Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

South Carolina will expect to be paid another $100 million if the federal government by April 10 fails again to remove 1 metric ton of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium from the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. Under a 2003 agreement with the federal government, South Carolina is authorized to fine DOE up to $100 million annually […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation plans to continue its relationship with the Washington, D.C.-based Stimson Center for another five years, under a high-level education and public relations contract announced this week. The contract, yet to be awarded, will sustain “ongoing work that is intended to improve the strategic dialogue […]

The White House this week teed up a radical reshaping of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), proposing to add two new members to the independent federal watchdog and boot one member. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Trump administration nominated a combined four people to the board. The nominees include new faces and existing board […]

It will take Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California about a week to fix broken windows on a glove-box at the lab’s Plutonium Facility, once the work starts. The four windows broke Dec. 19, after a seal connecting the glove-box furnace failed and caused the interior of the system to negatively pressurize, according to a Department […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday announced four leadership changes and other churn among its seven subcommittees for the 116th Congress, but only one gavel hand-off among the Republicans who remain in the majority. Notably for nuclear weapons programs managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) became the ranking member of […]

The White House this week renominated William Bookless to be principal deputy administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA): the No. 2 post at the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapon steward. Bookless was one of more than 150 nominees for senior executive branch jobs sent to the Senate on Wednesday. Many had been nominated […]

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) will be ranking member for the House Appropriations defense subcommittee for the 116th Congress, his office said this week. Calvert has served in the House since 1993. He was previously a member of the HAC-D subcommittee, serving as vice chairman in the 115th Congress. In a statement Tuesday, Calvert said the […]

A federal judge had not ruled by early Friday afternoon whether the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) can ship a metric ton of weapon-usable plutonium to the Nevada National Security Site. Judge Miranda Du of the U.S. District Court for Nevada in Reno on Thursday heard arguments from attorneys representing the state of Nevada and […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Thursday released performance evaluations for the major site operations contractors across the U.S. nuclear security enterprise, and all earned the vast majority of the available fees. The NNSA contractors covered under the performance evaluations published manage seven sites across the country.  Notably, there was a changing of the […]

Congress is back for the 116th time, and the two parties this week officially elected leaders for several committees important to those who watch the Department of Energy’s nuclear portfolio. Republicans still control the Senate, while Democrats have taken over in the House following the November midterm elections. Following is a list of newly selected leaders […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) last week presented Defense Programs Awards of Excellence to several hundred employees across five active sites in the nuclear security enterprise. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency every year recognizes personnel in its Stockpile Stewardship program who achieve “significant achievement by providing increased quality, productivity, cost savings, or enhanced […]

The Department of Energy’s this week inked a new contract with S&K Logistics to continue providing technical support services for the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. The deal is is worth up to $21.7 million, which includes about $9 million for the base year and an additional $12 million if an option is exercised […]

Even if Nevada succeeds in blocking a shipment of 1 metric ton of weapon-usable plutonium to a former nuclear explosive test site within its borders, the material could still leave South Carolina by a court-ordered deadline, the Silver State argued in federal court this week. The filing represents Nevada’s attempt to muscle South Carolina out […]

The now-ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) has signaled his support for a $750 billion topline for the Pentagon’s fiscal 2020 budget request, one of the highest estimates to emerge in recent reports. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), who chaired the committee from 2014 until the Democrats took back the House earlier this […]

The former management contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico received a slap on the wrist from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) over a 2017 incident in which personnel entered a low-oxygen environment in violation of federal workplace safety laws. No one was hurt in the Sept. 13, 2017, incident, in […]

The Department of Energy has received approval from the state of Tennessee to proceed with demolition of two Manhattan Project-era buildings at the Biology Complex within the Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Reservation. Representatives from DOE and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) confirmed this week the state has given […]

Centrus Energy, the former government-owned U.S. Enrichment Corp., got a lifeline this week from the Department of Energy to build a new 16-machine enrichment centrifuge cascade in Ohio, potentially strengthening the company’s ability to help the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) produce tritium for nuclear weapons in about 20 years. Under a contract awarded Monday […]

Michael Dunning retired as the acting head of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Weapons and Complex Integration Directorate on Wednesday, capping a 30 year career at the nation’s second-oldest weapons laboratory. “Michael Dunning has retired after a long and impactful career at LLNL,” a spokesperson for the California facility said by email Thursday. “It was […]

A federal judge last week denied South Carolina’s motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit demanding that the Department of Energy continue building the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site. Judge J. Michelle Childs, of U.S. District Court for South Carolina, wrote in her Dec. 28 order that she will not […]

William Bookless, the Donald Trump administration’s choice for second-in-command at the National Nuclear Security Administration, was not confirmed before the 115th Congress adjourned Thursday. The Senate’s lack of action sends Bookless’ nomination back to the White House, which is free to nominate him again in the 116th Congress that convened Thursday, or not. The White […]

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan’s past as a senior Boeing executive has some Senate Armed Services Committee members concerned over potential ethics issues, while others feel his defense industry experience is a plus. Shanahan, who was sworn in as deputy defense secretary in July 2017 and became acting defense secretary Jan 1. after President Trump removed […]

In the National Nuclear Security Administration’s world of warheads and bombs, the big question of 2019 is: will the newly divided Congress quash the newly funded W76-2 low-yield, submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead? The GOP-controlled government last year funded the weapon to the tune of $65 million for fiscal 2019, over the loud protests of congressional […]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who brandished her arms-control and anti-nuclear bonafides throughout 2018, announced Monday she might run for president in 2020. Warren said she has formed an exploratory committee for a presidential bid, fulfilling long-circulating rumors that she would seek the Democratic Party’s nomination in the […]

The management and operations contractor for the Savannah River Site has finalized a plan to assume responsibility for crucial components of the canceled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF): the controversial plutonium disposal plant that was, until October, to be built at the site. The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has less than a year to remove 1 metric ton of weapon-usable plutonium from South Carolina, and the agency will not rule out moving it before the end of January, according to a court filing the state of Nevada dropped just before the new year. The Silver State shared […]

A federal appeals court’s October order to remove 1 metric ton of plutonium from South Carolina by Jan. 1, 2020, took effect this week, depriving the Department of Energy of some legal wiggle room to contest the directive. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., gave notice Tuesday that its October ruling was, […]

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Gabe Anseeuw this month became military assistant and executive staff director to Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, Department of Energy undersecretary for nuclear security and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Anseeuw replaced Cmdr. Christopher Osborn, who was Gordon-Hagerty’s interim right-hand for about six months. Osborn filled in after Capt. Owen Travis retired […]