Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

A United Nations conference today adopted its final text of a legally binding global nuclear weapons prohibition following months of negotiations on the document. One hundred and twenty-two nations voted to adopt the treaty, while the Netherlands posted the sole vote in opposition and Singapore abstained. Participants in the negotiations broke into applause after the […]

Stephen Kadenacy on June 30 formally ended his nearly two-year tenure as president and chief operating officer of global engineering firm AECOM, one of the major contractors at Department of Energy nuclear sites around the country. Kadenacy has been with AECOM for nearly a decade, starting as senior vice president for finance in 2008 and […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration will extend its contract with Centerra Group for protective force services at the agency’s Nevada Field Office for up to six months due to the incumbent’s bid protest over a follow-on contract the agency recently awarded to a competitor, SOC. The current security contract, awarded in December 2011 to Centerra, […]

Two aging buildings at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee are undergoing electrical modernization upgrades under the facilities’ Extended Life Program (ELP), according to the National Nuclear Security Administration. The NNSA last December received an ELP implementation plan from site contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security for extending the lives of Buildings 9215 and 9204-2E, decades-old enriched uranium […]

The U.S. State Department this week released additional details about the types of ballistic missiles, launchers, and bombers being counted under the latest New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) aggregate data. The treaty requires the United States and Russia by next February to each cap its nuclear arsenal at 700 deployed ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic […]

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission working group will in August provide recommendations on improving the security of industrial radiological sources, according to a new letter from NRC Chair Kristine Svinicki to Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office. In her June 23 letter, Svinicki provided an update on NRC […]

Three of the 26 companies recognized for safety excellence in 2016 by the state of South Carolina are contractors at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. The companies are: liquid waste management contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR); management and operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS); and security provider Centerra. The Energy Department reported June 28 that […]

As they look to reduce bilateral tensions, the United States and Russia could begin by issuing a joint presidential declaration that a nuclear war is unwinnable and must be avoided at all costs, former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and onetime top officials from three nations said this week in an open letter to Presidents […]

The House of Representatives’ version of the Department of Energy funding bill for fiscal 2018 would again defy the agency’s intention to kill its Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. The House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee on Wednesday approved its $37.56 billion spending legislation, which would provide $340 million for construction of the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Tuesday issued a presolicitation notice for the next management and operations contract for its Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The notice comes just days after the semiautonomous Department of Energy agency said it is investigating the improper shipment of nuclear material from the laboratory to sister sites […]

South Carolina’s governor reiterated his concerns late last week about the federal government’s continued efforts to end the Savannah River Site’s MOX project, a local elected official said Monday. The 310-square-mile Department of Energy facility is primarily housed in Aiken County, S.C., near the state’s border with Georgia. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster was in Aiken on […]

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 […]