Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

The Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) is only 27 percent complete and will cost $17.2 billion, including the $5 billion already spent, according to a recent cost estimate from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Officials with the National Nuclear Security Administration discussed the estimate Thursday during a media briefing and tour of the […]

Members of Congress and the heads of several National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sites said Wednesday that the agency will be unable to significantly reduce the $3.7 billion backlog of deferred maintenance at the current pace and funding level of infrastructure work. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said during a House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee […]

The Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) is only 27 percent complete and will cost $17.2 billion, including the $5 billion already spent, according to a recent cost estimate from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Officials with the National Nuclear Security Administration discussed the estimate Thursday during a media briefing and tour of the […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has determined that the Department of Energy’s implementation plan for emergency preparedness and response at the Pantex Plant would properly address safety issues at the Texas site, according to a Sept. 2 letter from DNFSB Chairman Joyce Connery to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. This letter came in response […]

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said Monday he expects Congress to restore funding for the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) when lawmakers return to Washington next week. Members of the House and Senate entered into conference committee in July to hash out details of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA); Wilson, one of the conferees, […]

Less than a week after the award was announced, the National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday canceled the new contract for management and operation of the Nevada National Security Site. That puts the multibillion-dollar deal back in play, though only for the companies that submitted bids in the first go-around; new parties are not being […]

Less than a week after the award was announced, the multibillion-dollar management and operations contract for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) is back in play for the current set of bidders. The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration announced Wednesday that it had rescinded the contract deal to Nevada Site Science Support and Technologies […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday said it was rescinding the management and operations contract award announced just last week for the Nevada National Security Site. The agency had previously told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing it was re-evaluating the contract issued to Nevada Site Science Support and Technologies Corp. (NVS3T) upon learning that the firm had […]

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) said Monday he expects Congress to restore funding for the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) when lawmakers return to Washington next week. Members of the House and Senate entered into conference committee in July to hash out details of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA); Wilson, one of the conferees, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration said Monday it is re-evaluating the contract award announced last week for management and operation of its Nevada National Security Site. The semiautonomous Department of Energy branch said Friday that Nevada Site Science Support and Technologies Corp. (NVS3T) had received a contract that could be worth $5 billion over 10 years, including […]

Groundbreaking last week on a key facility for the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee demonstrates the importance of oversight of such projects from Capitol Hill, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Saturday. “For several years, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development, which I now chair, has worked with the Department of […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday it has awarded the contract for management and operation of the Nevada National Security Site to Nevada Site Science Support and Technologies Corp. (NVS3T). NVS3T is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Integrated Technology, and will be supported in the contract by Fluor Federal Services and […]

Local and federal officials were on hand Thursday at the official groundbreaking of the Construction Support Building for the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) project at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. The three-story building will be the project’s first permanent structure and will provide office space, a warehouse, and craft break areas to house […]

There has been no lack of debate over whether the United States should change its policy allowing for first use of nuclear weapons during a conflict in the wake of fresh reports that President Barack Obama is considering doing just that in the waning months of his administration. The question now is whether the chatter will […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Major Modernization Programs will extend for six months its contract with TechSource Inc. for technical support services, according to a notice posted Wednesday. TechSource received its current task order in August 2013 with an August 2016 expiration date and a ceiling of $3.58 million. The company’s work under […]

Members of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board are worried about recent drone sightings over the Department of Energy facility in South Carolina because no one knows who’s flying them or why. As of Thursday, site employees have documented 12 drone sightings above SRS, though the number of drones involved is unclear. The sightings […]

Congress was out and Washington was empty, but that didn’t stop news from breaking during our annual August publication break. As chronicled in the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, here are a few stories that we’ve been following. GAO Challenges NNSA’s Plutonium Pit Production Plans The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) may have overstated the cost […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Major Modernization Programs will extend for six months its contract with TechSource Inc. for technical support services, according to a notice posted Wednesday. TechSource received its current task order in August 2013 with an August 2016 expiration date and a ceiling of $3.58 million. The company’s work under […]

The Sandia National Laboratories has not fully implemented its system to track “nuclear safety soft spots,” or nuclear weapons safety-related design issues, the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office (IG) found in a report released Monday. The report said that while Sandia developed a process to track these safety issues, it did not fully implement […]

Construction of the Pantex Plant’s new Administrative Support Complex is underway, Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) announced Thursday. The 343,000-square-foot complex will relocate employees from aging facilities and into new office space for approximately 1,100 employees – one-third of the workforce – at the nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility, CNS said. The three-story complex will […]

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has yet to use a special authority given to the position two years ago by Congress to prohibit procurements from potentially risky nuclear-weapon component suppliers, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a report released last Thursday. The fiscal 2014 National Defense Authorization Act outlined an enhanced procurement authority allowing the energy […]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has taken effective corrective actions following a radiological material exposure incident at one of its facilities in 2012, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Inspector General found in an Aug. 2 report. The report highlighted an August 2012 radiological incident at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center in […]

Top Air Force officials have in recent days defended current U.S. nuclear posture that avoids officially declaring no-first-use of nuclear weapons, despite calls from lawmakers to President Barack Obama to adopt such a policy during his remaining time in office. Lt. Gen. Jack Weinstein, Air Force deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear […]

Like Congress, the ExchangeMonitor is going on recess in August, and Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor will not be published during the second and third weeks of the month. We’ll still be in the office, so keep the news tips coming, and look for the next weekly newsletter in your inbox on Friday, Aug. 26.

Capitol Hill is buzzing with debate over changes to U.S. nuclear posture that President Barack Obama is rumored to be considering during his final months in office. At the center of these debates is the potential adoption of a nuclear no-first-use posture; current policy allows first use against nuclear-weapon states, but only under extreme circumstances. […]

The Nevada National Security Site’s 2016 full-scale exercise, intended to test the facility’s emergency response capabilities, highlighted a deficiency in providing sufficient information to off-site emergency management organizations, hindering their ability to respond to site emergencies with consequences beyond its boundaries, the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) found in a new report. This issue […]

The ExchangeMonitor’s 2017 Nuclear Deterrence Summit will focus on the ramifications of the change in leadership of the United States, organizers said this week. The conference is scheduled for Feb. 27-March 2 at the Capitol Hilton in Washington, D.C., just over five weeks after the next president, either Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump, takes office. […]

Several Democratic members of the House of Representatives have sent a letter to President Barack Obama encouraging him to use his final months in office to reduce the risk of miscalculation and inadvertent nuclear war, parallel to a similar letter sent last week by Senate Democrats. The July 20 letter, signed by Democratic Reps. Chris Van […]

The Democratic Party’s newly published 2016 platform highlights arms control, nonproliferation, and nuclear stockpile reductions as key in U.S. national security strategy. The platform, finalized ahead of the Democratic National Convention this week in Philadelphia, criticizes Republican candidate Donald Trump for “abandoning NATO partners” and “embracing Russian President Vladimir Putin instead,” referring to Trump’s calls for […]

Last week’s failed military coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reignited the public debate regarding the security and value of the U.S. tactical nuclear weapons widely accepted to be deployed in the NATO state. Any corresponding discussion happening within the Obama administration or Defense Department, though, is being kept behind closed doors. “Turkey […]