Vol. 20, No. 36

Budget & Policy

2017 NNSA Budget Ups Infrastructure Funding; Potential CR Impact Unclear

Congress’ rush to pass a spending bill to avert a government shutdown raises questions about National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) funding needs – particularly those for infrastructure and operations – that may or may not be met should the agency’s spending levels be frozen at the currently enacted $12.5 billion, in light of its fiscal […]
  • Non-Proliferation

    Moniz Insists MOX Project ‘Impossible,’ Stresses Less Costly Approach

    Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on Tuesday offered strong support for a new plutonium dilution and disposal method in place of the mixed oxide fuel program that the Obama administration is pushing to cancel, calling the latter an essentially “impossible” effort. The controversy over the MOX program will be one of the next administration’s primary challenges […]

  • Non-Proliferation

    Downblending of WIPP-Bound Plutonium Starting This Month

    This month, the Energy Department will begin preparing some 6 metric tons of weapon-usable plutonium at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., the National Nuclear Security Administration said this week. Downblending will begin once the quasi-independent DOE agency completes an assessment of a recently completed two-month long […]

  • Non-Proliferation

    State Dept. Officials Vow Nonbinding Nuclear Testing Moratoria Resolution

    U.S. State Department officials gave their assurances Tuesday that the United Nations Security Council resolution the administration is preparing to strengthen the global moratoria on nuclear explosive testing will be legally nonbinding and is not an attempt to bypass the U.S. Senate, as congressional Republicans have argued. Rose Gottemoeller, undersecretary of state for arms control […]

  • Non-Proliferation

    P5 States Push for CTBT Ratification, Denounce Nuke Ban Efforts

    The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council met this week in Washington, D.C., to review progress in the nuclear nonproliferation regime, express their vision for global disarmament, and renew the push for ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The P5 – the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, and Russia – […]

  • Cleanup & Remediation

    SRNS Settles Discrimination Lawsuit With Former Employee

    Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) has settled a discrimination lawsuit filed against the contractor by a former employee who alleged she was denied a better job opportunity because she was Hispanic and the person who got the job was white. However, terms of the settlement were not released. Victoria Brandner sued SRNS, the Savannah River […]

  • Stockpile Stewardship

    GAO: NNSA’s Enhanced Surveillance Program Needs Long-Term Strategy, Funding

    The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has not fully implemented its Enhanced Surveillance Program, in part due to decreased funding over the years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a report released Wednesday. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency’s 2007 Surveillance Transformation Project, an effort to address the growing backlog of required surveillance weapons […]

  • National Laboratories

    Sandia to Improve Incidents of Security Concern Program

    Sandia Corp., the management and operations contractor for the Sandia National Laboratories, is working to improve its program to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of classified information following a review by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) that revealed some issues. EA evaluated two such incidents of unauthorized disclosure that Sandia Corp. […]

  • Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

    Navy, Air Force Conduct Ballistic Missile Tests

    The U.S. Navy and Air Force recently conducted two strategic missile tests to validate the reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent, U.S. Strategic Command announced Monday. An Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, along with the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs and a crew from the USS Maryland, on Aug. 31 conducted a demonstration and shakedown operation, which is […]

  • Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

    Wrap Up: Y-12 Contractor Reaches Labor Deal With Union Group

    Consolidated Nuclear Security, the management and operations contractor for the Y-12 National Security Site in Tennessee, said Tuesday it had sealed a five-year labor agreement with the Knoxville Building and Construction Trades Council. The Council is an umbrella organization encompassing 16 local unions, according to a CNS press release. The labor agreement will expire on […]

Get Published in ExchangeMonitor Publications