Non-Proliferation

A National Nuclear Security Administration program to identify potential nuclear proliferation threats in future years had multiple limitations that could undermine its effectiveness, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued Friday.   The “Over the Horizon” program under the NNDA Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation was begun in 2010 to determine nuclear and […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/30/2015 The House of Representatives on Oct. 20 through a suspension of the rules approved legislation that was proposed in response to an Energy Department plan to in 2016 start transporting highly enriched uranium from Chalk River, Ontario, to the Savannah River Site via an automobile bridge that connects Canada to Buffalo, […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/30/2015 Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies, national laboratories, and industry were on Capitol Hill Tuesday to emphasize the need to ramp up monitoring of radiological materials and urge continued federal funding for programs that counter nuclear smuggling and prevent radiological dispersal device (RDD) attacks […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/30/2015 A team of five Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) staffers that joined over 200 experts from 44 countries to conduct an on-site field exercise in Jordan late last year to evaluate progress in developing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was recognized for “exceptional work,” the National Nuclear Security […]

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies, national laboratories, and industry were on Capitol Hill yesterday to emphasize the need to ramp up monitoring of radiological materials and urge continued federal funding for programs that counter nuclear smuggling and prevent radiological dispersal device (RDD) attacks on the United States.   […]

A team of five Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) staffers joined over 200 experts from 44 countries to conduct an on-site field exercise in Jordan to evaluate progress in developing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Friday. As part of the field exercise, experts used “120 tons […]

The House of Representatives on Tuesday through a suspension of the rules approved legislation that was proposed in response to an Energy Department plan to in 2016 start transporting highly enriched uranium from Chalk River, Ontario, to the Savannah River Site via an automobile bridge that connects Canada to Buffalo, N.Y. If signed into law, the […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/16/2015 A Russian official on Tuesday signaled Moscow is willing to allow the U.S. to choose a different plutonium disposition method than the mixed-oxide approach mandated in a bilateral deal from 2000. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) calls for each nation to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapon-usable […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/16/2015 A Russian official on Tuesday signaled Moscow is willing to allow the U.S. to choose a different plutonium disposition method than the mixed-oxide approach mandated in a bilateral deal from 2000. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) calls for each nation to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapon-usable […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/16/2015 The United States has reduced the number of its deployed strategic warheads below New START treaty limits, while Russia has increased its numbers in the same category, according to the latest aggregate State Department data on strategic offensive arms. In effect since 2011, New START requires each country by February […]

National Security Technologies (NSTec), the contractor that manages and operates the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), is seeking a subcontractor for Global Security Directorate technical support services. The contractor’s Global Security Directorate supports U.S. nonproliferation; counterterrorism; and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear detection initiatives. The subcontractor will provide “cyber resiliency and analytics solutions” for international […]

A Russian official yesterday signaled Moscow is willing to allow the U.S.to choose a different plutonium disposition method than the mixed-oxide approach outlined in a bilateral deal from 2000. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) calls for each nation to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapon-usable plutonium by converting the material into MOX […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/9/2015 Top Officials Say Dilution and Disposal Cheaper, More Practical Future costs and risks to build the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility are significantly greater than those associated with a dilute-and-dispose approach for 34 metric tons of excess U.S. weapon-grade plutonium, according to the executive summary of the second phase of […]

Top Officials Say Dilution and Disposal Cheaper, More Practical Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/9/2015 Future costs and risks to build the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility are significantly greater than those associated with a dilute-and-dispose approach for 34 metric tons of excess U.S. weapon-grade plutonium, according to the executive summary of the second phase of […]

The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee will on Wednesday host a hearing on “Plutonium Disposition and the MOX Project,” where members will testimony from National Nuclear Security Administrator Frank Klotz, John MacWilliams, senior advisor to the Energy Secretary, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will […]

Senate to Vote on Bill Next Week   Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/2/2015 The House of Representatives yesterday passed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2016 yesterday by a vote of 270-156, and the Senate plans to vote on its version of the bill next week, in the face of a threatened veto from […]

Senate to Vote on Bill Next Week Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/2/2015 Amid Capitol Hill rumblings of a possible cancellation of the beleaguered Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 passed this week by the House would require Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz to re-baseline project construction and […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/2/2015 A U.S. interagency nonproliferation team that for over two decades did not conduct physical security visits to 11 foreign nuclear sites containing thousands of kilograms of U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) plans to visit one of the locations in the next six months, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/2/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking industry comments on a draft request for proposal for design, integration, construction, communication, and engineering (DICCE2) services in support of the Office of Global Material Security’s Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) Program, according to a notice posted last Friday. DICCE2 services […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/2/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Material Management and Minimization returned the final 5 kilograms of highly enriched uranium (HEU) spent fuel from a research reactor in Uzbekistan to Russia, the NNSA announced this week. The shipment from the IIN-3M “Foton” research reactor in Tashkent, part of a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Material Management and Minimization returned the final 5 kilograms of highly enriched uranium (HEU) spent fuel from a research reactor in Uzbekistan to Russia, the NNSA announced yesterday. The shipment from the IIN-3M “Foton” research reactor in Tashkent, part of a multi-year effort, completes the removal of […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking industry comments on a draft request for proposal for design, integration, construction, communication, and engineering (DICCE2) services in support of the Office of Global Material Security’s Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) Program, according to a notice posted last Friday.   DICCE2 services sought include the installation of […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/25/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said this week that its repatriation of about 1 kilogram of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from a Jamaican research reactor to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River Site in South Carolina has made the Caribbean HEU-free. The United States supplied Canada with HEU […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/25/2015 The Department of Energy (DOE) and other agencies tasked with conducting global nonproliferation operations have not conducted physical security visits to 11 foreign nuclear sites containing over 3,500 kilograms of U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) in more than 20 years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 09/25/2015 Former Energy Secretary and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson this week said he plans to ask political leaders from Idaho and Washington state to join him in pushing construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. The MOX plant is to be used to process 34 metric […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/25/2015 Former Energy Secretary and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson this week said he plans to ask political leaders from Idaho and Washington state to join him in pushing construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. The MOX plant is to be used to process 34 metric […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) and other agencies tasked with conducting global nonproliferation operations have not conducted physical security visits to 11 foreign nuclear sites containing over 3,500 kilograms of U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) in more than 20 years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released yesterday.   The DOE cited […]

Former Energy Secretary and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is asking political leaders from Idaho and Washington state to join him in pushing construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. During a speech yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington, Richardson argued that ”downblending,” or diluting and disposing, of 34 […]

  The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said yesterday that its repatriation of about 1 kilogram of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from a Jamaican research reactor to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River Site in South Carolina has made the Caribbean HEU-free.     The United States supplied Canada with HEU material for fuel […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 9/18/2015 Switzerland has sent 2.2 kilograms of weapon-grade uranium reactor fuel to the United States for storage, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration said on Wednesday. The shipment makes Switzerland the 27th country, plus Taiwan, to divest itself of all highly enriched uranium, according to an NNSA press release. […]