Non-Proliferation

An internal panel of National Nuclear Security Administration personnel have started their headquarters-led review of the agency’s Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Office and expects to wrap up the work sometime in 2022, an agency spokesperson said Monday. “The independent strategic review of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation’s (DNN) mission space is beginning its work and conversations with DNN […]

An internal panel of National Nuclear Security Administration personnel have started their headquarters-led review of the agency’s Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Office and expects to wrap up the work sometime in 2022, an agency spokesperson said Monday. “The independent strategic review of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation’s (DNN) mission space is beginning its work and conversations with DNN […]

By Dan Parsons The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation, or NA-80, recently embarked the second and final phase of a refresh for its Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) air fleet: airplanes and helicopters the agency uses to gather data about nuclear accidents, incidents and potential radiological terror attacks. This week, […]

The Toebbes, Jonathan and Diana, were set to be sentenced in August for attempting to sell Virginia-class submarine technology to a foreign nation, according to a Thursday court filing. The Husband-Wife duo were to face the judge together on Aug. 16 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time in the Martinsburg District Judge Courtroom at the U.S. District […]

The Toebbes, Jonathan and Diana, were set to be sentenced in August for attempting to sell Virginia-class submarine technology to a foreign nation, according to a Thursday court filing. The Husband-Wife duo were to face the judge together on Aug. 16 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time in the Martinsburg District Judge Courtroom at the U.S. […]

The wife of the man who attempted to sell U.S. nuclear submarine secrets to a foreign government in exchange for crypto currency will like her husband go to prison as a co-conspirator, according to a plea agreement published Friday. Diana Toebbe, like her husband, will plead guilty to a single count levied against her, in […]

A former Naval Reactors employee from Maryland will spend at least 12-and-a-half years in federal prison after his amateur spycraft got him pinched last year by an undercover FBI agent posing as a foreign buyer of U.S. nuclear-propulsion secrets, the Justice Department said. Jonathan Toebbe, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to communicate […]

A former Naval Reactors employee from Maryland will spend at least 12-and-a-half years in federal prison after his amateur spycraft got him pinched last year by an undercover FBI agent posing as a foreign buyer of U.S. nuclear-propulsion secrets, the Justice Department said. Jonathan Toebbe, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to communicate […]

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to reassess the priorities of its Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, senior administration officials said here this week. The review, which had yet to start as of Wednesday, will “reexamine the priorities and missions” of the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) “in light of the […]

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to reassess the priorities of its Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, senior administration officials said here this week. The review, which had yet to start as of Wednesday, will “reexamine the priorities and missions” of the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) “in light of the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nuclear Emergency Support team took one of its radiation-sniffing Bell 412 helicopters out for what figures to be one of the last pre-Super Bowl patrols before the fleet trades up to new models, the agency said this week. The pregame, daytime-only flights in the vicinity of Los Angeles’ SoFi stadium, […]

In a speech offering 58 minutes of counterprogramming to reports that the U.S. and other nuclear-armed nations were nearing an inflection point in negotiations with Iran over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called for sanctions on the Islamic Republic. “Today I call on the Biden administration and […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nuclear Emergency Support team was scheduled to take one of its radiation-sniffing Bell 412 helicopters out for what figures to be one of the last pre-Super Bowl patrols before the fleet trades up to new models, the agency announced Monday. The pregame, daytime-only flights in the vicinity of Los Angeles’ […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina should be ready to start shipping certain transuranic waste from downblended plutonium to its underground disposal site in New Mexico by the end of the summer, an agency official told the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Tuesday. The Savannah River Site (SRS) goal is […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s counterterrorism office planned to replace its Bell-made helicopters with a pair of Leonardo-made aircraft, according to a contract award posted online this week. The roughly $35.5-million award covers “two (2) each Rotary Wing Aircraft in support of the [National Nuclear Security Administration] NNSA Office of Nuclear Incident Response” from  AgustaWestland […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s counterterrorism office planned to replace its Bell-made helicopters with a pair of Leonardo-made aircraft, according to a contract award posted online Monday. The roughly $35.5-million award covers “two (2) each Rotary Wing Aircraft in support of the [National Nuclear Security Administration] NNSA Office of Nuclear Incident Response” from  AgustaWestland Philadelphia […]

