National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Four years after an agreement apparently resolved a federal safety watchdog’s access to staff and records at Department of Energy nuclear sites, the dispute appears to be back. In an April 29 letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s (DNFSB) lone member said DOE is not complying with its […]

As part of its efforts to remove high-risk radioactive material from the world, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday it has taken the last cesium-137 blood irradiator from Lebanon. It is an important milestone, NNSA said in a Friday May 29 press release. That’s because the cesium inside these medical […]

The version of the fiscal 2027 Energy & Water Development bill recently voted out of the House Appropriations Committee endorses key Department of Energy projects getting underway at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash and the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. At Savannah River Site (SRS) DOE is directed to brief the House Appropriations […]

Fluor Marine Propulsion has been awarded a $1.03 billion contract modification to continue work supporting the Navy’s nuclear propulsion enterprise at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory, according to a Defense Department contract announcement Tuesday. The cost-plus-fixed-fee modification, awarded under an existing naval propulsion contract, provides funding for naval nuclear propulsion work performed through the Naval Nuclear […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex has completed its fiscal 2026 uranium casting production for the Naval Reactors program ahead of schedule and, according to a Wednesday announcement from the site. Y-12 produced 175 uranium castings during the fiscal year, which provided enriched uranium feedstock used in the fuel supply chain for the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered […]

The Department of Energy is reviewing roughly 80 internal orders under an initiative called “Project Velocity” aimed at accelerating work across the nuclear weapons enterprise, Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said last month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the effort is intended to streamline operations […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex has completed its fiscal 2026 uranium casting production for the Naval Reactors program ahead of schedule and, according to a Wednesday announcement from the site. Y-12 produced 175 uranium castings during the fiscal year, which provided enriched uranium feedstock used in the fuel supply chain for the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered […]

Fluor Marine Propulsion has been awarded a $1.03 billion contract modification to continue work supporting the Navy’s nuclear propulsion enterprise at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory, according to a Defense Department contract announcement Tuesday. The cost-plus-fixed-fee modification, awarded under an existing naval propulsion contract, provides funding for naval nuclear propulsion work performed through the Naval Nuclear […]

The Department of Energy is reviewing roughly 80 internal orders under an initiative called “Project Velocity” aimed at accelerating work across the nuclear weapons enterprise, Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said last month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the effort is intended to streamline operations […]

Years after an agreement apparently resolved a federal safety watchdog’s access to staff and records at Department of Energy nuclear sites, the dispute appears to be back. In an April 29 letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s (DNFSB) lone member said DOE is not complying with its Atomic […]

The House Armed Services Committee will mark up its version of a must-pass policy bill Thursday that includes a clause on the relationship between the Pantex Plant and the nearby Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Texas. A provision of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which will undergo an amendment session Thursday, […]

Tetra Tech has been awarded a contract valued at nearly $1.8 million to assist the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in developing federal environmental policy documents. The work involves technical support services for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance for site-wide document development for NNSA’s Office of Environment, Safety, and Health, according […]

As part of its efforts to remove high-risk radioactive material from the world, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday it has taken the last cesium-137 blood irradiator from Lebanon. It is an important milestone, NNSA said in a Friday May 29 press release. That’s because the cesium inside these medical […]

About 81 million pounds of rubble have been cleared away from the two-acre footprint of the former Alpha-2 building site at the Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. That amounts to about 3,500 truckloads of debris being hauled away from the former uranium enrichment […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise is entering a “fourth age of deterrence,” marking a shift from post-Cold War stewardship toward large-scale modernization and production. Speaking May 5 before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis described the current era as one driven […]

A key environmental document and Record of Decision (ROD) issued Thursday by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) clears the way for expanding operations for Sandia National Laboratories over the next 15 years. The “expanded operations alternative” endorsed the NNSA’s final Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement and ROD should allow Sandia to build […]

A key environmental document and Record of Decision (ROD) issued Thursday by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) clears the way for expanding operations for Sandia National Laboratories over the next 15 years. The “expanded operations alternative” endorsed the NNSA’s final Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement and ROD should allow Sandia to build […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory may require significant electrical infrastructure upgrades within several years as artificial intelligence programs, supercomputing systems and weapons modernization activities sharply increase power demand, the lab’s Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the laboratory is pursuing plans for a […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory may require significant electrical infrastructure upgrades within several years as artificial intelligence programs, supercomputing systems and weapons modernization activities sharply increase power demand, the lab’s Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the laboratory is pursuing plans for a […]

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) remains concerned that a prospective U.S.-Saudi Arabia 123 agreement may not include the “gold standard” nonproliferation provisions that bar uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing. “You know, I have raised this at every opportunity, and always the answer is opaque,” Merkley said in an interview. “But what my impression is, no […]

The United States should hold off on nuclear fuel reprocessing, until the proliferation concerns around the process are addressed, a former National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official said recently. In a May interview with Exchange Monitor, Scott Roecker, who formerly served as the director of the Office of Nuclear Material Removal at NNSA, told the […]

The United States should hold off on nuclear fuel reprocessing, until the proliferation concerns around the process are addressed, a former National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official said recently. In a May interview with Exchange Monitor, Scott Roecker, who formerly served as the director of the Office of Nuclear Material Removal at NNSA, told the […]

The United States nuclear weapons enterprise must be flexible, scalable and collaborative in coming years in a world where Russia and China are rapidly modernizing their nuclear triad, officials said during a Tuesday webinar held by the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance (ANWA) Deterrence Center. Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Eric […]

The White House Office of Personnel Management is seeking public comment on its proposal to implement non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, for future and current federal employees. According to a Wednesday Federal Register notice, the proposal is meant to ensure employees “comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained […]

Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink could gain the authority to transfer funds appropriated for non-ICBM programs to the LGM-35A Sentinel future ICBM and the existing Minuteman III, under the fiscal 2027 House Armed Services Committee (HASC) proposal by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). The transfer authority would last from fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2030, […]

The United States nuclear weapons enterprise must be flexible, scalable and collaborative in coming years in a world where Russia and China are rapidly modernizing their nuclear triad, officials said during a Tuesday webinar held by the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance (ANWA) Deterrence Center. Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Eric […]

The Navy’s top officer last week outlined updates in the service’s strategy to extend the service life of several nuclear-armed Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) that could result in quicker turnarounds for delays in the new Columbia-class boats. “We were looking at a number between four and five of these PIRAs, as we call them, […]

Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink could gain the authority to transfer funds appropriated for non-ICBM programs to the LGM-35A Sentinel future ICBM and the existing Minuteman III, under the fiscal 2027 House Armed Services Committee (HASC) proposal by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). The transfer authority would last from fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2030, […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory may require significant electrical infrastructure upgrades within several years as artificial intelligence programs, supercomputing systems and weapons modernization activities sharply increase power demand, the lab’s Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the laboratory is pursuing plans for a […]

SANTA FE, N.M. — Residents, advocates and technical experts said here last week that a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) environmental review on plutonium pit production understates risks to water resources, worker safety and communities along transport routes. Some speakers at a Thursday May 14 public hearing in Santa Fe also said NNSA is failing […]