Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

The United States’ contributions to international nuclear security and verification organizations would not be reduced under the White House’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal, despite significant proposed cuts to the overall State Department budget. A State Department official said by email this week that the United States’ voluntary contribution to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) […]

Senate lawmakers on Tuesday challenged new Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to explain the service’s secrecy regarding its B-21 nuclear bomber program. During a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said it was “difficult to understand” why the Air Force is keeping all the B-21’s capabilities classified “under the veil […]

A second failed bidder has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over the new management and operations contract for the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site. Nuclear Security & Technology LLC, a partnership between Northrop Grumman Technical Services, AECOM subsidiary URS Federal Services, and CH2M Hill Constructors Inc., filed its protest […]

The United States is months ahead of schedule in meetings its obligations to cap the U.S. nuclear arsenal under the bilateral New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia, according to a top Air Force official. Gen. Robin Rand, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said Wednesday at a Senate Armed Services strategic forces […]

As though channeling Luis Tiant of his beloved Boston Red Sox, former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz turned away from Washington only briefly before coming back around full-tilt at the marble-pillared city he called home for more than three years as President Barack Obama’s last DOE chief. In March, just months after Donald Trump was sworn into office and […]

Following in the footsteps of his partner in crime, the second man accused of stealing more than $4 million from the federal government while conducting work for the Savannah River Site MOX project reached a plea deal Wednesday. Aaron Vennefron, the founder of Ohio-based AV Security, initially pleaded not guilty to a host of charges […]

The bidding team that lost its initial contract award for management and operation of the Nevada National Security Site has filed a bid protest with the Government Accountability Office. Nevada Site Science Support and Technologies Corp. (NVS3T), a partnership between Leidos, Fluor Federal Services, and consulting firm Longenecker & Associates, filed the protest on May […]

The Trump administration has proposed funding decreases in fiscal 2018 to the State Department’s arms control and nonproliferation work, as well as reductions for the Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO). The White House released last week a budget proposal requesting $37.6 billion for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has awarded SOC, LLC a contract for security protective force services at the Nevada National Security Site and the agency’s field office facilities, NNSA announced Wednesday. The contract is valued at roughly $202.9 million over 5 years, with all options, for security at the Nevada site; the Remote Sensing Laboratory […]

Thomas Zacharia will be the next director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, the lab’s management and operating contractor UT-Battelle announced Thursday. Zacharia will take over on July 1, the day current lab director Thom Mason leaves to join Battelle in Columbus, Ohio, as senior vice president for laboratory operations. Zacharia began at […]

Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees responsible for annual defense authorization have voiced opposition to the White House’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal for differing reasons, raising questions about whether Congress will be able to agree on defense spending levels past the end of this fiscal year. While committee Republicans argue that the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is seeking greater federal staffing levels in its fiscal 2018 budget request and remains concerned about recruiting talent to its sites across the United States, agency Administrator Frank Klotz said Wednesday. The request for the budget year starting Oct. 1 grants $418.6 million for NNSA’s federal salaries and expenses, which […]

Top U.S. Air Force officials are standing behind a significant increase in funding the service is proposing for its controversial Long-Range Standoff nuclear cruise missile for fiscal 2018. There seems to be “broad bipartisan support for LRSO,” Gen. Stephen Wilson, Air Force vice chief of staff, said Thursday at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies […]

The United Nations General Assembly on Monday released the first draft of a legally binding global prohibition on nuclear weapons, which details bans on the use, production, transfer, and testing of such arms. In October, 123 U.N. member states voted to begin negotiations on the treaty; 38 voted against the process, including nuclear powers France, […]

The White House has officially proposed $1 billion in additional funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration in fiscal 2018, almost all of it for the agency’s weapons activities account. The Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday released President Donald Trump’s spending request for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, which would grant the Energy […]