Archive

Pantex

The Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, the nation’s primary site for nuclear weapons assembly, disassembly, and plutonium pit storage.

  • House NDAA seeks to ensure Pantex, Amarillo airport stay on good terms

    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, […]

  • High Explosives Facility completed at Pantex

    The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently completed construction at the Pantex Plant’s High Explosives Science and Engineering facility, consolidating 15 Manhattan Project-era facilities, the agency said last week. “The new High Explosives Science and Engineering facility is a landmark achievement, setting an unprecedented standard for high explosives research and development crucial to national security,” […]

  • High Explosives Facility completed at Pantex

    The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently completed construction at the Pantex Plant’s High Explosives Science and Engineering facility, consolidating 15 Manhattan Project-era facilities, the agency said last week. “The new High Explosives Science and Engineering facility is a landmark achievement, setting an unprecedented standard for high explosives research and development crucial to national security,” […]

  • Senate-passed NDAA includes Wicker amendment on Pantex Plant

    The Senate, amid an ongoing government shutdown, passed its mammoth annual authorization bill, the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), 70-20 Thursday with an en bloc amendment that includes a provision on an explosives facility in Amarillo, Texas. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, had a 71-page en bloc amendment […]

  • Pantex readiness assessment turns up issues, DNFSB says

    The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said Pantex management and operating contractor PanTeXas Deterrence concluded reviewing nuclear explosive operations in one of its weapons programs, according to a July 4 report. The prime contractor at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, is a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) site, has a number of issues […]

  • First production unit of B61-13 gravity bomb complete, Pantex says

    The first production unit of the B61-13 gravity bomb is complete, nearly a year ahead of schedule, Pantex Plant prime PanTeXas Deterrence announced this week. The first production unit was completed four months after the announcement of the last production unit for the B61-12. Pantex program manager Taylor Massey said in a press release Monday […]

  • First production unit of B61-13 gravity bomb complete, Pantex says

    The first production unit of the B61-13 gravity bomb is complete, nearly a year ahead of schedule, Pantex Plant prime PanTeXas Deterrence announced Monday. The first production unit was completed four months after the announcement of the last production unit for the B61-12. Pantex program manager Taylor Massey said in a press release Monday that […]

  • Bomb-sniffing dogs sought for Pantex

    The prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Pantex nuclear weapons plant near Amarillo, Texas is in the market for a subcontractor to provide three “canine detection teams” capable of sniffing out explosives, according to an online procurement notice. BWX Technologies-led PanTeXas Deterrence, the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) management contractor, posted the notice […]

  • GAO says more work needed on DOE procurements

    When it comes to overseeing billions of dollars’ worth of federal contracts, the Department of Energy, and its two nuclear weapons complex offices, still has work to do, a congressional watchdog agency said in a Thursday report. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said DOE, its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and its Office of […]

  • Wrap up: Senate manager’s amendment for NDAA; CNS/Pantex awards Amarillo community; Energy secretary ‘concerned’ about Iran

    Senate armed services committee chair Jack Reed (D-R.I) and ranking member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) this week said they amended the committee’s 2025 National Defense Authorization Act to include language about the next silo-based, nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile. The language, part of a large managers package of uncontroversial amendments, says that it is “sense of Congress” […]

  • BWX Technologies reports higher revenue amid worst global market days in two years

    Earnings rose at BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., in the second quarter, which the company on Monday attributed partly to organic growth in government operations as it prepared to begin work on a new nuclear weapons contract. In June, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awarded PanTeXas Deterrence, a BWX Technologies (BWXT)-led joint venture, a contract […]

  • Fluor reports quarterly earnings uptick; touts weapons complex foothold

    Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the second quarter, which the global engineering company with a big footprint in the Department of Energy, attributed to long-term government and commercial contracts, according to a Friday press release. Net earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 were $169 million, or $0.97 a share, up from […]

  • Wrap-up: DOE discussed Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Bucharest; AUKUS training in Pearl Harbor; CNS announced Pantex largest Texas panhandle employer

    The secretary of energy discussed plans for modernizing the Cernavoda nuclear power plant and other U.S.-Romania civil nuclear and energy projects in Bucharest July 23-24, according to a Department of Energy press release. Jennifer Granholm, the U.S. secretary of energy, gave keynote remarks on Wednesday at the 5th annual ministerial meeting of the Partnership for […]

  • House abandons planned vote on DOE and NNSA’s 2025 budget bill

    After hours of debate on more than 60 amendments this week, the House of Representatives canceled a planned vote on several 2025 appropriations bills, including the one that funds the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration. Media reported Wednesday that a fractious, razor-thin Republican majority could not wrangle enough votes in their own […]

  • PanTeXas Deterrence announces key personnel as Pantex management transition begins

    PanTeXas Deterrence announced four key personnel who will lead management of the Pantex Plant alongside Kelly Beierschmitt, president of the BWX Technologies-led venture, the parent announced Tuesday. The four other senior managers leading PanTeXas Deterrence are: Carl Beard, production operations director. Beard has five years of experience at the Pantex Plant and experience in pit […]

