Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Marc Selinger Defense Daily The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) approved by voice vote June 28 the nomination of former Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan to be deputy secretary of defense. The committee’s action came after Shanahan submitted 10 pages of revised answers to the panel’s “advance policy questions.” At his June 20 confirmation, Shanahan drew fire from Sen. […]

The U.S. Congress is taking a preliminary tit-for-tat approach to addressing Russia’s breach of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, calling in new legislation for the Defense Department to start work on its own middle-range missile. There have been reports for years that Russia was in violation of the 1987 treaty signed by the United States […]

Former National Security Council and Department of Energy senior staffer Lisa Gordon-Hagerty is the White House’s choice to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration, informed sources told NS&D Monitor this week. If confirmed by the Senate, Gordon-Hagerty would replace Frank Klotz, a retired Air Force general and Obama administration holdover who has headed the semiautonomous […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry this week reaffirmed his department’s commitment to sticking within the cost and schedule guidelines for construction of the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) in Tennessee, given stable funding. Perry, who was on Capitol Hill repeatedly for a series of hearings on the Energy Department’s fiscal 2018 budget plan, confirmed DOE would build […]

The head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) — the agency’s independent nuclear safety and security enforcer — will retire “at the end of the summer,” according to a letter he sent to industry colleagues Thursday. “Last Friday I informed Secretary Perry’s [chief of staff] and [deputy chief of staff] that […]

The Energy Department’s Office of Science office in Oak Ridge will extend for 10 years its contract with the city of Oak Ridge for a potable water supply for the Y-12 National Security Complex and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The contract modification extends the period of performance from completion this June 30 to June […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily The U.S. Air Force’s aging, nuclear-armed, air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) is experiencing “significant reliability challenges,” underscoring the need to develop a replacement, a key general said June 20. All elements of the ALCM vehicle, including the engine, have reliability problems, forcing maintainers and operators to go to great lengths to keep […]

The Donald Trump administration’s nominee for deputy secretary of defense faced a rocky confirmation hearing Tuesday, probed by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) about his stance toward Russian activity abroad and within an arms control agreement with the United States. Specifically, Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan said in responses to advance questions that […]

The House Armed Services emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee is recommending full funding of the White House’s budget request for the Defense Department’s Cooperative Threat Reduction program. HASC subcommittees held their first markups this week of the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, including consideration of provisions related to the U.S. nuclear arsenal and other […]

The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee is calling for the Defense Department to develop a ground-launched cruise missile within the range covered by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, while conditioning further arms control with Russia on resolution of INF violation issues. The subcommittee on Thursday held its markup of the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Wednesday the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility (PF-4) is improving its nuclear criticality safety program, amid reporting this week of ongoing safety issues at the New Mexico site. Perry said during a Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee budget hearing that Los Alamos has “made significant progress with hiring […]

Lawmakers challenged Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Tuesday to commit to resolving the issues that are preventing Congress from taking a definitive stance on the future of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. Perry reaffirmed the Energy Department’s intentions on MOX during a House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee budget hearing, saying […]

The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday resumed negotiations on a legally binding global prohibition on nuclear weapons. The body released at the end of May its first draft of the ban treaty, which details prohibitions on the use, production, transfer, and testing of such weapons. The second round of negotiations will continue until July […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is reviewing options for the future location of plutonium pit production, an agency official has said, leaving open the door for that capability to potentially be moved away from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. James McConnell, the NNSA’s associate administrator for safety, infrastructure and operation, said June […]

The House Armed Services Committee has begun developing the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, but differences between Congress and the White House on defense spending levels might complicate the path toward a budget agreement. Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.), respectively the committee chairman and ranking member, last week introduced the “by request” version of […]

More than 40 Democrats in the House of Representatives have signed a letter to President Donald Trump calling for his administration to reinforce its role in arms control and bolster its nonproliferation efforts as it prepares a Nuclear Posture Review. The June 13 letter, signed by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee […]

The head of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s naval reactors program suggested Wednesday the use of highly enriched uranium for naval propulsion offers a significant advantage over conversion to low-enriched uranium – indicating the U.S. Navy’s longstanding preference for HEU is unlikely to change. Adm. James Caldwell Jr., the NNSA’s deputy administrator for naval reactors, said […]

Construction of the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee remains on track, with certain design and schedule benchmarks set for this fall, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration confirmed Wednesday. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) highlighted Wednesday at a Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee hearing on the NNSA budget his ongoing […]

The future of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty continues to weigh on top U.S. military officials as they consider options for responding to Russia’s violation of the bilateral agreement. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Defense Department’s budget posture that […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily The U.S. Department of Defense is scrutinizing all three legs of the nation’s aging nuclear triad as part of its nuclear posture review, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said June 14. “We’re looking at each leg of the triad and we’re looking at each weapon inside each leg,” Mattis testified before the […]

A committee of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) this week urged the Energy Department to step up efforts to regulate drone flights over the facility in South Carolina. Tuesday’s vote came two months after the CAB’s Strategic and Legacy Management Committee tabled the recommendation. At the time, members determined it was best to […]

The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) convened its biannual plenary meeting last week in Tokyo, Japan, where partner nations committed to continue the work of three nuclear detection, forensics, and response working groups. The initiative, co-chaired by the United States and Russia, is intended to promote international cooperation to strengthen global prevention, detection, […]

A local advisory committee on Tuesday urged the Energy Department not to accept shipments of spent nuclear fuel from Germany at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The recommendation was one of three approved during the meeting of the SRS Citizens Advisory Board’s (CAB) Nuclear Materials Committee. The three recommendations all complement positions widely […]

A shipment of radioactive waste from a nuclear cleanup site in Scotland was sent over the weekend to the U.S. Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, on its way to Tennessee, the Scottish Sunday Post newspaper has reported. The radioactive waste was loaded onto a U.S. Air Force cargo plane and took off from Scotland […]

A top National Security Council official last week reaffirmed the Donald Trump administration’s commitment to nonproliferation. Despite media reports to the contrary, Trump is committed to pursuing activities to prevent the spread of nuclear and other unconventional weapons, according to Christopher Ford, NSC special assistant to the president and senior director for weapons of mass […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily The U.S. Air Force’s efforts to improve its readiness and modernize its capabilities will be derailed if Congress does not repeal across-the-board budget cuts that are set to return in fiscal year 2018, service Secretary Heather Wilson said June 5. Funds provided for fiscal year 2017 stopped the Air Force’s readiness […]

The contractor building the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina, locked in a dispute with the federal government over the project’s future, argued the Energy Department’s failure to negotiate a contract modification “in good faith” is costing the company money. On June 1, the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals denied CB&I AREVA […]