Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The Trump administration is reportedly planning a series of federal funding cuts that might result in the redirection of a portion of the Department of Energy budget into the National Nuclear Security Administration’s defense programs. The Hill reported last month that Trump’s transition team staffers have planned major funding reductions for the DOE and other […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), the management and operating contractor for the Pantex Plant in Texas and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, plans to implement a new “market-driven” compensation system once it receives National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) approval, President and CEO Morgan Smith said Wednesday in a memo to employees. The intention is […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus in Missouri is marking 2016 as its “best year ever” in safety performance. The NNSA site that produces non-nuclear components used in nuclear weapons said in an emailed statement that despite a 20 percent increase in new employees throughout the year, safety incidents fell by […]

One week into his term, President Donald Trump signed a national security memorandum that calls for rebuilding the U.S. military and requires the development of a new Nuclear Posture Review. The Jan. 27 order directs the development of a National Defense Strategy, encompassing a new Nuclear Posture Review “to ensure that the United States nuclear deterrent is […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily President Donald Trump, who recently vowed to cut the cost of new Navy submarines, has various tools at his disposal that could help him achieve his goal, according to a naval expert. One such tool would be using multi-year procurement contracts for the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, which is currently in development, […]

There were no protests against the contract award for management and operation of the Sandia National Laboratories, the National Nuclear Security Administration said this week. The semiautonomous branch of the U.S. Energy Department announced on Dec. 16 that it had awarded the contract to National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS), a wholly owned […]

The House of Representatives this week approved refiled legislation that would require the U.S. Homeland Security Department’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office to document the value of its research and development spending. The “Gains in Global Nuclear Detection Architecture Act” of 2017 is identical to the bill U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) submitted last year. That […]

Congressional advocates of the Savannah River Site’s controversial plutonium disposition project, known as MOX, are unfazed by reports that President Donald Trump intends to significantly reduce the Department of Energy budget, saying it’s too early to predict how Trump will handle the project. Multiple news outlets this month reported details of apparent Trump administration plans […]

A federal judge on Thursday ruled against requiring the Department of Energy to produce a new environmental impact statement for shipments of highly enriched uranium from Canada to the agency’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The ruling opens the door for shipments to begin as soon as this month. Upward of 150 shipments, totaling […]

National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator Frank Klotz was asked to stay in his current role just before President Donald Trump’s inauguration last week and will stay on until Trump confirms a replacement for the position. Other top NNSA officials, however, have left the agency. “To help ensure continuity in our critical nuclear security work, […]

The State Department’s top arms control official is resigning today, apparently at the request of the Trump administration. He joins a large number of managers exiting the agency. Thomas Countryman has been acting undersecretary for arms control and international security since October 2016, after Rose Gottemoeller left the State Department last summer to join NATO […]

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 […]