Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The Donald Trump administration is reportedly preparing executive orders that will limit or cut United States funding to international organizations under certain conditions. The New York Times reported Wednesday it had obtained two draft executive orders, one of which would cut U.S. funding for United Nations agencies and international organizations that meet certain criteria, including […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has authorized a Honeywell International subsidiary to begin its transition activities to take over management and operations of the Sandia National Laboratories, the company announced Wednesday. The NNSA last month awarded the management and operations contract for Sandia to National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS), a wholly owned […]

The Department of Energy should take steps to correct some errors in its classification of national security information – which includes intelligence activities or programs meant to safeguard nuclear materials or facilities – according to a newly released DOE Office of Inspector General report. The IG found none of the 232 national security documents it reviewed […]

Pat Host Defense Daily The woman who President Donald Trump plans to nominate to serve as the next Air Force secretary was subject to an Energy Department inspector general (IG) probe in 2013 that found she earned $450,000 from facility contractors without providing evidence that work was performed. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) asked […]

Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Northrop Grumman on Thursday reported double-digit increases in earnings and sales, ending a solid year for the company on a strong note. The company also said that it ended 2016 with $45.3 billion in total backlog, a 26 percent hike above the $35.9 billion at the end of 2015, which was the […]

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ famous Doomsday Clock ticked another 30 seconds toward midnight on Thursday, illustrating the organization’s increased fears of global annihilation at the start of the Trump administration. The minute hand on the 70-year-old metaphor dropped from three minutes to two-and-a-half minutes to midnight, closer than the world has been to […]

The United States and Russia can work together to address global nonproliferation and nuclear security threats even if bilateral relations remain tense, according to Ambassador Linton Brooks, former head of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. In a Monday interview with NS&D Monitor, the veteran nuclear security expert noted that President Donald Trump has regularly […]

Lockheed Martin Corp. on Tuesday announced net sales of $13.8 billion and net earnings from continuing operations of $959 million for the fourth quarter of 2016. Net sales increased from $11.5 billion and net earnings from $817 million for the same quarter of 2015. The company also reported net sales of $47.2 billion for full-year […]

Democrats in the House and Senate on Tuesday again introduced legislation that would require the president to obtain a congressional declaration of war before launching a nuclear first strike. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) pushed the same proposal in 2016, but their bills never made it past the committee level. The […]

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up on news affecting the U.S. nuclear deterrent during […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s latest financial management plan lacks the details necessary to serve as a road map for the agency’s activities, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a report released Thursday. The NNSA last February submitted to Congress a plan to improve the agency’s financial management, which featured a feasibility assessment, estimated costs, expected […]

Environmental activist attorneys argued in federal court this week that an environmental assessment (EA) is needed before the Department of Energy trucks 6,000 gallons of liquid highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Canada to the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. Meanwhile, attorneys for the Energy Department want the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that there is […]

Operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s 65-year-old Chemistry and Metallurgy Research (CMR) building could extend two years past their latest intended end date, according to management at the Department of Energy facility. The “potential slip” of programmatic operations from 2019 to 2021 was reported in a December letter from lab Director Charles McMillan to […]

In a widely noted report this week calling for hundreds of billions of dollars in additional spending for the U.S. Defense Department, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) largely appeared satisfied with the present program for modernizing the nation’s nuclear deterrent. “There is bipartisan consensus in support of the current nuclear modernization plan – replacing our ballistic […]

President Donald Trump suggested in an interview published Monday he would pursue a nuclear arms reduction agreement with Russia, with sanctions relief as a sweetener, a notion that some Russian officials and now-former President Barack Obama dismissed as two separate issues. “They have sanctions on Russia — let’s see if we can make some good […]

Rick Perry, President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of energy, said during his confirmation hearing Thursday with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that he would work alongside Congress to address the cost of the U.S. nuclear modernization program. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) noted that the current plan to modernize each leg of the […]

A U.S. senator from New Mexico is calling on President Donald Trump to keep current National Nuclear Security Administration and Defense Department leadership in their positions until replacements are appointed. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D) said Wednesday in a letter to Trump that he is concerned about NNSA continuity of operations, as Administrator Frank Klotz and […]

French multinational nuclear company AREVA on Wednesday announced the formation of a new subsidiary to manage its operations in the United States. The move is part of the troubled company’s broader restructuring, in which it is focusing on nuclear fuel cycle work and selling off its reactor business. Sam Shakir, an executive with AREVA for […]

The Sandia National Laboratories’ Weapons Evaluation Test Laboratory (WETL) reached its testing baseline for just four of eight U.S. nuclear weapons systems over a three-year period, the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office said in a report Monday. The primary culprit was unanticipated equipment downtime, along with a new safety program and a change in […]

The top contractor at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is looking for clarity on whether millions of dollars in “unallowable” expense filings in recent years were actually unallowable, as claimed by the federal government, On March 18, the Department of Justice sued Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the management and operations contractor for the facility […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has issued a request for quotes (RFQ) for a technical, engineering, and programmatic services blanket purchase agreement through which it expects to make multiple contract awards. The RFQ is open to General Services Administration Professional Services Schedule holders that will support offices across the NNSA, as well as Department of […]

Szuhsiung “Allen” Ho has pleaded guilty to conspiring to participate in the production of special nuclear material outside the United States without authorization by the Department of Energy, the Justice Department announced on Jan. 6. Ho, a naturalized U.S. citizen and nuclear engineer, faces up to a decade in prison and a $250,000 fine. Ho served […]

Both the National Nuclear Security Administration and President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team this week denied new reporting earlier that the incoming administration is dismissing the agency’s top two officials. Gizmodo reported Monday that NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz and Principal Deputy Administrator Madelyn Creedon were being dismissed from their current roles come Jan. 20, the day […]

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees to lead the Departments of State and Defense this week offered divergent positions on the United States’ future relationship with Russia. Rex Tillerson, tagged as secretary of state, and James Mattis, the secretary of defense nominee, during their respective Senate confirmation hearings addressed the issues of U.S. projection of strength worldwide […]

The Obama administration has designated close to 500 additional nuclear warheads for disassembly, dropping the size of the in-service deterrent to 4,018 warheads, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday. The unilateral decision leaves roughly 2,800 warheads lined up for destruction, according to Biden. “And we have recommended that the next administration conduct a comprehensive nuclear […]

A handful of North Carolina environmental groups are denouncing the expected shipments of 6,000 gallons of liquid highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, Canada, to the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. – a route of about 1,200 miles that would pass through their state. The organizations – […]