The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory this week promoted a new article in Nature that detailed some of the foundational work at the National Ignition Facility over the last two years that paved the way for August’s record-setting energy output at the facility, the California weapons lab wrote in a press release.
Achieving a burning plasma state in the facility “is of great scientific importance for fundamental fusion research as well as supporting the National Nuclear Security Administration’s science-based Stockpile Stewardship program,” the lab wrote.
John Plumb, a think-tanker the Joe Biden administration tapped to be assistant secretary for space policy, had his nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee this week, where he said he personally opposed a “categorical” no-first-use-of-nuclear-weapons policy.
However, the former Pentagon hand and current think-tanker was more circumspect when asked whether he believed the sole purpose of a nuclear arsenal was to deter a nuclear attack. Beyond that, Plumb offered the usual spate of careful, uncontroversial answers to lawmakers’ detailed list of advanced policy questions, broadly supporting the planned refurbishment of U.S. nuclear weapons, delivery platforms and carrier vehicles, and pledging, if confirmed, to work to understand the details of specific programs.
Huntington Ingalls Industries, the Navy shipbuilder that also helps manage Department of Energy nuclear-weapon sites, promoted Chris Kastner to president and chief executive officer, the company announced Friday. He will take over March 1 from Mike Petters, who will remain with the company for a transition period, Huntington Ingalls wrote in a press release.
Huntington Ingalls is a member of management teams at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the Nevada National Security Site and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
The Department of Energy and the prime contractor for the agency’s Kansas City National Security Campus in Missouri resolved a simmering dispute that reached the appeals stage before the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, according to a notice the board posted online this week.
The board’s summary notes only that the dispute was dismissed with prejudice. Typically, the board does not release the details of such disputes between federal contractors and their customers. If the board cannot resolve a dispute, arguments can escalate to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the venue for suing the federal government.