The five major nuclear-weapon states this week released a new statement about the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the bedrock international accord that promotes the peaceful use of nuclear technology and a philosophy of defensive use of nuclear weapons. “We affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.  […]

The five major nuclear-weapon states on Monday released a new statement about the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the bedrock international accord that promotes the peaceful use of nuclear technology and a philosophy of defensive use of nuclear weapons. “We affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.  […]

A National Nuclear Security Administration helicopter will sweep the Las Vegas strip through Dec. 31 to measure background radiation levels ahead of planned New Year’s Eve celebrations, the agency announced this week. Flights were scheduled to begin Dec. 29 and continue through Dec. 31. The agency’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team regularly takes background radiation measurements […]

The U.S. will cease exporting highly enriched uranium to overseas producers of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 in January, the federal government announced Monday. In the release, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said they jointly certified that there is enough molybdenum-99 (Mo-99)  in the world […]

The National Nuclear Safety Administration announced this week Corey Hinderstein was sworn in as deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration. The Senate unanimously confirmed Hinderstein Nov. 30. With her swearing in, the NNSA returns to its full complement of three Senate-confirmed senior managers. The swearing in was announced by National […]

The National Nuclear Safety Administration announced Monday Corey Hinderstein was sworn in as deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration.      The Senate unanimously confirmed Hinderstein Nov. 30. The swearing in was announced by National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) administrator Jill Hruby in a press release. “I would also like to […]

The Senate this week unanimously confirmed Corey Hinderstein to be deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Security Administration. A think-tanker with a previous detail to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under her belt, Hinderstein was on the Senate’s executive calendar for 40 days after clearing the Senate Armed Services […]

The Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Corey Hinderstein to be deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Security Administration. A think-tanker with a previous detail to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under her belt, Hinderstein was on the Senate’s executive calendar for 40 days after clearing the Senate Armed Services […]

Iran must be prevented from fabricating nuclear weapons, the former leader of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nonproliferation program said in a recent speech, as world powers attempt to revive a 2015 nuclear pact with the Middle Eastern country. “One thing that I need to emphasis is: Iran should not, and cannot, make nuclear weapons,” […]

The parties to the Iran nuclear deal that traded sanctions relief for constraints on Tehran’s fissile materials program were to gather in Vienna on Nov. 29 for a seventh round of talks about bringing the U.S. and the Islamic Republic back into the deal, diplomats from some of those countries said Wednesday. Ali Bagheri Kani […]

The parties to the Iran nuclear deal that traded sanctions relief for constraints on Tehran’s fissile materials program were to gather in Vienna on Nov. 29 for a seventh round of talks about bringing the U.S. and the Islamic Republic back into the deal, diplomats from some of those countries said Wednesday. Ali Bagheri Kani […]

Iran must be prevented from fabricating nuclear weapons, the former leader of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nonproliferation program said in a recent speech, as world powers attempt to revive a 2015 nuclear pact with the Middle Eastern country. “One thing that I need to emphasis is: Iran should not, and cannot, make nuclear weapons,” […]

David Huizenga, the Department of Energy’s defense-nuclear do-it-all, is stepping aside as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s top career civil servant to become a senior advisor to the nuclear-weapons sub-agency’s administrator, initially focusing on negotiations to return the U.S. to the Iran Nuclear Deal, according to an internal email. Huizenga will assume his new role […]

David Huizenga, the Department of Energy’s defense-nuclear do-it-all, is stepping aside as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s top career civil servant to become a senior advisor to the nuclear-weapons sub-agency’s administrator, initially focusing on negotiations to return the U.S. to the Iran Nuclear Deal, according to an internal email.  Huizenga will assume his new role […]