Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The massive defense authorization bill now on its way to President Donald Trump’s desk would make it harder for the Department of Energy to move plutonium pit production out of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico — something the agency has not actually proposed doing. However, that the Department of Energy (DOE) has […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) wants to perform larger explosive tests to support nuclear arms-maintenance and counterrorism research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, according to a Nov. 3 regulatory filing. The 65-year-old nuclear weapons research facility in Livermore, Calif., wants to increase the size of the non-nuclear explosive tests it is allowed to […]

Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Huntington Ingalls Industries on Wednesday posted strong financial results in its third quarter driven by work on aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships for the Navy and the acquisition last year of a technical services company. Huntington Ingalls is the parent company of Stoller Newport News Nuclear: one of the partners on […]

The fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorizes Congress to give the National Nuclear Security Administration even more money than President Donald Trump requested, while also bucking the commander in chief on a couple big nuclear programs. The latest NDAA, which emerged from a bicameral conference committee Wednesday afternoon, would allow congressional appropriators to […]

The federal government this week doubled down on its request that the Court of Federal Claims dismiss South Carolina’s lawsuit over disposal of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. The filing arrived just days after the prime contractor on the Department of Energy facility designed to convert that plutonium into […]

Cornell University and the University of Notre Dame have received $27.5-million worth of Department of Energy grants to study high-energy physics potentially applicable to nuclear-weapon sustainment, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Tuesday. Cornell’s Multi-University Center of Excellence for Pulsed-Power-Driven High Energy Density Science will get $15-million to study high energy density plasmas from […]

Richard Abbot Defense Daily The Navy has been able to reduce the cost of the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine by $80 million per unit and the program remains on schedule, a top Navy acquisition official said last week. Rear Adm. Michael Jabaley, Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Submarines, said Nov. 2 that after the Columbia […]

The Savannah River Site’s management and operations contractor faces a $320,000 penalty after being cited by the Department of Energy for retaliating against an employee who reported a safety issue. The Energy Department issued a preliminary notice of violation (PNOV) to Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) on Wednesday. The violation, according to the department, occurred when […]

If it holds up under protest, the $4.7 billion contract for liquid waste management at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina will provide BWX Technologies with one of its bigger wins as a prime contractor in recent years, executives said during a quarterly call on Tuesday. But management said it would […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently announced that it somewhat-less-recently recognized contractors and national laboratory staff at the Nevada National Security Site for technical contributions to nuclear stockpile stewardship. Earlier this week, the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency shared the names of those projects with NS&D Monitor. The following teams at the former nuclear weapon-testing […]

The University of Texas’ Board of Regents on Thursday deferred official approval of the institution’s planned bid to run the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory by more than two weeks, to Nov. 27. The board was scheduled to take action on the proposal Thursday — the Austin-based system in August approved $4.5 million […]

More days have passed than remain in astronomical autumn, which means Los Alamos National Security could soon announce the interim Los Alamos National Laboratory director who will replace the retiring Charles McMillan and run the site until the company’s contract expires Sept. 30, 2018. McMillan, who has led Los Alamos National Laboratory for about six […]

The Donald Trump administration on Thursday nominated current White House counterproliferation adviser Christopher Ford to be assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation. If confirmed by the Senate, Ford would lead State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation: the arm of Foggy Bottom tasked with preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, […]

While would-be bidders mull over the Department of Energy’s request for proposals to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the next decade, a community representative is cautiously breathing a sigh of relief that the agency has made some concession to the local businesses for which the lab is lifeblood. The final solicitation was “surprising […]

Fluor, one of the major contractors in the Department of Energy complex, on Thursday reported a significant earnings spike for the third quarter of 2017. The international construction and engineering firm reported quarterly net earnings of $94 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, compared to just shy of $5 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, […]

The chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are discussing how to keep the government open after the current continuing resolution (CR) runs out Dec. 8, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Oct. 31. “We are in a four-cornered, bipartisan negotiation over how to fund the government, including the Trump […]

Three workers and two rooms were radioactively contaminated after a botched maintenance job on a glove box at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility, the Department of Energy and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said. It was the latest in a series of safety snafus at Los Alamos to come to light during […]

Centrus Energy said Monday it has signed a $16 million contract to continue for another year its research and development of advanced gas centrifuge uranium enrichment technology at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. However, the company’s time in at least one Oak Ridge facility is nearing its end as […]

Water leaked into a plutonium pit-storage area at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, after an August thunderstorm, the Department of Energy disclosed this month. On Aug. 13 and 14, thunderstorms dumped about 2 inches of rain on the north Texas city, according to data compiled by the National Weather Service. During the storm, “rain […]

It will cost about $1.2 trillion in current dollars to modernize and maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal over 30 years, including $261 billion in Department of Energy spending, the Congressional Budget Office said this week. Even fairly major changes to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) part of that portfolio would shave only about $10 […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries announced two promotions at its Newport News Shipbuilding division. Dave Bolcar was promoted from director of the Columbia-class submarine program to vice president of submarine construction. Bill Smith was promoted from program director for aircraft carrier fleet support to vice president, fleet support programs. Smith will be responsible for submarine and carrier fleet […]

Robert Card, who served as undersecretary of energy from 2001 to 2004 and later became president and CEO of the Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin, has joined the Strategic Advisory Board for Energy Department contractor Longenecker & Associates. “Bob is one of the most brilliant strategic minds in our industry and I am honored that he […]

Pentagon nuclear arsenal modernization prime Northrop Grumman exceeded expectations with its third-quarter earnings Wednesday, while fellow nuke prime Lockheed Martin underperformed the Wall Street consensus. Northrop posted a 10-percent earnings increase over the year-ago quarter on a 6-percent rise in quarterly revenue. Earnings per share of $3.68 beat the Wall Street consensus of $2.90, as […]

During the next 12 months, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of the Inspector General plans to review the most serious potential vulnerabilities facing the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board as part of the office’s ongoing duty to examine management and performance of the Energy Department watchdog. In documents released last week, the NRC IG said […]

Lawmakers cloistered on Capitol Hill are set to settle a policy dispute over a new office building for more than 1,000 defense nuclear workers in New Mexico as part of final negotiations over the 2018 National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA). House and Senate lawmakers formally kicked off conference negotiations Wednesday on the NDAA, initiating a process […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily Leaders of a House-Senate conference committee expressed hope Oct. 25 that they will quickly wrap up negotiations on a final version of the fiscal year 2018 defense authorization bill. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), said that he is confident lawmakers can finish the compromise […]

A private entity is set to take deed of an old nuclear-weapons support facility in Kansas City, Mo., for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the semiautonomous Department of Energy stockpile steward said. Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) approved transfer of the Bannister Federal Complex, where the NNSA once manufactured non-nuclear components of nuclear weapons, […]