The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Feb. 12 opened the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation (CAMINO) with Kansas City National Security Campus and Sandia National Laboratories, according to a press release by Sandia.
The CAMINO facility is located at Science and Technology Park outside Kirtland Air Force Base. The facility is meant to enable rapid prototyping to shorten development life cycles for nuclear weapons and their hardware, Sandia said in the release..
Laura McGill, director of Sandia, said at the ribbon cutting ceremony she hosted that CAMINO is a “network of labs, partners, and physical and digital capabilities that connect foundational research to real-world applications.” She added, “what CAMINO ultimately delivers is speed, readiness and resilience. And that matters for deterrence.”
Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a former U.S. Army Green Beret, posted on X Feb. 19 that he visited Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., site and had an “up close” view of the company’s B-21 Raider bomber now in low-rate initial production.
“It’s one thing to read about it,” Harrigan wrote of the B-21. “It’s another to stand there, talk with the engineers and builders, and see the work happening in real time. Serious aircraft, built by serious people, for the men and women who carry the toughest missions on their shoulders.”
The B-21 is designed to have the dual capability of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons, which the National Nuclear Security Administration is responsible for producing and maintaining. The Air Force’s plans have called for 100 B-21s, yet that number might increase to 145 or more, due to the aging B-52 fleet and the coming retirements of the B-2 Spirit and the B-1Bs.
Orano USA submitted its environmental report for Project IKE, a planned uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Monday.
With the environmental report filed, Orano USA, the U.S. subsidiary of France-based Orano, said the complete facility license submission should occur later this year. “We are pleased to reach this early review stage with the NRC and to submit a detailed and comprehensive Environmental Report addressing the required analyses, including land use, air quality, water quality and use, public and occupational health, and socioeconomics,” Orano USA CEO Jean-Luc Palayer said in a Monday press release.
Project IKE’s development began in September 2024 when the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site was selected as the preferred site for the multi-billion-dollar project. Orano USA said it plans to bring its expertise and experience from the French nuclear industry to bring enriched uranium capabilities to the United States.
Virginia-based BWX Technologies, (BWXT) said last week it has appointed longtime defense and aerospace executive Dan Jablonsky to its board of directors effective March 2.
In a Friday, Feb. 20 press release, BWXT said Jablonsky will also serve on the board’s audit and finance committee. Jablonsky was most recently the CEO and chair of Ursa Major, which provides advanced propulsion systems for space and defense uses. He is also a former president and CEO of Maxar Technologies.
Jablonsky holds degrees in mechanical engineering and law from, respectively, the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of Washington School of Law.