Recognition of Site’s extraordinary national security contributions means billions for Southern Nevada
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has announced it will exercise Option Terms 1 through 5 of its contract with Mission Support and Test Services (MSTS), the management and operating contractor for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). MSTS took over as the management and operating contractor on Dec. 1, 2017.
“Due to the exemplary efforts of our employees to reaffirm the NNSS as a place of dedication to national security, diversity, and innovation, the NNSS has grown from a $500 million a year enterprise to $1 billion annually in just the last five years,” said Mark W. Martinez, MSTS President. “My heartfelt congratulations and thanks to all of our employees for the work they do every day in service to our nation and the world at large, and my thanks to the NNSA for recognizing the importance of this work through this extension.”
The NNSS recently reached a significant construction milestone at its U1a underground laboratory with the completion of UCEP 10, a $50 million construction project that came in $3 million under budget and one year ahead of schedule. UCEP 20 has begun, which is the next phase of the construction project that will further expand underground subcritical experiments used to certify the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear stockpile. UCEP has been a major factor in increased investment.
In addition to supporting the stewardship of the nuclear deterrent for the U.S. and its allies, the NNSS provides emergency response capability and training and contributes to key nonproliferation and arms control initiatives. It also supports national security customers through strategic partnerships and provides long-term environmental stewardship for site missions. Locally, NNSS provides substantial funding to support K-12 STEM initiatives—including First Robotics and Science Bowl—and university relationships.