  • PanTeXas Deterrence announces key personnel as Pantex management transition begins

    PanTeXas Deterrence announced four key personnel who will lead management of the Pantex Plant alongside Kelly Beierschmitt, president of the BWX Technologies-led venture, the parent announced Tuesday. The four other senior managers leading PanTeXas Deterrence are: Carl Beard, production operations director. Beard has five years of experience at the Pantex Plant and experience in pit […]

  • Exchange Monitor 2024 U.S. election digest

    Editor’s note: the election digest tracks lawmakers whose constituencies include Department of Energy nuclear sites. Most lawmakers with big nuclear constituencies look, as usual, safe to win reelection this November. However, a few are retiring and some are in tight races. The Exchange Monitor’s election digest is tracking them all. Among the expected Senate retirees […]

  • DOE inspector general reports energy inefficiencies at NNSA Pantex Plant

    The National Nuclear Security Administration did not comply with an energy savings performance contract from 2018 to 2021 at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, an audit from the Office of Inspector General said. The DOE Inspector General’s audit reported that savings identified in an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) with renewable energy firm NORESCO […]

  • BWXT team proceeds with Pantex takeover, announces president

    PanTeXas Deterrence got the green light from the National Nuclear Security Administration to begin taking over as management and operations contractor for the Pantex Plant located near Amarillo, Texas. The transition to manage Pantex, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plant that services all U.S. nuclear weapons, will begin July 15 and end November 14, […]

  • Texas congressman wants to amend budget bill to prohibit defunding high explosives at Pantex

    An amendment that would prohibit defunding high explosive production at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, would be considered next week by the House Rules Committee as part of the 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), whose district includes the Pantex Plant that services all U.S. nuclear […]

  • Texas congressman wants to amend budget bill to prohibit defunding high explosives at Pantex

    An amendment that would prohibit defunding high explosive production at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, would be considered next week by the House Rules Committee as part of the 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), whose district includes the Pantex Plant that services all U.S. nuclear […]

  • BWXT team proceeds with Pantex takeover, announces president

    PanTeXas Deterrence got the green light from the National Nuclear Security Administration to begin taking over as management and operations contractor for the Pantex Plant located near Amarillo, Texas. The transition to manage Pantex, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plant that services all U.S. nuclear weapons, will begin July 15 and end November 14, […]

  • NNSA awards PanTexas Deterrence Pantex contract

    The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration Thursday awarded a contract for management and operation of  the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas to a joint venture called PanTeXas Deterrence LLC, led by Lynchburg, Va. based BWX Technologies. That is according to a notice on the federal government’s System for Award Management (SAM.gov). The award […]

  • Pantex award in June; ‘bold’ NNSA weapons budget forecast

    WASHINGTON — The National Nuclear Security Administration still plans to announce the new manager of Pantex Plant in June, the head of the agency said here Wednesday. Jill Hruby, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), reiterated the timeline during an evening Capitol Hill panel discussion and reception hosted by Bechtel National, the nongovernmental […]

  • Pantex award in June; ‘bold’ NNSA weapons budget forecast

    WASHINGTON — The National Nuclear Security Administration still plans to announce the new manager of Pantex Plant in June, the head of the agency said here Wednesday. Jill Hruby, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), reiterated the timeline during an evening Capitol Hill panel discussion and reception hosted by the nongovernmental Advanced Nuclear […]

  • CNS pays $18.4M to settle allegations of nearly six years of timecard fraud at Pantex

    Consolidated Nuclear Security paid $18.4 million to settle allegations of timecard fraud at the Pantex Plant that date back to the company’s takeover of the facility, the Department of Justice said this week. “[B]etween July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2020, [Consolidated Nuclear Security] knowingly submitted false claims to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

  • CNS pays $18.4M to settle allegations of nearly six years of timecard fraud at Pantex

    The Department of Justice on Tuesday said Consolidated Nuclear Security paid $18.4 million to settle allegations of timecard fraud at the Pantex Plant that date back to the company’s takeover of the facility in 2014. “[B]etween July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2020, [Consolidated Nuclear Security] knowingly submitted false claims to the National Nuclear Security […]

  • CNS raising funds for wildfire relief

    Site prime Consolidated Nuclear Security planned a fundraiser Thursday to help cover some of the damages caused by recent wildfires near the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, the joint venture said in a press release. The fires, which drew the attention of major news outlets, forced Pantex, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) nuclear-weapons service center, to briefly shut […]

  • NNSA splits Pantex, Y-12 federal office

    The separation of the Pantex Plant in Texas and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee took a baby step forward this week with the opening of separate federal field offices for the nuclear-weapons production sites. Consolidated Nuclear Security, still the joint operations contractor for the two sites, announced the split on Tuesday in a […]

  • CNS raising funds for wildfire relief

    Site prime Consolidated Nuclear Security planned a fundraiser Thursday to help cover some of the damages caused by recent wildfires near the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, the joint venture said in a press release. The fires, which drew the attention of major news outlets, forced Pantex, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) nuclear-weapons service center, to briefly shut […]