National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

The Department of Energy could spend $20 million on tearing down contaminated old facilities at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California during fiscal 2024, or about $15 million less than what Congress approved for that purpose in fiscal 2023, according to the White House budget justification out last week. The DOE Office of Environmental […]

Any deployment by North Korea of a nuclear weapon would mean the fall of the Kim regime, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said this week.  The reclusive nation fired a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday and later announced it has the capability to mount a nuclear warhead on the launcher.  […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2024 includes a funding boost for plutonium pit production in New Mexico, with the goal of building 80 per year as close to 2030 as possible.  Also in the request, the NNSA provided a new cost and schedule estimate for completing the Uranium Processing Facility […]

Funding for a nuclear warhead carried by an in-development sea-launched cruise missile was written out of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s fiscal year 2024 budget request, reflecting the Biden administration’s desire to cancel the weapon. The NNSA received $20 million in 2023 to continue development of a lower-yield sea-launched cruise missile variant of the W80-4 […]

Bills pending before the South Carolina legislature could split the state regulator for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken into two separate organizations, a state agency official told the Citizens Advisory Board for the federal complex Monday. Susan Fulmer, manager of federal remediation for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental […]

Work continues on transfer of the Savannah River Site landlord authority to the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, the top cleanup fed at the South Carolina complex told a DOE advisory panel this week. A joint team of DOE Office of Environmental Management and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) representatives should issue […]

Materials shortages, technology changes and other factors have pushed major enhancements to a nuclear-weapon testing facility in Nevada back three years and inflated the overall project cost to $1.8 billion, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s 2024 budget request. Supply chain disruptions and other problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the […]

Work continues on transfer of the Savannah River Site landlord authority to the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, the top cleanup fed at the South Carolina complex told a DOE advisory panel this week. A joint team of DOE Office of Environmental Management and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) representatives should issue […]

Funding for a nuclear warhead carried by an in-development sea-launched cruise missile was written out of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s fiscal year 2024 budget request, reflecting the Biden administration’s desire to cancel the weapon. The NNSA received $20 million in 2023 to continue development of a lower-yield sea-launched cruise missile variant of the W80-4 […]

Materials shortages, technology changes and other factors have pushed major enhancements to a nuclear-weapon testing facility in Nevada back three years and inflated the overall project cost to $1.8 billion, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s 2024 budget request. Supply chain disruptions and other problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2024 includes a funding boost for plutonium pit production in New Mexico, with the goal of building 80 per year as close to 2030 as possible.  Also in the request, the NNSA provided a new cost and schedule estimate for completing the Uranium Processing Facility […]

Work continues on transfer of the Savannah River Site landlord authority to the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, the top cleanup fed at the South Carolina complex told a DOE advisory panel Monday. A joint team of DOE Office of Environmental Management and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) representatives should issue a […]

Australia will buy three U.S.-built Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines beginning in the 2030s as part of the tripartite AUKUS deal, the parties said Monday. AUKUS aims both to create an Australian nuclear submarine force and industrial base and recapitalize the U.S. submarine building industry. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.K. Prime Minister […]

The Air Force conducted a critical design review for the AGM-181 Long Range Stand-Off nuclear-tipped cruise missile from Feb. 2 to -March 2 at Eglin AFB, Fla., a service spokesperson said Monday. Raytheon Technologies, Arlington, Va., is the Air Force’s prime contractor for the missile, which will carry a W80-4 warhead provided by the National […]

A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the National Nuclear Security Administration found that technical limitations and exceptions for some nuclear warheads do not hamper the Defense Department’s planning or operations. Published March 90, the report highlights 90 technical nuclear weapons exceptions and limitations in six categories: Safety, operational considerations, reliability, performance, aircraft […]

President Joe Biden recently announced his intent to nominate Patricia Lee, who has more than 30 years of experience with radiation protection issues at the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina and elsewhere, to serve on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Lee now serves as the portfolio manager for the laboratory’s digital enterprise, […]

The U.S. military lags behind both Russia and China in building and fielding low-yield nuclear weapons and can address that gap by diversifying the military’s nuclear options, the head of U.S. Strategic Command told Congress on Thursday. Air Force Gen. Anthony Cotton, in charge of U.S. nuclear forces since December, said he launched a review […]

Facing expanding mandates for information security at the two big nuclear-weapon production sites it manages, Consolidated Nuclear Security has launched a hiring spree for qualified information technology and cybersecurity experts. Over the past several years, Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) has found it difficult to meet its cybersecurity and IT staffing needs with its internal employee […]

Below is Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor’s annual digest of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) performance evaluation summaries: the agency’s report cards for its big contracts, which explain how much management and operations entities earned for their performance. The Monitor has provided links to NNSA source documents. Kansas City National Security Campus, Kansas City, […]

The Biden Administration’s fiscal 2024 budget requests $23.8 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, an increase of about $1.5 billion from the current fiscal year.  Released Thursday, the president’s budget request aims to “make historic investments in the nation’s nuclear security enterprise to implement the President’s Nuclear Posture Review; support a safe, secure, and […]

The Department of Energy prime for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is looking for contractors interested in performing building demolition. Bechtel-led Lawrence Livermore National Security, the contractor managing the laboratory for DOE’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) posted a sources-sought notice Thursday March 2 seeking a subcontractor for building and slab demolition as […]

Facing expanding mandates for information security at the two big nuclear-weapon production sites it manages, Consolidated Nuclear Security has launched a hiring spree for qualified information technology and cybersecurity experts. Over the past several years, Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) has found it difficult to meet its cybersecurity and IT staffing needs with its internal employee […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through its Charleston, S.C. District, is building a $3.2-million security barricade at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The project, to replace a 20-year-old temporary barricade, should be finished by the end of the year, the Corps said in a Friday March 3 press release. […]

The Department of Energy on Friday marked the anniversary of Russia’s second invasion of Ukraine with a list of the agency’s contributions to Kyiv during the conflict. Both the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Office of Nuclear Energy merited callouts in Friday’s press release for showing Ukrainian personnel how to identify radiation releases, conduct unspecified […]

Machined uranium chips caused the fire that prompted last week’s evacuation of the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Building 9212, a site spokesperson said this week. “In the event on February 22, chips of uranium metal from machining activity had been processed for storage in accordance with standard operating procedures,” a Y-12 spokesperson wrote Thursday in […]

PHOENIX —One year into its new 10-year deal at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge has finished demolishing some key structures at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the remediation prime’s CEO said Wednesday. All of the old contaminated buildings at Y-12 and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory […]

The technology that powers the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s main nuclear-weapon testing center is a viable bedrock for a nuclear fusion power plant, the lab’s director testified Tuesday in Congress. Based on data available today from Livermore’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), “it is feasible to develop a fusion energy power plant based on the inertial […]

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a classified memo establishing new rules for the permanent disposal of weapon-usable nuclear material and the handling of weaponizable radioactive substances, the White House announced. National Security Memorandum 19 “establishes the first comprehensive policy for securing radioactive materials, which present continuing domestic and global risk, along with new domestic […]

PHOENIX —One year into its new 10-year deal at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge has finished demolishing some key structures at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the remediation prime’s CEO said Wednesday. All of the old contaminated buildings at Y-12 and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory […]

The technology that powers the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s main nuclear-weapon testing center is a viable bedrock for a nuclear fusion power plant, the lab’s director testified Tuesday in Congress. Based on data available today from Livermore’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), “it is feasible to develop a fusion energy power plant based on the inertial […]