Tag Archives: NNSA

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), under the Department of Energy (DoE), partnered with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to test the weapon systems of a B61-12 modified for extended service life. Two flight tests for the B61-12 Life Extension Program took place in March 2020 at the Nevada-based Tonopah Test Range, the Department of Energy said Monday.

Dan Brouillette, secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE), has said that the country needs to revive its nuclear-energy industry and increase investments in related research and development efforts.

Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), said the agency intends to “press forward” with producing plutonium cores that serve as key elements of U.S. nuclear weapons, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The Government Accountability Office has found that while the National Nuclear Security Administration improved its management of weapons stockpile modernization efforts since 2003, it is yet to address challenges in cost and schedule management.

Energy Secretary Dan Broulliette said the Department of Energy’s request for a 20 percent increase in budget seeks to support the infrastructure around the National Nuclear Security Administration’s complex, particularly the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Defense News reported Sunday.

The Department of Energy has introduced a new aircraft unit that will work to enable specialized radiation detection capabilities.

Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, wrote in an article published Monday on Defense News that NNSA requested over $2B in fiscal 2020 funds to support its nuclear nonproliferation, counterterrorism and counterproliferation programs.

The National Nuclear Security Administration has assigned 12 schools into four new consortia as part of efforts to expand the Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program.

The National Nuclear Security Administration has concluded three non-nuclear flight tests of a gravity bomb in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force and allies from NATO. NNSA said Tuesday that it worked with partners to test the B61-12 gravity bomb last month at Tonopah Test Range, Nevada in preparation for the weapon system's final demonstration next year.

Ellen Lord, chair of the Nuclear Weapons Council, said during a tour of the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site that the efforts to refurbish SRS facilities and drive plutonium pit production is “the best path forward.”