Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, in their first of three debates, agreed Monday that the greatest threat facing the world is the proliferation of nuclear weapons but sparred over Trump’s prior comments about the nuclear capabilities of U.S. allies. “The single greatest problem the world has is nuclear armament, nuclear […]

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Air Force Gen. John Hyten to be commander of U.S. Strategic Command, replacing outgoing Adm. Cecil Haney. Hyten currently leads the Air Force Space Command, overseeing U.S. space and cyberspace forces since assuming the position in 2014. Hyten has served in space acquisition and operations positions, including as vice commander […]

By Pat Host Defense Daily NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.–The Air Force is considering declassifying further parts of the B-21 Raider program, but a key service official warned that the program would not be entirely declassified. Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) Director and Program Executive Officer (PEO) Randall Walden said Monday the service is working with […]

By Marc Selinger Defense Daily NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The U.S. Air Force revealed Sept. 19 that the service’s new B-21 bomber will be named the “Raider” in honor of Jimmy Doolittle’s Raiders. The Air Force picked “Raider” after holding a service-wide contest and reviewing more than 2,100 unique name submissions. Months after the Japanese […]

Pat Host Defense Daily NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.–It could take the Air Force more than a year to better refine its Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) cost estimate as service Secretary Deborah James said she wants to use industry input to better inform this effort. In the meantime, James said the Air Force would talk with the […]

The state of South Carolina appears to hope a letter sent out by the Energy Department that addresses the timeline for new nuclear waste shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) will buffer the state’s argument that the federal government should continue building the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily The U.S. Navy is in the “very early phases” of exploring what the successor to its Trident II D-5 ballistic missile will look like, a service official said Sept. 22. Navy engineers “have begun evaluating the technology areas that need to be examined” to develop the new submarine-launched, nuclear-armed missile, said […]

There is still no projection for the release date of a final environmental assessment (EA) on the Savannah River Site’s possible receipt of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany, according to a Sept. 20 update on Department of Energy EAs and environmental impact statements (EIS). The department projected a July 2016 earlier this year after issuing […]

Congress adjourned for the week without passing a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government funded at 2016 levels until Dec. 9, leaving lawmakers only another week to put finishing touches on the bill or risk another government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) began the week with hopes that the upper chamber by […]

In a letter Thursday to President Barack Obama, 29 Republican senators argued against enactment of a “no first use” policy for the U.S. nuclear deterrent. “While no American wishes to employ nuclear weapons in conflict, establishing a no first use policy would weaken the nation’s security and make the world less safe by crippling America’s nuclear deterrence posture—a stabilizing […]

Myanmar and Swaziland on Wednesday formally ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, bringing the total number of ratifying states to 166 but pushing the accord no closer to entry into force. The nations deposited their instruments of ratification following the Eighth Ministerial Meeting of the Friends of the CTBT at the United Nations in New York, where […]

Even with U.S. use of molybdenum-99 dropping in recent years, the nation faces a possible shortage of the crucial medical radioisotope when Canada’s National Research Universal reactor halts regular production next month, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report also found that global efforts to minimize and ultimately […]

The United States must maintain and modernize all three legs of the nuclear triad, including through deployment of a new air-launched cruise missile, the Air Force general nominated to lead U.S. Strategic Command said on Tuesday. “it’s essential that we always maintain a fully ready nuclear deterrent capability. There should be no doubt that the […]

The Obama administration’s $8.6 million payment to Iran for 32 metric tons of heavy water was conducted absolutely transparently, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Monday. The deal was reported to Congress and discussed with lawmakers, Moniz said during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. “There was no mystery about it, […]