National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

The Department of Energy will not pick up the remaining options on Bechtel National-led Consolidated Nuclear Security’s contract to manage the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and Pantex Plant in Texas, which now will expire after Sept. 30, 2021. Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) will leave three years’ worth of options on the table. The […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory got whacked with some $300,000 in fines this month for failing to notify the New Mexico state government about eight off-site waste shipments in 2017 and 2018. The eight shipments, comprising 18 containers, happened while contractor Los Alamos National Security was still in charge of the northern New Mexico nuclear-weapons […]

The Department of Defense would get more control over the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons budget under the Senate version of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was unveiled Tuesday. The Senate Armed Services Committee filed the text of the bill, which sets funding limits and policy for defense programs, late in […]

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) said Tuesday she wants the next Department of Energy budget bill to prohibit spending that contributes in any way to nuclear-explosive tests. Titus made the request during the House Appropriations Committee’s annual member day hearing, which gives congresspeople a few minutes to publicly discuss measures they want in the various appropriations […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) ordered 2,000 custom lapel pins at a cost of about $5.45 each from Medalcraft Mint, of Green Bay, Wis., to mark the agency’s 20th anniversary. Congress partially split the semiautonomous NNSA off from the broader Department of Energy two decades ago, over the objections of the Bill Clinton administration. […]

The House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subcommittee on Monday approved the nuclear-weapons parts of the chamber’s fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The brief markup sets the stage for the full committee to consider the legislation on July 1. It took only about 15 minutes, without debate or amendments, for the panel to advance […]

The labor group representing some 1,450 workers at the Department of Energy’s Y-12 National Security Complex last week struck a new five-year labor deal with the Tennessee site’s Bechtel National-led manager. Members of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council (ATLC), an umbrella organization covering between 15 and 20 individual unions, ratified the agreement June 18. […]

Democrats and Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee want the president to get more hands-on practice with nuclear command and control, according to a provision in the chamber’s annual defense policy bill. According to aides on the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, the lower chamber’s version of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization […]

There were seven confirmed new cases of COVID-19 across the U.S. civilian nuclear weapons complex last week, a spokesperson for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday. That makes for a total of 119 cases since confirmation in January of the first U.S. case of the viral disease, which is caused by the novel […]

Department of Energy contractor Strategic Management Solutions Inc. (SMSI) has hired industry veteran Matthew Nuckols for the newly created position of executive vice president. A civil engineer, Nuckols has 25 years of project and program management experience at sites within the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management and semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) complexes, […]

In an official report to Congress about tritium-safety oversight, the Department of Energy again sought to avoid a legal fight about whether its workforce is subject to recommendations from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The independent federal agency feared the Energy Department might have rejected a 2019 recommendation to bolster the Savannah River Site’s […]

AECOM said Monday that Chief Financial Officer W. Troy Rudd would be elevated to CEO effective Oct. 1. Rudd will succeed Michael Burke, who is retiring after six years as chief executive. Lara Poloni will also move up to president from chief executive of AECOM’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) business, according to a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) this month formally marked the end of its program to downblend 10 metric tons of excess highly enriched uranium when it closed out a contract with Westinghouse Government Services. According to the Government Accountability Office, Westinghouse planned to sell the resulting low-enriched uranium to the Tennessee Valley Authority, which uses […]

Nora Khalil is leaving the National Nuclear Security Administration to become the lead Republican staffer on the Senate Appropriations panel that writes the agency’s annual budget bill each year,  a source familiar with the move said. Khalil is now the agency’s associate administrator for external affairs. She will replace Adam DeMella, who is leaving Sen. […]

The Department of Energy is close to finalizing revisions to the federal regulation governing nuclear safety management at its facilities, according to a letter the agency recently sent to the federal government’s independent health and safety watchdog. The agency sent the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) a copy of the draft final rule on […]

In an official report to Congress about tritium-safety oversight, the Department of Energy again sought to avoid a legal fight about whether its workforce is subject to recommendations from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The independent federal agency feared the Energy Department might have rejected a 2019 recommendation to bolster the Savannah River Site’s […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security in 2017 took a paycheck’s worth of pay from certain employees at Department of Enegy’s Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, three employees alleged in a federal lawsuit. The short happened after the Bechtel National-led site management contractor shifted to a biweekly pay schedule in 2015 from a monthly pay schedule, according […]

Nora Khalil is leaving the National Nuclear Security Administration to become the lead Republican staffer on the Senate Appropriations panel that writes the agency’s annual budget bill each year,  a source familiar with the move said. Khalil is now the agency’s associate administrator for external affairs. She will replace Adam DeMella, who is leaving Sen. […]

After it leaked to the media that the Senate’s fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) had a sliver of funding for nuclear-explosive test readiness, the five Democrats of Nevada’s congressional delegation released a letter to the White House condemning any return to testing. “With no stated justification to resume testing, we unequivocally oppose any […]

In an official report to Congress about tritium-safety oversight, the Department of Energy again sought to avoid a legal fight about whether its workforce is subject to recommendations from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The independent federal agency feared DOE might have rejected a 2019 recommendation to bolster the Savannah River Site’s ability […]

The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is now confirming 35 cases of COVID-19 among its workforce, up by three since Friday. The updated total was posted on the SRS website Monday. Twenty-three of those infected with novel coronavirus 2019 have recovered and been cleared to return to work, according to the notice. […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) this month formally marked the end of its program to downblend 10 metric tons of excess highly enriched uranium when it closed out a contract with Westinghouse Government Services. According to the Government Accountability Office, Westinghouse planned to sell the resulting low-enriched uranium to the Tennessee Valley Authority, which […]

There were eight new cases of COVID-19 across the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) nuclear weapons complex this week, as agency headquarters remobilized additional personnel sent home during the pandemic and the Pantex Plant in Texas prepared to do the same. That makes for a total of 107 cases at the NNSA since January, when officials […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday voted almost unanimously in favor of promoting Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes to the No. 2 position at the Department of Energy. In the panel’s voice vote, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) raised the sole objection to advancing Menezes toward confirmation as deputy secretary of energy […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) agreed to share a strategic management plan it is preparing for sustaining microelectronics infrastructure at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico with the Government Accountability Office, which wants the nuclear-weapon agency to appoint a more powerful manager for the program. The plan will be ready around December 2020, […]

Nikki Grover was on June 12 to become chief financial officer for the Bechtel-led team managing the Department of Energy’s Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The chief financial officer for Consolidated Nuclear Security “oversees the financial activities at both sites,” according to the contractor’s website. Grover […]

The B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is building will work with the Boeing-built F-15E Strike Eagle, the Sandia National Laboratories said last week. “Sandia National Laboratories and the Air Force conducted the full-weapon system demonstration under a full end-to-end test scenario, demonstrating operational crews, representative carriage, release conditions and weapon […]

As it holds out hope for some role in building the next generation of U.S. nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles, Boeing continues modernizing parts of the existing fleet, including adding the ability to remotely update launch codes at all 450 missile silos. The maker of the current Minuteman III fleet, which in 2019 exited the Air Force […]

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) on Thursday made good on his promise to sharply increase the budget for Department of Energy nuclear weapons programs at the expense of the Navy’s attack submarines. The committee’s roughly $740-billion 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would authorize the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) request for […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina had to set aside some N95-style masks last month after testing revealed the face wear could not filter enough particulates to be considered a personal respirator capable of protecting users from COVID-19. The independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) disclosed the issue in its […]