Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

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 million in fees for managing the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency’s Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex in Tennessee and Pantex Plant in […]

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 $15.7 million fee for the budget year that ended on Sept. 30 of […]

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 lab. Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS) earned about $40 million in fees for 2017: […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear-weapon and nonproliferation programs teetered on the brink of a funding lapse Friday at deadline for Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, caught up in larger policy and political waves that threatened to temporarily shut down the entire federal government. So, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued fresh guidelines for its civil […]

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 document called a supplement analysis, the agency’s National Nuclear Security Administration said “no further NEPA [National Environmental Protection Act] documentation is required” […]

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 of a process or equipment within a nuclear facility at the Department of Energy […]

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 issues identified in a Sept. 8, 2017, report from staff at the DOE watchdog […]

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 modernization, Barton said he plans to draft a bipartisan reauthorization bill for […]

David Jonas, who President Donald Trump last year nominated to be the Department of Energy’s general counsel, no longer wants the job, according to a LinkedIn post Jonas published late Jan. 7. “In considering the additional months that would be required for final confirmation, as well as my professional responsibilities at FH+H Law Firm, I […]

With fewer than six months left on the incumbent’s contract, the Department of Energy still has not started competition for the next Savannah River Site management and operations deal — the pact that includes running the National Nuclear Security Administration’s tritium program. The NNSA extracts tritium gas, which boosts the yield of nuclear weapons, at the […]

As part of a joint procurement with the U.S. Navy, the Department of Energy last week solicited bids for a potentially 10-year contract to manage the Naval Nuclear Laboratory. Incumbent Bechtel Marine Power Corp. has been on the job since 2009. The current and follow-on contract includes management and operation of DOE’s Bettis Atomic Power […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the safety watchdog for Department of Energy nuclear sites around the country, has issued a new plan for operations in the event of a federal government shutdown. Congress has until Jan. 19 to pass a budget for the remainder of fiscal 2018, or another continuing resolution to keep the […]

South Carolina on Monday sued the federal government again to claim $100 million it says it is owed for the Department of Energy’s failure to remove 1 metric ton of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium from the state. The complaint filed in U.S. Court of Federal Claims, State of South Carolina vs. The United States of America, […]

Local governments near the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina this week said they would be glad if the facility took over manufacturing plutonium pits for the National Nuclear Security Administration. On Tuesday, the nine-member Aiken County Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution “Supporting and Encouraging the Department of Energy/National Nuclear […]

WASHINGTON — National Nuclear Security Administrator Frank Klotz told NS&D Monitor on Tuesday he will retire from the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapon agency on Jan. 19. If he leaves the agency as planned in two weeks, the retired Air Force lieutenant general will have helmed the NNSA for three years, nine months, and 12 days, including […]

WASHINGTON — The semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) might not need all the semiautonomy it has now, Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said here Tuesday in congressional testimony. As part of a three-hour hearing on modernizing the Department of Energy, Brouillette said it was “awkward” that the NNSA has its own legislative affairs […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration should prioritize work on existing warheads, but also modify some of those warheads for new nuclear capabilities, according to a draft of President Donald Trump’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) that leaked Thursday. Also, according to the leaked document, the agency should remain ready to resume explosive nuclear tests, and […]

The prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) has demanded in federal court that its customer quickly return more than $20 million in contract fees the agency voided in 2016. It was the latest turn in a $200-million lawsuit CB&I AREVA MOX Services filed against DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear […]

The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office confirmed Tuesday that the state has resumed penalizing the federal government for its continued failure to remove 1 metric ton of plutonium from the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site (SRS).   The state also noted it is considering appealing a U.S. District Court judge’s dismissal of one $100 million claim from South Carolina […]

In an end-of-the-year press release, the National Nuclear Security Administration bid farewell to three longtime employees who have retired. The three retirees, all of whom spent at least some time in the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Defense Programs office are: Ralph Schneider, a Ph.D. physicist who was most recently director of the Office of […]

New Year’s is the time to take the measure of the 12 months to come, as much for those who watch the Department of Energy’s nuclear-weapons programs as anyone else. So, in the spirit of the season, this volume of Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor begins with a list of things to expect for the […]

The prime contractor for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California did not properly document more than $1 million worth of work it did in 2015 under a number of interagency agreements, the Department of Energy’s inspector general reported just before the new year. The roughly $1.26 million in costs the Inspector General’s Office tagged were […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) will remain without a full-time general counsel for a while longer after a Senate rule that kicked in Wednesday automatically reset the confirmation process for the agency’s top lawyer. President Donald Trump nominated David Jonas as DOE general counsel in May, but the choice drew flack from Democrats on the […]

Norman Pattiz, the University of California regent who oversees the institution’s work with Department of Energy nuclear weapons labs, will resign in February, news outlets reported Wednesday. Pattiz, who has served about 16 years on the Board of Regents, informed board Chairman George Kieffer of his decision in a Dec. 28 letter posted online by […]

Rich Abbott Defense Daily A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress found that several technologies for the Columbia-class submarine program need more development and testing to prevent cost and schedule delays that could delay deployment of the lead submarine beyond a 2031 deadline. Twelve Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) are planned to replace the existing 14 Ohio-class vessels […]

Centerra has won 96 percent of its potential fee award from the Department of Energy for providing a security force to protect the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. In particular, DOE in a new award-fee scorecard praised Centerra-Savannah River Site for establishing and testing an “active shooter response plan.” Centerra was also cited for […]