Nuclear Security & Deterrence Vol. 18 No. 8 GAO DISMISSES B&W-LED PROTEST OF NNSA Y-12/PANTEX CONTRACT
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
CLARITY EXPECTED NEXT WEEK ON FUTURE OF MOX PROJECT
Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 After recent steps pointing toward the potential termination of the project, more clarity on the future of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility is expected to come with the release of the Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request next week. Bruce Held, acting head of the National Nuclear Security […]
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Budget & Policy
NEW DETAILS EMERGE ON MGMT. STRIFE WITHIN DNFSB
Report Describes Apparent Tensions Between Technical Director, Staff Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 There appear to be significant tensions between the technical staff at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and the Board’s Office of the Technical Director, according to a report NS&D Monitor obtained this week. The report provides the full, unredacted version […]
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National Laboratories
HELD: DOE/NNSA NEED ‘MORE AGILE’ RELATIONSHIP WITH NAT’L LABS
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 Expanding on previous comments about a “public interest” model for managing the nation’s national laboratories, acting National Nuclear Security Administration chief Bruce Held said this week that the agency need to move toward a “more agile” governance relationship between the labs and its federal overseers. Speaking at the Energy Communities […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
HANEY TOUTS MODERNIZATION IN FACE OF PRESSURE FROM REPUBLICANS
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 Faced with a barrage of questions from Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee about modernizing the nation’s nuclear deterrent, new Strategic Command chief Adm. Cecil Haney this week signaled that investing in the nation’s nuclear deterrent should remain a priority for the Obama Administration. Haney appeared before the committee […]
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
DEFENSE SECRETARY: NUCLEAR TRIAD WILL SURVIVE PENTAGON BUDGET CUTS
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 The nuclear triad will survive the proposed Pentagon spending cuts in President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said this week. Offering a preview of the President’s budget request to reporters at the Pentagon Feb. 24, Hagel outlined a series of spending cuts across the Department […]
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International
ADMIN. OFFICIAL: CONGRESS NOTIFIED IN 2010 OF POTENTIAL INF TREATY VIOLATION
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 An Obama Administration official said this week that the Senate was informed of a possible issue involving Russian compliance with an arms control treaty in the fall of 2010, several months before the Senate cleared the New START Treaty. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee Feb. 25, Brian McKeon, […]
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Budget & Policy
KLOTZ, ROBINSON NOMINATIONS REMAIN STALLED IN SENATE
Senate Could Vote on State Department Arms Control Nominee, Rose Gottemoeller, Next Week Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 An attempt to get two top Department of Energy nominees confirmed hit a roadblock this week when an anonymous hold was placed on the pair. Senate Republicans attempted to “hotline” the nominations of Frank Klotz, the Administration’s pick […]
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Budget & Policy
INTERIM NNSA GOVERNANCE PANEL REPORT EXPECTED IN LATE MARCH
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 An interim report from the Congressionally established panel examining governance options for the National Nuclear Security Administration is expected to be completed in late March when members of the panel are set to testify before the House Armed Services Committee on their initial findings, study co-chairman Norm Augustine told NS&D […]
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Budget & Policy
UNIONS TAKE WAIT-AND-SEE APPROACH ON NEW DOE SAFETY REORGANIZATION
Mike Nartker and Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 Labor union officials are so far taking a wait-and-see stance toward the Department of Energy’s recently announced plans for reorganizing its health, safety and security functions, though the anticipated role going forward of DOE’s current Chief Health, Safety and Security Officer, Glenn Podonsky, is giving organized labor […]
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Budget & Policy
DOE OFFICIAL: DEPT. EXAMINING IDEA OF NEW PROJECT MANAGEMENT ORG.
Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 A senior Department of Energy official late this week confirmed DOE has been examining the possible creation of a new organization that would be responsible for major line-item construction projects, but stressed that the idea was one among many under consideration to help improve how DOE manages projects. “There are […]
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Contracts & Procurement
LATEST EARNINGS REPORT FOR BABCOCK & WILCOX A MIXED BAG
Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 Babcock & Wilcox recorded an increase in profits of $126.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2013 but offered a muted forecast for 2014 as it released its latest earnings report. While the company said it made a profit of $165.6 million during the fourth quarter of 2013, up from […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
PADUCAH LASER ENRICHMENT PLANT LICENSE APPLICATION COMING IN SEPT.
Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 In a another step in a proposal to construct a new laser enrichment plant at the Paducah site, Global Laser Enrichment intends to submit a license application by September to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the company told the NRC last week. “GLE expects to submit the license application for the […]
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Innovation & Infrastructure
DOE SAYS IT’S MAKING PROGRESS ON WORK PLANNING IMPROVEMENTS
Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 The Department of Energy has made “significant progress” on commitments for improving work planning and control in response to concerns from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, DOE told the DNFSB this month. In August 201,2 the DNFSB sent a letter to DOE detailing issues with the implementation of work […]
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Defense & Military
INTERVIEW: Maj. Gen. Alston Discusses the Air Force Nuclear Mission
The following interview with retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Donald Alston was conducted by Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor Editor Todd Jacobson. NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 In 2007, you were tasked with repairing the Air Force’s nuclear mission after a series of miscues, including the unauthorized transport of nuclear weapons on the wing of a bomber, […]
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National Laboratories
AT LIVERMORE
LAWMAKERS PUSH FOR NIF FUNDING NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 A group of 17 lawmakers—all but one from California—late last week urged President Obama to provide “strong and sustained” funding for the National Ignition Facility and inertial confinement fusion activities at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In a letter to President Obama Feb. 21, the lawmakers, led by […]
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National Laboratories
AT LOS ALAMOS
NNSA LOOKING TO ACCELERATE RLWTF UPGRADE NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration is looking at options to potentially accelerate the schedule for a project to upgrade Los Alamos National Laboratory’s aging Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility. NNSA and the lab plan to replace the current facility with two new ones—one that would address […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
AT OAK RIDGE
UPF PROJECT DIRECTOR CONFIRMS DESIGN SLOW DOWN NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 Uranium Processing Facility Federal Project Director John Eschenberg confirmed this week that work is being scaled back in some areas at the project while potential alternatives are being explored. Eschenberg, in a sideline interview following his Feb. 27 talk at the University of Tennessee’s Institute […]
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Budget & Policy
WRAP UP: IN CONGRESS, IN THE INDUSTRY, ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT
NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 IN CONGRESS Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.) announced late this week that he will not seek re-election this November. Pastor is a member of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, among other Congressional roles. “After 23 years in Congress serving the people of Arizona, I have decided that I will not seek […]