National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Wednesday morning officially green-lit the Los Alamos National Laboratory to make 30 war-ready warhead cores in 2026 for next-generation intercontinental ballistic missiles. Under the long-expected decision, the northern New Mexico weapon-design laboratory “will produce a minimum of 30 war reserve pits per year for the national pit production […]

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chairman Bruce Hamilton is resigning from the panel, effective early this month, the agency said in a press release late Monday. Hamilton has submitted his resignation to President Donald Trump, according to a one-paragraph announcement. The panel’s vice chairman and newest member, Thomas Summers, will step in as acting chairman. […]

To settle a lawsuit filed in 2016, the federal government will pay $600 million to South Carolina in recognition of the Department of Energy’s inability to remove several metric tons of plutonium from the state by a legal deadline of 2022, state and federal officials said Monday. The money will come from the Treasury Department’s […]

The Department of Energy is scheduled on Sept. 30 to end an emergency program to reimburse contractors for paid leave provided certain employees who cannot work on-site during the COVID-19 pandemic. A provision included in the $2.2 trillion CARES Act signed into law in March provided for reimbursement to key government contractors, such as those […]

Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette is scheduled for an official visit to South Carolina today, during which he and the state’s attorney general are expected to announce a major financial settlement in a $200-million lawsuit over weapon-usable plutonium stored at the Savannah River Site for about a decade. Two people with knowledge of the secretary’s […]

Some 1,500 people showed up online Wednesday to check out job opportunities in the nuclear security enterprise during the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) third virtual job fair of the summer. Roughly 2,000 people registered to attend by providing resumes and other information, and most of those got at least some virtual face time with […]

A report from the University of New Mexico concludes the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in recent years was worth more than $3.1 billion to the state, although the economic benefit is concentrated in a few counties. A summary of the report was presented Aug. 21 to the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) […]

In an order as bristly as the late Wilford Brimley’s legendary mustache, a federal judge on Tuesday postponed the sentencing of a former Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist who pleaded guilty to lying about his connection to a Chinese government program. Sentencing had been set for Wednesday in U.S. District Court for New Mexico, and […]

If the New START nuclear arms-limitation treaty expires in February, and the United States decides to boost its deployed nuclear weapons, the Department of Energy could face billions of dollars in one-time and recurring costs, the Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday. While the study, “The Potential Costs of Expanding U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces If the New […]

The downtown Seattle building contaminated with cesium-137 after what the Department of Energy called a “preventable” quality control lapse by a radiological source-removal contractor should reopen in about a year, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) top nonproliferation official said Thursday.  “We are hopeful the University of Washington could reoccupy the building within a matter […]

It is becoming increasingly obvious that Congress will need to pass a continuing resolution to keep the Department of Energy and all other federal agencies open beyond the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, a panel of Washington, D.C., insiders said Thursday. “It’s almost guaranteed we are going to end up in a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will name its under-construction Albuquerque headquarters building after the late John Gordon, the former agency administrator who died early this year. Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the current administrator of the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency, announced the decision on Aug. 21. The building’s official name will be the John […]

Although the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plans to replace Consolidated Nuclear Security as the manager of the Y-12 National Security Site in Tennessee and the Pantex Plant in Texas, the incumbent will stay on at Y-12 to continue building the new factory for nuclear-weapon secondary stages. “The Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) project will continue […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) picked up four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 this week, bringing the nuclear-weapon agency’s total to 529 since the confirmed beginning of the U.S. outbreak, a spokesperson said Friday. So far, 416 people among the agency’s federal employees and contractors have recovered from their bouts with the disease caused […]

Weapons Complex Monitor took its annual summer recess in mid-August, but we kept track of the nuke news during the publishing holiday and have compiled it here for you. Ninth Court Upholds State Law on Hanford Worker Compensation A Washington state law that makes it easier for workers at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site to […]

A report from the University of New Mexico concludes the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in recent years was worth more than $3.1 billion to the state, although the economic benefit is concentrated in a few counties. A summary of the report was presented Aug. 21 to the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on Friday announced the selection of an APTIM-AECOM contracting team to decommission the retired SM-1 power reactor at Fort Belvoir, Va. The contract with APTIM AECOM Decommissioning LLC, headquartered in nearby Alexandria Va., is worth $67.98 million, according to an Army Corps press release. It covers what is […]

Some 1,500 people showed up online Wednesday to check out job opportunities in the nuclear security enterprise during the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) third virtual job fair of the summer. Roughly 2,000 people registered to attend by providing resumes and other information, and most of those got at least some virtual face time with […]

In his newly created role as chief operating officer, Thomas Mooney will focus on key projects at the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. This is “a pivotal time for the cleanup mission,” and Mooney will assist incoming Environmental Management Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations (EM-3) Nicole Nelson-Jean in keeping the focus […]

In an order as bristly as the late Wilford Brimley’s legendary mustache, a federal judge on Tuesday postponed the sentencing of a former Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist who pleaded guilty to lying about his connection to a Chinese government program. Sentencing had been set for today in U.S. District Court for New Mexico, and […]

If the New START nuclear arms-limitation treaty expires in February, and the United States decides to boost its deployed nuclear weapons, the Department of Energy could face billions of dollars in one-time and recurring costs, the Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday. While the study, “The Potential Costs of Expanding U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces If the […]

The Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., is set to reopen its Innovation Parkway Office Center on Tuesday, following a deep cleaning necessitated by a COVID-19 case on-site. After announcing confirmation Friday that an individual working in the building had caught the viral disease caused by the novel coronavirus, Sandia diverted anyone needing badging to […]

Attorneys for the former Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist due to be sentenced this week for lying to federal authorities about his connection to a Chinese talent-recruiting program asked for only fines and probation for their client, according to a long-awaited sentencing memo. Turab Lookman, indicted in May 2019 on three counts of lying to […]

Fluor has sold its construction equipment rental business in the Caribbean for $22 million. The assets of AMECO Caribbean are now almost fully owned by to Stewart’s Automotive Group, Fluor said in an Aug. 17 press release. The remaining assets of the AMECO equipment rental in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle […]

The head of the nuclear and environment business unit for Maryland-based Amentum has been deemed a public sector “leader to watch” in the during 2020, by a website for executives. Mark Whitney, executive vice president and general manager for Amentum’s Nuclear & Environment Strategic Business Unit, was featured in an Aug. 19 article by WashingtonExec.com. […]

Recoveries handily outpaced new cases of COVID-19 at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) last week, as the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapons agency confirmed 107 active cases of the viral disease among its civil servant and contractor employees. That was 53 fewer active cases than the week before, an agency spokesperson told Weapons Complex […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will name its under-construction Albuquerque headquarters building after the late John Gordon, the former agency administrator who died early this year. Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the current administrator of the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency, announced the decision Friday. The building’s official name will be the John A. Gordon […]

Over 70 former Republican national security officials have endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden for president, calling Donald Trump “dangerously unfit to serve another term.” The group includes several former members of the Trump administration, such as Miles Taylor, who served as the Department of Homeland Security chief of staff, and Elizabeth Neumann, who was DHS […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Monday it will dispatch a radiation-sniffing helicopter to the skies of Charlotte, N.C., ahead of the 2020 Republican National Convention scheduled there next week. A twin-engine Bell 412 helicopter, rigged with passive radiation-sensing instruments, “will conduct low-altitude helicopter flights over downtown Charlotte and areas in and around Yorkmount […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina has confirmed a total of 368 cases of COVID-19 infections among its workforce, though about two-thirds of those personnel have recovered and been authorized to return to the job. The total, posted Friday on the website for the DOE operations office at Savannah River, represents […]