Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) and its parent company Bechtel National donated money with aims to support victims of damage from Hurricane Helene in Tennessee, according to a press release by CNS.
CNS, the management and operating contractor for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is donating $10,000 to East Tennessee Foundation’s Neighbor to Neighbor Disaster Relief Fund, which would provide grants to nonprofits to mitigate damage form the hurricane.
The Bechtel Group Foundation will donate $100,000 to the same fund, and would match up to $50,000 in donations that Y-12, the Uranium Processing Facility, Pantex employees, and worldwide Bechtel employees make.
Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., brought on five apprentices in September as part of the first class of Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility Production Operator Apprentices, according to a press release by Savannah River.
According to the press release, the apprenticeship program is a “significant milestone” in staffing the pit production at Savannah River, which is tasked by NNSA, alongside Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, to produce new plutonium pits, the fissile cores of warhead first stages, for nuclear weapons.
The Savannah River Site Apprenticeship School is a partnership between the site and local technical colleges, including Aiken Technical College, Denmark Technical College, and Augusta Technical College. The program is eight months long and will have students complete their classroom work alongside training at the site.
Steadfast Noon, the annual two-week long NATO nuclear exercise, began on Monday in western Europe, according to a press release by the treaty organization.
The exercise will include nuclear-capable jets, fighter escorts, and bombers, among other capabilities, the release said. The drills also involve aircraft from 13 allied countries.
“Nuclear deterrence is the cornerstone of Allied security,” Mark Rutte, NATO’s new secretary general, said in the release. “Steadfast Noon is an important test of the Alliance’s nuclear deterrent and sends a clear message to any adversary that NATO will protect and defend all Allies.
