Non-Proliferation

It was all over but the waiting at deadline Friday for Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, at which time Brent Park had still not been sworn in as deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). But barring personal or political catastrophe, Park will soon take the reins of the […]

A couple working days after the Senate confirmed his nomination, the Department of Energy still had not sworn in Brent Park as deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration. Park, a nuclear physicist, will lead a roughly $2-billion-a-year nuclear nonproliferation program that aims to prevent the spread of weaponizable nuclear […]

WASHINGTON — Replacing an under-construction plutonium disposal plant in South Carolina will be billions of dollars cheaper than finishing it, even after accounting for transportation and storage costs associated with a proposed alternative, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) told lawmakers here Tuesday. The Department of Energy wants to cancel the the […]

The Senate on Thursday unanimously approved Brent Park to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s roughly $2-billion-a-year nuclear nonproliferation branch. It took the Senate a little over a month to confirm Park, a physicist and associate director at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, as deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation. President Donald Trump […]

WASHINGTON — Replacing an under-construction plutonium disposal plant in South Carolina will be billions of dollars cheaper than finishing it, even after accounting for transportation and storage costs associated with a proposed alternative, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) told lawmakers here Tuesday. The Department of Energy (DOE) wants to cancel the […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry ducked and dodged in the first congressional hearing of the year about the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2019 budget, evading questions from the dais about when the agency would provide a congressionally mandated cost estimate that could allow it to cancel a massive plutonium disposal plant under construction at the Savannah […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry ducked and dodged in the first congressional hearing of the year about the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2019 budget, evading questions from the dais about when the agency would provide a congressionally mandated cost estimate that could allow it to cancel a massive plutonium disposal plant under construction at the Savannah […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday approved the White House’s nominee to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s roughly $2-billion-a-year nuclear nonproliferation branch. The Donald Trump administration nominated Brent Park, an associate director and physicist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, on Feb. 13. It took the committee 21 days and one […]

A federal judge will resume consideration of CB&I AREVA MOX Services’ argument that it should quickly receive a partial award in a $200 million lawsuit it filed against the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration for alleged mismanagement of a multibillion-dollar nuclear nonproliferation contract. In an order filed Thursday, U.S. Court of Federal Claims […]

The Department of Energy denied late Monday it illegally stalled a lawsuit filed by contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services, which seeks about $200 million in fees and damages for its customer’s alleged mismanagement of a multibillion-dollar nuclear nonproliferation contract. In a court filing last month, MOX Services said DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday approved the White House’s nominee to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s roughly $2-billion-a-year nuclear nonproliferation branch. The Donald Trump administration nominated Brent Park, an associate director and physicist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, on Feb. 13. It took the committee 21 days and one […]

In an expected move, CB&I AREVA MOX Services argued Thursday a federal judge should not dismiss a $200 million lawsuit that claims the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration mismanaged the company’s contract to build a massive plutonium-disposal facility in South Carolina. Hitting back against claims in the agency’s motion to dismiss the suit, MOX Services […]

The metric ton of plutonium South Carolina took the Department of Energy to court over in 2016 is unlikely to leave the state for years, but the agency is seeking more money from Congress to make a move happen sooner, according to its latest budget proposal. In its detailed 2019 budget request issued last week, […]

WASHINGTON — Brent Park, the White House’s choice to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) nonproliferation office, promised he would if confirmed weigh in on a big nonproliferation construction project Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wants to protect in South Carolina. In a confirmation hearing that ended without anyone outright opposing the Oak Ridge physicist’s […]

The metric ton of plutonium South Carolina took the Department of Energy to court over in 2016 is unlikely to leave the state for years, but the agency is seeking more money from Congress to make a move happen sooner, according to its latest budget proposal. In its detailed 2019 budget request issued last week, […]

The Department of Energy has shied away from discussions about settling a $200-million lawsuit filed by CB&I AREVA MOX Services, which is building a massive plutonium-disposal facility at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., the contractor alleged in a Friday court filing. MOX Services sued the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

South Carolina stakeholders for the Savannah River Site denounced Monday a potential plan to process 34 metric tons of plutonium and ship it to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., for permanent storage. That “dilute and dispose” option is the Department of Energy’s preferred approach for eliminating the plutonium, rather than continuing forward with construction and […]

The White House has officially nominated Brent Park, a physicist from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s $2-billion-a-year nonproliferation portfolio, but the Senate Armed Services Committee had not scheduled a nomination hearing as of Friday. Park, whose nomination was sent to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, is now an associate laboratory […]

South Carolina stakeholders for the Savannah River Site denounced Monday a potential plan to process 34 metric tons of plutonium and ship it to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., for permanent storage. That “dilute and dispose” option is the Department of Energy’s preferred approach for eliminating the plutonium, rather than continuing forward with construction and […]

South Carolina stakeholders for the Savannah River Site denounced Monday a potential plan to process 34 metric tons of plutonium and ship it to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., for permanent storage. That “dilute and dispose” option is the Department of Energy’s preferred approach for dealing with the plutonium, rather than continuing forward with construction […]

President Donald Trump plans to nominate a nuclear physicist from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration’s roughly $2-billion-a-year nonproliferation division, the White House said Thursday. In a notice posted online, the administration said it intends to nominate Brent Park, who also serves as an ORNL associate laboratory […]

Russia met a Monday deadline to place its count of deployed long-range nuclear delivery systems and warheads below levels prescribed in the keystone New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Russian Foreign Ministry said this week. The 10-year bilateral treaty, known as New START, went into force in 2011 and required the U.S. and Russia to cap […]

Russia met a Monday deadline to cut its count of deployed long-range nuclear delivery systems and warheads below levels prescribed in the keystone New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The 10-year bilateral treaty, known as New START, went into force in 2011 and required the U.S. and Russia to […]

The U.S. State Department expected Russia to meet treaty obligations today that limit deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550, even as the two powers remain in a standoff over future disarmament negotiations. Today is the deadline for Russia and the United States to meet the strategic nuclear warhead and delivery system numbers […]

When Congress returns to work next week, lawmakers will once again find themselves barreling toward another fiscal cliff with federal funding set to expire in just a matter of days without some kind of compromise. The federal government is operating on its fourth short-term budget since fiscal 2018 started on Oct. 1 of last year. […]

The United States reached its strategic nuclear-arms reduction obligations well in advance of a Feb. 5 deadline prescribed by the New START treaty with Russia, and a cut in deployed submarine-based missiles made up the largest reduction by missile count in 2017, according a document published Friday by the U.S. Department of State. The State […]

The United States reached its strategic nuclear-arms reduction obligations well in advance of a Feb. 5 deadline prescribed by the New START treaty with Russia, and a cut in deployed submarine-based missiles made up the largest reduction by missile count in 2017, according a document published Friday by the U.S. Department of State. The State […]

The state of California is participating in a National Nuclear Security Administration program to reduce the possibility of medical isotopes becoming ammunition for dirty bombs, the semi autonomous Department of Energy agency said Tuesday. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Cesium Irradiator Replacement Program helps academic and medical institutions replace devices that use radiological materials, […]

The state of California is participating in a National Nuclear Security Administration program to reduce the possibility of medical isotopes becoming ammunition for dirty bombs, the semi autonomous Department of Energy agency said Tuesday. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Cesium Irradiator Replacement Program helps academic and medical institutions replace devices that use radiological materials, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Thursday touted its role in a multilateral nonproliferation program aimed at sharpening international expertise in nuclear nonproliferation verification. In a press release, the NNSA said it — along with agencies from Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom — recently participated in an exercise dubbed “LETTERPRESS” at the former […]