Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Wednesday detonated a conventional explosive underground at the Nevada National Security Site, the sixth in a set of experiments meant to enhance U.S. abilities to monitor low-yield nuclear testing and detect underground explosions. The activity, part of the agency’s Source Physics Experiment research, involved the detonation of chemical […]

Lockheed Martin delivered Tuesday its proposal for the technology maturation and risk reduction phase of the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) contract competition, and on Thursday identified the team of contractors that will offer technical support if Lockheed wins the award. The team encompasses General Dynamics for support on weapon system command and control; Draper Laboratory […]

Members of Congress have again called on President Barack Obama to adopt a policy of nuclear no-first-use despite the administration’s indication that it will not make such a change during the remainder of the president’s term. The Oct. 13 letter to Obama, signed by 22 members of Congress – including Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Keith Ellison […]

A recent audit found that the Department of Energy has not developed a long-term strategy for operating the Savannah River Site’s H Canyon – a nuclear materials processing facility that is scheduled to remain open through 2024. The audit, conducted by the DOE Inspector General’s Office, was released on Sept. 26, and also says H Canyon […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office (NPO) has signed off on a safety plan for extending the service lives of two key facilities at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. Next up is completion of an Extended Life Program implementation plan for Buildings 9204-2E and 9215 by Nov. 1 of this year, according […]

President Barack Obama announced Thursday his intent to appoint L. Wayne Brasure as director for domestic nuclear detection at the Department of Homeland Security. Brasure has been the deputy director of DHS’ Domestic Nuclear Detection Office since 2014, while also serving as acting director of the office since May 2016, the announcement said. Brasure’s previous […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and Air Force Global Strike Command earlier this month conducted two joint flight tests of mock B61-7 and B61-11 nuclear gravity bombs. Two B-2A Spirit stealth bombers dropped the joint test assemblies over the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada in the successful test, the NNSA said in a press release. […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s signing Monday of a decree halting his nation’s participation in a bilateral agreement with the United States through which each country would dispose of 34 metric tons of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium may represent the highest-profile casualty of the U.S. domestic battle over a costly facility under construction in South Carolina. The Kremlin […]

The Russian government on Wednesday suspended agreements for cooperation with the United States on nuclear- and energy-related scientific research and development and the conversion of Russian research reactors from highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium fuel. The move follows the Kremlin’s withdrawal from a bilateral plutonium disposition agreement earlier this week. The R&D agreement, signed in September […]

The United States and Russia largely continue to reduce their arsenals of long-range nuclear weapons in line with the mandates of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), with the exception of an increase in Russia’s deployed strategic warheads, according to the latest aggregate data released over the weekend on treaty activity. The bilateral […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee could take some steps to improve its Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention Program (CBDPP), the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General (IG) said in a follow-up audit of such programs at the Oak Ridge Reservation. The audit found no material weaknesses with the Oak Ridge programs but said […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Tuesday it has completed deployment of 27 radiation detection systems across Bulgaria, thereby completing the nation’s nuclear detection architecture. These efforts, conducted through the NNSA’s Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) program, are intended to help prevent the smuggling of radioactive materials. Anne Harrington, NNSA deputy administrator for defense nuclear […]

In the latest move in the ongoing lawsuit over disposition of Department of Energy plutonium stored in South Carolina, the federal government submitted documents on Monday demonstrating its intention to advance downblending at the Savannah River Site and to send the processed material to the soon-to-be reopened Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. The […]

A longstanding plan to send highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Canada to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has been delayed at least until Feb. 17, 2017 – an agreed-upon date that is expected to give the federal government enough time to prove it is meeting contractual and legal obligations for the shipments. The […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site said Friday it has begun downblending 6 metric tons of surplus nuclear weapon-usable plutonium. The milestone follows DOE’s announcement on April 5 that it would downblend the material and send it to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for disposal. The process of blending plutonium oxide with an […]

President Barack Obama on Thursday signed a stopgap budget bill that freezes federal spending at fiscal 2016 levels and leaves the Energy Department with an annualized budget of $29.5 billion through Dec. 9, which suggests that some of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) sites and major infrastructure projects may be left with less than […]

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suggested she would cancel the Long Range Stand-Off (LRSO) nuclear cruise missile program if elected, according to leaked audio obtained by The Washington Free Beacon from a private campaign event held in Virginia in February. The Free Beacon reported Tuesday that the audio was obtained by hackers who breached a […]

CB&I AREVA MOX Services provided “misleading” information in determining how much construction of the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) will cost, and how long it will take to build the plant, according to an updated project baseline report released Sept. 23 by the Energy Department’s Office of Project Management Oversight and Assessments. […]

Lawmakers this week introduced new legislation in the House and Senate that would prevent the president from conducting a first-use nuclear strike without first obtaining a declaration of war by Congress. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) on Tuesday submitted the legislation, called the “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of […]

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter touted the nation’s nuclear modernization efforts and existing deterrence strategy during a trip this week to areas central to the U.S. nuclear enterprise. He spoke to troops at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota – which hosts B-52H bombers and Minuteman III ICBMs – and Kirtland Air Force Base in […]

Obama administration officials on Tuesday doubled down on their opposition to international efforts to negotiate a nuclear weapons ban through the United Nations. Anita Friedt, principal deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that pursuit of a nuclear weapons […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration, alongside Poland, Russia, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, has repatriated 61 kilograms of Russian-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Poland, making the country the 31st plus Taiwan to become HEU-free, the Department of Energy announced Monday. The two-day operation followed 10 years of cooperation to remove over 700 kilograms of […]

The Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) engineering program at the Y-12 National Security Complex is sound and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is adequately operating the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC), the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) said in separate assessments released Tuesday. Bechtel National is building the UPF at the Y-12 […]

Following the United Nations Security Council’s adoption on Sept. 23 of a resolution encouraging nations to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Republicans lambasted what Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called a “toothless resolution” while Democrats lauded its passage as key in reaffirming global norms against nuclear testing. The nonbinding resolution, adopted in a 14-0 […]

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) on Monday honored retired Air Force Gen. Larry Welch with the John S. Foster Jr. Medal, an annual award established last year to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to nuclear security. “Gen. Welch’s exceptional leadership in support of U.S. nuclear security has without a doubt made our […]