Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico has completed construction of its Transuranic Waste Facility (TWF) and the readiness process has begun, an individual familiar with the project said this week. The facility is expected to begin receiving waste by next spring or summer. The facility is intended for storage of newly generated […]

The Department of Energy made significant advances in nuclear security and nonproliferation operations during the eight years of the Obama administration, as well as in cleaning up the legacy of its Cold War nuclear weapons operations, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Thursday in his Cabinet Exit Memo. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding “accelerated the […]

The management and operations contractor for two key U.S. nuclear arms sites improved its performance significantly in fiscal 2016, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration. However, Consolidated Nuclear Security will need to take another step forward to ensure it stays on the job past the initial term of its contract. CNS has since July […]

Sandia Corp. has received the highest marks among the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) nuclear weapons labs in the agency’s newly released fiscal 2016 performance evaluations. Each national laboratory contractor was rated in six performance areas, each carrying a different weight, which were used to determine the award fees the contractor would receive for the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in December hosted a preproposal conference for interested bidders for the protective force services contract at the Nevada National Security Site. Contract incumbent Centerra Group was among several companies that sent representatives to the meeting at the NNSA’s Nevada Field Office and site visit on Dec. 12 and 13. The others participants were ADC, […]

Dan Parsons Defense Daily In a lengthy 11th-hour memo to President Barack Obama, outgoing Defense Secretary Ash Carter laid out an argument that the U.S. military is in better shape than it was eight years ago, but will require continued investment in modernization to maintain its superiority. “While the next Administration will continue to be […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) might not have enough heavy water to meet its long-term nuclear weapons and non-weapons activity needs, according to a newly released audit report from the DOE Inspector General’s Office. Heavy water for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) weapons activities is stored primarily at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee […]

South Carolina has hit the restart button on a multimillion-dollar fine over a missed plutonium disposition deadline at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS). A 2003 agreement between the state and DOE requires the federal government to process 1 metric ton of plutonium at SRS through the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF), or remove […]

President Barack Obama on Dec. 23 signed the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law, following Congress’ approval of the conference version of the bill earlier in the month. The bill authorizes nearly $619 billion in spending through the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, though the actual funding the Defense […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily The Navy has formally received the go-ahead to begin detailed design of the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall signed a memorandum late Jan. 4 authorizing the program’s next development phase. His move follows a Defense Acquisition Board review of the program in November. The Navy plans to build […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration said Thursday it had sealed follow-on agreements with three companies to complete its share of funding for their respective molybdenum-99 production projects. The deals ensure that SHINE Medical Technologies, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, and General Atomics will each receive the full $25 million from the agency for development of technologies to […]

The Energy Department is still looking to restrict airborne drones from flying above the Savannah River Site and other “sensitive” facilities, but has not yet filed a request with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). From June 19 to July 22, SRS employees reported 12 drone sightings over key areas of the site. These included: the Mixed […]

NS&D Monitor will not be published next week in observance of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Look for the next issue in your inbox on Friday, Jan. 6, 2017.

Lyle Cary has been named the new vice president of safeguards, security, and emergency services at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Pantex Plant in Texas and Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, the sites’ management and operations contractor announced Wednesday. Ken Freeman, currently serving in that role, is set to retire at the end of […]

President-elect Donald Trump unleashed a cascade of alarm and analysis at the end of the week with a tweet on the need for a stronger U.S. nuclear deterrent, which led to an interview in which he reportedly indicated his readiness for a new atomic arms race. Just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin urged his nation to strengthen […]

A onetime scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for submitting false data and reports to the U.S. government to defraud it out of quantum computing research funding, the Justice Department said this week. S. Darin Kinion, 44, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for […]

The Savannah River Site’s security contractor earned $5.66 million out of a possible $5.92 million, or 95.5 percent, of its performance award fee for fiscal 2016. The Department of Energy highlighted Centerra-Savannah River Site’s efforts in keeping employees safe and cutting costs in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30. Contractors earn award fees each year by […]

The newly awarded management and operations contract for the Sandia National Laboratories will incorporate governance initiatives to boost transparency, improve project management, and increase engagement between the Department of Energy and its contractors, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The semiautonomous DOE agency announced on Dec. 16 it had awarded the new contract […]

At the last minute Dec. 9, after deadline for last week’s issue of Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, the Senate passed a stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government open and funded at fiscal 2016 levels through April 28. An earlier stopgap bill, known officially as a continuing resolution, was set to expire at […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Friday said it had awarded the management and operations contract for the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International. Northrop Grumman and the Universities Research Association consortium will support NTESS under the contract, which, with all […]

Lockheed Martin said Thursday it began work in November on a $50 million contract to supply Minuteman III ICBM support technology. The defense contractor secured the four-year, firm-fixed-price deal in June for seven sets of ICBM re-entry system equipment and four additional units of support gear, according to a Lockheed press release. The equipment will […]

Rich Abott Defense Daily The U.S. Navy awarded BAE Systems a $368 million five-year contract to provide systems engineering and support services to the service’s Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) office, which covers strategic and attack weapons systems on U.S. and U.K. ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), the company said Wednesday. SSP specifically overseas the Strategic Weapons System and […]

Calvin Biesecker Defense Daily Boeing on Tuesday said it plans to move the headquarters of its St. Louis-based Defense, Space & Security segment to the Washington, D.C., area in January to be closer to its customers. The initial move next month will involve about a dozen people, including Boeing’s Defense Chief Leanne Caret. Over time, the […]

A new report from the nongovernmental Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) suggests confidence-building and transparency measures to prevent miscalculations between Russia and the West, and thereby reduce nuclear risk, in light of current political tensions and the deteriorating U.S.-Russian relationship. The recommendations in NTI’s Rising Nuclear Dangers: Steps to Reduce Risks in the Euro-Atlantic Region are […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina has processed 2 kilograms of plutonium since beginning its program in September to permanently dispose of 6 metric tons of excess non-pit material, according to DOE. The site said Sept. 30 its personnel had begun downblending the material at the site’s K Area Complex. After dilution, […]

A federal judge has partially dismissed claims that the Savannah River Site’s primary contractor, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), and one of its parent companies, Fluor Federal Services (FFS), unjustly benefited from their contract with the Department of Energy. On March 18, the U.S. Department of Justice sued SRNS, the management and operations contractor for […]

A senior National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official said Monday that fostering nuclear security relationships between U.S. and Russian technical experts, as was done in the 1990s, would play a significant role in restoring otherwise chilly relations between the two countries. “There is a quality to science-to-science relationships that transcends a lot of the political […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) received $39.2 million, or 87 percent, of its annual award fee for fiscal 2016 from the Department of Energy – a total amount earned for both its Environmental Management (EM) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) missions. The Savannah River Site’s management and operations contractor could have earned up to […]