension Program, the labs recently announced.  Carried out April 5 at Sandia’s Cross Wind Test Facility in New Mexico, this abnormal thermal environment test, or ATE-2, was a fast-heat, fully engulfing system-level fuel […]

Civilian nuclear weapons programs would get a little more funding than requested in fiscal year 2024 if a bill sent to the House Appropriations Committee this week becomes law. The House Appropriations energy and water development subcommittee’s version of the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2024 spending bill would provide $48.8 billion overall for the agency, […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given the go-ahead for Centrus to demonstrate production of high assay low-enriched uranium at the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site near Piketon, Ohio. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Regional Administrator Laura Dudes on June 12 wrote Mathew Snider, general manager of American Centrifuge Operating, to officially authorize the introduction of uranium […]

Civilian nuclear weapons programs would get a little more funding than requested in fiscal year 2024 if a budget bill released Wednesday by a House panel becomes law. The House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water’s version of the fiscal 2024 spending bill provides $48.8 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE), $133 million more […]

A House committee’s first draft of an annual defense policy bill would increase funding for plutonium pit production, a controversial sea-launched cruise missile warhead and other nuclear weapons modernization programs.  While House Armed Services subcommittees, including the strategic forces subcommittee, were debating their versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Tuesday, the full […]

Members of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee are proposing to withhold funding for retirement of the W76-2 warhead unless the military and National Nuclear Security Administration can prove there is no need for the lower-yield submarine-launched weapon. The proposal is included in the subcommittee’s markup of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), […]

Last week’s breach of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine threatens the stability of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest, by draining a critical source of coolant water, the International Atomic Energy Agency said last weekend.  The breach of the dam early on June 6 caused a rapid drop in the water levels of […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories have successfully performed a second joint abnormal thermal environment test for the W80-4 Life Extension Program, the labs recently announced.  Carried out April 5 at Sandia’s Cross Wind Test Facility in New Mexico, this abnormal thermal environment test, or ATE-2, was a fast-heat, fully engulfing system-level fuel […]

Rep. Joe Wilson, the Republican from South Carolina whose district surrounds the Savannah River National Laboratory, recently received briefings from Navy, National Guard, and Department of Energy officials on how the state is promoting national security.  Leaders from Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Savannah River Site, and the Savannah […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Information Management has plans to establish a $6.4 million information technology center to consolidate two existing facilities in the Washington, D.C. area.  The NNSA began modernizing its information technology (IT) facilities with its fiscal year 2022 budget in order to establish data center space and “increase capacity for […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Information Management has plans to establish a $6.4 million information technology center to consolidate two existing facilities in the Washington, D.C. area.  The NNSA began modernizing its information technology (IT) facilities with its fiscal year 2022 budget in order to establish data center space and “increase capacity for […]

Lewis Monroe was to replace Jeff Johnson as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s associate administrator for defense nuclear security, a source said Tuesday. As head of the Office of Defense Nuclear Security at agency headquarters in Washington, Monroe will be responsible for physical and information security across the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) network of […]