Vol. 22, No. 03 
DOE Publishes Shutdown Plan Amid Brinkmanship, Budget Chaos
-
Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Klotz Leaves NNSA; DOE Won’t Identify His Successor
The head of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration was set to retire Friday, and the Department of Energy has declined to identify his successor. As Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor’s sister publication, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, first reported last week, longtime government man and retired Air Force general Frank Klotz will retire from federal […]
-
Plutonium Pit Production
Third S.C. Community Lobbies NNSA for Pit Mission at Savannah River
A third South Carolina jurisdiction has officially called on the Department of Energy to move production of plutonium pits — the fissile hearts of nuclear warheads — to the Savannah River Site from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. On Tuesday,… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must […]
-
Cleanup & Remediation
DNFSB Highlights Savannah River Safety Breaches in Letter to Perry
Concerns are growing over safety violations at the Savannah River Site’s defense facilities, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in a recent letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry. The Jan. 4 letter, signed by DNFSB Chairman Sean Sullivan, said safety… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must be logged […]
-
Cleanup & Remediation
Savannah River Site Contractor Hired 550 Workers in 2017
The Savannah River Site’s management and operations contractor hired about 550 employees last year in an effort to offset personnel lost due to retirement. Some of the new Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) hires are operators, who assist in the operation… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must be logged […]
-
Life Extension Programs
W88 Warhead Upgrade Program Nailed Final Design Review, NNSA Says
A civil-military panel approved designs for an upgrade of the W88 nuclear ballistic missile warhead carried aboard U.S. submarines, the National Nuclear Security Administration said Tuesday in a press release. Panel members, drawn from within and outside of the… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must be logged in as […]
-
National Laboratories
Exascale Computing Site Upgrades at Livermore Clear Final Environmental Hurdle
A $100-million-plus project to dramatically increase the computing power available for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s simulated nuclear weapons tests has cleared its final environmental hurdle, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. In a regulatory… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must be logged in as a subscriber to view this […]
-
Budget & Policy
Barton: Bill to Update DOE Should Look at Role of Labs
It is time for Congress to take a look at the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories and their contribution to the agency’s mission, according to Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas). During a Jan. 9 House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee hearing on DOE… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must […]
-
Non-Proliferation
Reduction in Sub Missiles Made Up Most of U.S. Nuke Weapon Cuts in 2017
The United States reached its strategic nuclear-arms reduction obligations well in advance of a Feb. 5 deadline prescribed by the New START treaty with Russia, and a cut in deployed submarine-based missiles made up the largest reduction by missile count in 2017,… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must be […]
-
Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Honeywell Nabs 90 Percent of Incentives in ’17, But Personnel Change Niggles NNSA
Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies got praise for its contribution to nuclear warhead life-extension programs in fiscal 2017, along with hand-wringing over the departure of key personnel, in an annual performance report card from the government. That… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must be logged in as a subscriber […]
-
National Laboratories
LLNS Lauded for 2017 Performance But Lost Luster on Lagged Electrical Upgrades
The Department of Energy praised the prime contractor at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for on-time work on nuclear warheads and bombs in fiscal 2017, but clipped some award fee dollars because of delays with electrical upgrades at the California weapons… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must be logged […]
-
National Laboratories
Airmailing Plutonium Cost Los Alamos Prime $3M in FY17
While no one was hurt and no special nuclear material was damaged, the outgoing prime contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory lost about $3 million in award fees in fiscal 2017 because it broke Department of Energy rules and shipped plutonium by plane… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You […]
-
Life Extension Programs
For CNS in Fiscal 2017, A Little Lag on Life Extension With Infrastructure Improvements at Pantex
The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration dinged Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) for delays on a nuclear-bomb life-extension program in fiscal 2017 in a generally positive performance evaluation report published Thursday. Overall, CNS earned about $36… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must be logged in as a subscriber to view […]
-
Cleanup & Remediation
SRNS Picks Up 84 Percent of 2017 NNSA Fees
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions took home $13.1 million in fiscal 2017 fees for the nuclear-weapon work it manages for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. That was roughly 84 percent of the total available… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor! You must be […]
-
Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
Air Force Begins Broad Review Of Programs
Marc Selinger Defense Daily The U.S. Air Force has launched a two-month review of all of its programs to determine whether some of them are no longer needed, according to a service official. The review, which began Jan. 16 and is scheduled to end March 15, is… SUBSCRIBER ACCESS Thank you for visitingNuclear Security & Deterrence […]