A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the National Nuclear Security Administration found that technical limitations and exceptions for some nuclear warheads do not hamper the Defense Department’s planning or operations. Published March 90, the report highlights 90 technical nuclear weapons exceptions and limitations in six categories: Safety, operational considerations, reliability, performance, aircraft compatibility and limited-life component exchange intervals.
NNSA and its laboratories routinely prepare reports for each nuclear weapon type, indicating whether it is satisfactory for release to the military services, and describes, among other things, the weapon’s exceptions and limitations.
The report was ordered by Congress in the fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). A copy of the report was provided to both the Defense Department and NNSA, both of which provided technical comments that were incorporated into GAO’s report.
Former head of Sandia National Laboratories Paul Robinson died March 2. From 1995 to 2005 Robinson “successfully guided the workforce through lean and difficult times toward relative stability and growth, while overseeing buildups in stockpile surveillance, anti-terrorism and industrial partnerships,” according to a lengthy obituary posted to Sandia’s website
Robinson was “known as an effective communicator, a generous administrator and a man who committed his life absolutely to national security,” Sandia’s obit reads. A comprehensive remembrance of Robinson’s life and career is available on the lab’s website.
Robinson rose from director of the Systems Analysis Center at Sandia to vice president, and eventually became director in 1995. He lent the federal government Sandia’s security and anti-terrorism expertise in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks. Robinson stepped down from leadership at Sandia in 2005, becoming an adviser to Lockheed Martin’s Information and Technology Services, then retired from Sandia and Lockheed in January 2006.
Australia is expected to choose the U.K. Astute-class nuclear submarine as part of the tripartite security agreement between it, those two countries and the U.S., according to a report from The Guardian.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will make the announcement next week during a trip to San Diego that London will supply nuclear-powered subs to Australia under the AUKUS pact as a result of 18 months of negotiations, The Guardian reported.
Australia, which ditched a previous agreement with France in favor of AUKUS, had a choice between the British sub and the U.S. Virginia class submarines built by General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries.
The U.S. Air Force on March 3 greenlit low-rate initial production of the Leonardo Helicopters MH-139 “Grey Wolf,” which will replace the Vietnam war-era UH-1N in patrolling the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile fields, among other missions.
Leonardo builds the MH-139 airframe, based on its commercial AW139, then ships it across Philadelphia to Boeing, which configures the aircraft for its national security mission. The companies jointly announced a contract for delivery of the first 13 of 84 Grey Wolves the Air Force plans to buy. First delivery is scheduled for 2024.
The Boeing-Leonardo team was awarded a $2.4 billion contract in September 2018 for up to 84 helicopters, training systems and associated support equipment. In August of 2022, the U.S. Air Force accepted the first four helicopters that are now being used for additional developmental and initial operational testing.
The Department of Energy prime for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is looking for contractors interested in performing building demolition.
Bechtel-led Lawrence Livermore National Security, the contractor managing the laboratory for DOE’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) posted a sources-sought notice Thursday March 2 seeking a subcontractor for building and slab demolition as well as soil removal.
Lawrence Livermore National Security said in the notice it seeks an experienced remediation provider that can do site characterization, decontaminate and demolish structures, dig up soil and manage waste transportation and disposal. This allows the lab to determine contractor expertise “as needed,” for future NNSA and DOE Office of Environmental Management demolition, an NNSA spokesperson said by email Wednesday.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through its Charleston, S.C. District, is building a $3.2-million security barricade at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
The project, to replace a 20-year-old temporary barricade, should be finished by the end of the year, the Corps said in a Friday March 3 press release.
The new barricade located at the third-busiest Savannah River entrance, includes revamped driving lanes and traffic controls, inspection canopies and a “ballistic-rated guard house,” according to the release. Design of the new barricade will be finished in coming months followed by tear-down of the temporary barricade and construction of the new one, the Corps said.
Government contractor Amentum will move its corporate headquarters to the Virginia side of the Washington, D.C. suburbs from Maryland, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) announced in a press release last week.
Amentum, a major player in Department of Energy contracts, will invest $495,000 to relocate its headquarters about 38 miles from Germantown, Md., to Chantilly, Va. The move brings about 157 new jobs to Virginia, Youngkin said in the press release. Amentum employs about 44,000 employees spread across 85 countries.
In 2022, Amentum bought Virginia-based PAE (formerly known as Pacific Architects and Engineers), another government contractor. Amentum CEO John Heller, a former CEO for PAE, praised the office move in the release. The relocation “grants more convenient access not only for our local employees, customers, and partners, but also for everyone in our extended team who are doing business in the Washington, D.C. area,” he said.
