Nuclear Security & Deterrence Vol. 18 No. 14 STRATCOM CHIEF: U.S. CAN ‘ILL AFFORD’ TO NOT MODERNIZE NUKE DETERRENT
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA TOUTS BETTER, BUT NOT PERFECT, APPROACH TO COMPLEX MODERNIZATION
Held Tells Congress ‘Common Sense’ Approach to Uranium, Plutonium Capabilities Will Be Quicker, Cheaper Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 After years of moving toward building massive facilities to modernize its uranium and plutonium capabilities, a scaled back approach to modernizing the weapons complex that is expected to be quicker and cheaper has been adopted by the […]
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Budget & Policy
SAYING NNSA GOVERNANCE HAS FAILED, HELD TOUTS NEW CONTRACT APPROACH
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Echoing preliminary findings by the Congressionally appointed advisory panel on National Nuclear Security Administration governance, acting NNSA Administrator Bruce Held this week told a House subcommittee that the agency’s approach to governance had failed. Held’s comments followed testimony last week from the co-chairmen of the advisory panel, Norm Augustine and […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
OPPOSITION TO MOX SHUTDOWN RAMPS UP ON CAPITOL HILL
Kenneth Fletcher and Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Criticism of the Department of Energy’s plans to suspend work at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project mounted on Capitol Hill this week when lawmakers squared off with DOE officials at several hearings. Longtime MOX supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) led the charge in the Senate, […]
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Contracts & Procurement
NEW Y-12/PANTEX CONTRACTOR UNVEILS MANAGEMENT PLANS
Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Consolidated Nuclear Security, the incoming contractor at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons facilities, continues to gradually introduce its leadership team and its management plans through a series of messages to employees at the sites. Last weekend, CNS—a partnership led by Bechtel and including Lockheed Martin, ATK Launch Systems and […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
NNSA RED TEAM REACHES ‘STRONG CONSENSUS’ ON ALTERNATIVE TO UPF
Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Red Team has reached a “strong consensus” on an alternative plan to the Uranium Processing Facility, according to Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason, the team leader. Mason said the Red Team made its second on-site visit to the Y-12 National Security Complex last […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
U.S. REDUCES SIZE OF STRATEGIC DEPLOYED STOCKPILE TO 1,585
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Over the last six months, the United States has reduced the size of its strategic deployed nuclear stockpile by 103 warheads, while Russia has increased the size of its stockpile, according to the latest New START Treaty data released by the State Department this week. The April 1 declaration reveals […]
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International
GOP: RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT ASSURANCES
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has stoked tensions between Washington and Moscow, and the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee said this week that it raised serious questions about Ukraine’s 20-year-old decision to give up its nuclear weapons as well. “The Ukraine was the third […]
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Budget & Policy
DEPT. OF ENERGY FILLS NEW CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER POSITIONS
Positions Created as Part of Reorg. Of Safety, Security Functions Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The Department of Energy has moved to fill a set of new Chief Security Officer positions created as part of reorganization of the Department’s health, safety and security functions, according to a message sent to employees late last week. Michael Lempke […]
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Innovation & Infrastructure
DOE CONSIDERING MORE CONSOLIDATION OF HUMAN CAPITAL, IT SERVICES
Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The Department of Energy is looking to make changes to its human capital and IT services that could result in a greater consolidation from the field to DOE headquarters. Among the proposals under consideration, according to officials familiar with the discussions, is the shift of some human capital functions from […]
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National Laboratories
OPERATIONS AT SANDIA TEST SITE REMAIN PAUSED AFTER MISHAP
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Operations at a Sandia National Laboratories explosives testing facility remain shut down after a worker was burned in December when an experiment malfunctioned, a lab spokesman said late last week. The Dec. 11 incident at the lab’s Site 9920 left a worker with burns to his hand when a detonator […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
IG REPORT RAPS NNSA FOR INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE OF WEAPONS DESIGN DATA
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration hasn’t adequately maintained design information for the warheads and nuclear components in its nuclear stockpile, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General report released this week that suggests the missing information raises questions about the credibility of the nation’s nuclear deterrent. “CM [Configuration management] […]
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Contracts & Procurement
NNSA STILL CONSIDERING ACTION IN LANL PROCUREMENT ETHICS INCIDENT
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration is monitoring changes to Los Alamos National Laboratory’s ethics review process in the wake of a DOE Inspector General report that led to the resignation last month of Deputy Director Beth Sellers, and the agency hasn’t made a decision whether or not to take further […]
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Non-Proliferation
2014 NUKE SECURITY SUMMIT PAVES WAY FOR FUTURE REGIME
Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The recent Nuclear Security Summit took important steps toward strengthening a regime beyond the summit process for protecting vulnerable material, though more work needs to be done to ensure progress in the future, nuclear security watchers said this week. A key achievement of the Summit held in the Hague was […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
DNFSB CLOSES RECOMMENDATION ON NUCLEAR MATERIALS PACKAGING
Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board this week closed a 2005 recommendation that called for stricter nuclear material packaging requirements, but the Board is asking for an updated schedule for the Department of Energy’s improvements. The original recommendation called for technical criteria for nuclear material packaging and prioritization of packaging […]
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Contracts & Procurement
DOE LOOKS TO WITHHOLD PAYMENTS DUE TO BUSINESS SYSTEM ISSUES
Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The Department of Energy is proposing a new regulation that would allow it to withhold payments if a contractor’s business systems have “significant deficiencies.” That includes the accounting, estimating, purchasing, earned value management and property management systems. “DOE proposes to implement compliance enforcement mechanisms in the form of a business […]
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National Laboratories
AT LOS ALAMOS
WORK ON NMSSUP FORMALLY COMPLETED JUST UNDER CAP NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Work on a troubled project to upgrade security at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Technical Area-55 was formally wrapped up this week as the National Nuclear Security Administration signed off on the project’s completion, which came in just under the project’s $244.2 million cost cap. […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
AT OAK RIDGE
UPF PROJECT TEAM SCALING BACK WORKFORCE NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 As the Uranium Processing Facility project team scales down work in some design areas pending results of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s review of UPF alternatives, a spokeswoman confirmed that more than 100 members of the project team have been released over the past month. Ellen […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
AT SAVANNAH RIVER
NRC GIVES MOX CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH IN 2013 NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not identify any areas needing improvement in Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility construction in 2013, contractor Shaw AREVA MOX Services announced last week. The annual review conducted by NRC’s resident inspectors aims to identify potential construction and procedure […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
WRAP UP: IN THE NNSA, IN DOE, IN THE INDUSTRY
NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 IN THE NNSA A University of Michigan-led consortium has been awarded a $25 million grant by the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development for research and development in nuclear arms control verification technologies. The grant is expected to provide the consortium $5 million per year over […]