DNFSB MEETING AT Y-12 POSTPONED BECAUSE OF GOV’T SHUTDOWN

The government shutdown has claimed another victim as the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has postponed its Oct. 22 public hearing in Knoxville on nuclear safety. In a statement on its website, the Board said delaying the meeting was “appropriate and in the best interest of all parties concerned due to the government shutdown.” The Board had planned to discuss the safety-related risks that go along with continuing to run Y-12’s decades-old production facilities in the two-session meeting at the Knoxville Convention Center. Like the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration, the DNFSB is using carryover funds to operate during the shutdown, but it’s unclear how long those funds will last. It’s also unclear if the NNSA or Y-12 officials would have been able to participate in the meeting since the agency directed weapons complex sites to initiate shutdown plans that would put the complex in standby on Oct. 21 at the latest. It’s unclear when the meeting will be rescheduled.