Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Lockheed Martin Corp. on Tuesday announced net sales of $12.9 billion and net earnings of $1 billion for the second quarter of 2016. Net sales increased from $11.6 billion in the same quarter of last year, while net earnings rose from $929 million in that same time period. Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sandia Corp. is the […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex must ramp up maintenance at its existing uranium operations facilities to meet mission needs until new plants, including the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), are available, the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office (IG) found in a report released Tuesday. Y-12’s enriched uranium processing operations are housed in the aging 9212 […]

Top U.S. defense and energy officials testified Thursday in support of current U.S. nuclear modernization priorities and dismissed rumors that President Barack Obama plans to take nonproliferation steps in the final months of his presidency that have not been agreed upon in Congress. Responding to questions about these rumors, witnesses at a House Armed Services […]

Responses to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) request for proposals for the Sandia National Laboratories management and operations contract were due Wednesday. The agency did not offer information about the proposals – particularly the names of the bidding companies and the number of bids received – but said it expects to make a selection by the […]

Both the Senate and House have passed motions to go to conference on the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) through a committee that will work to reconcile the two chambers’ versions of the bill. A Senate aide said Thursday conference has begun, though lawmakers this week also began a seven-week summer recess. The […]

Members of Congress and former U.S. officials continue to disagree over the necessity to field a new nuclear-armed cruise missile, the Long-Range Stand-Off (LRSO) weapon, and cited Wednesday the Russian nuclear modernization program as a factor complicating U.S. strategic deterrent needs. Subcommittee member Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) spoke at a Senate Appropriations Energy and Water […]

The Savannah River Site’s potential acceptance of German spent nuclear fuel faced another discussion and vote on Tuesday. The Nuclear Materials Committee of the SRS Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) decided the issue should go before the full CAB later this month, with five members in favor of the move, three in opposition, and one abstention. The […]

The Department of Energy has completed the purchase of 32 tons of heavy water from Iran for approximately $8.6 million, sparking a renewed congressional push to block similar future deals. The purchase is part of the United States’ effort to help Iran meet its commitments under the newly implemented multilateral nuclear deal. Heavy water, used […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking potential providers capable of offering technical support on data for infrastructure cost and construction and maintenance estimates, according to a sources sought notice posted last week. The notice said NNSA is interested in businesses with experience in providing building construction and sustainment cost data; developing federal infrastructure […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has formally amended its approach to meeting enriched uranium requirements at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee by upgrading some existing enriched uranium processing facilities and constructing a multi-building Uranium Processing Facility (UPF). An amended record of decision published Tuesday represents the final step in the process to […]

Department of Energy (DOE) representatives briefed House Armed Services Committee staffers Thursday on a study of comparative pensions and cost-of-living increases given to retired workers from DOE facilities, according to the Savannah River Site Retirees Association (SRSRA). The SRSRA said in an issue summary statement ahead of the meeting that this briefing follows two years of […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has issued consent orders to Los Alamos National Security (LANS) and National Security Technologies (NSTec) for the loss of contamination control of highly enriched uranium at the Nevada National Security Site’s National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Device Assembly Facility (DAF) in June and October of 2014, according to two […]

The Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which plays a key role in preventing nuclear smuggling by monitoring cargo arriving at U.S. ports of entry, is understaffed and faces challenges in properly screening incoming high-risk shipments, according to witnesses at a House Homeland Security Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee hearing Thursday. Todd […]

The House of Representatives on Friday morning adopted by voice vote a motion to go to conference on the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), legislation the House passed in May and the Senate a month later. The House and Senate will next name their conferees to the committee, which will then develop a […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) said July 7 that the United States needs to be prepared to counter an increasing “diversity” of threats to its national security. The United States has been battling terrorist groups in multiple foreign countries for 15 years, but that threat “has not […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) is seeking a dismissal of a federal lawsuit accusing the contractor and one of its parent companies of overcharging the government more than $5 million in “unallowable costs.” In papers filed on May 20, SRNS said the Department of Justice misused the Federal Claims Act in filing its lawsuit, and […]

The downblending of 6 metric tons of plutonium at the Savannah River Site is expected to begin in September, with plans to complete the process over the next several years. The weapon-usable, non-pit plutonium is not part of the 34 metric tons of material that would be processed by the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility […]

Savannah River Site officials still don’t know who is behind the flying drones that have been spotted above the 310-square-mile facility near Aiken, S.C. There have been eight confirmed sightings of drones flying over the Department of Energy facility, with the most recent reported on Tuesday. “We continue to partner with federal, state, and local […]

The Sandia National Laboratories is seeking a commercial partner for the development of a market-ready physical security analysis software package, according to a special notice posted last week. The collaboration, which would be based on Sandia’s security analysis methodologies, would yield commercial software with applications that involve nuclear power plant security, material control and accounting, […]

The Pantex Plant has underreported its maintenance backlog by 69 percent despite properly identifying the condition of its infrastructure, the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office (IG) said in a report Tuesday. Pantex reported 4,002 backlogged tasks as of Jan. 19, 2015, it said. However, the IG’s review of the system the plant uses to […]

Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, has been appointed as the next NATO deputy secretary general, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday. Gottemoeller is set to replace Alexander Vershbow, a veteran U.S. ambassador who has served in the NATO position since 2012, the statement said. Gottemoeller will begin her […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Thursday that its security inspections at commercial nuclear power reactors and “Category I” fuel cycle facilities in 2015 resulted in 138 findings, most of which were of “low security significance.” The annual report to Congress on the NRC’s security inspection program said the agency conducted 242 inspections at those sites, […]

The conditions for further reducing the role and number of nuclear weapons in U.S. security strategy do not currently exist, according to the former policy director of the Obama administration’s 2010 Nuclear Posture Review. Brad Roberts, now the director of the Center for Global Security Research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said Tuesday at the […]

Despite some obstacles, such as the slow pace of approval of new security clearances, Consolidated Nuclear Security is more than halfway to its goal of hiring 1,150 employees in fiscal 2016. CNS is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s managing contractor at two key nuclear weapons facilities: the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and the […]

The Navy, in partnership with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), has completed approximately 70 percent of the production run of the W76-1 re-entry body refurbishment program, Vice Adm. Terry Benedict, director of the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs (SSP), said on June 23 at a Peter Huessy breakfast. SSP and NNSA are working to extend […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sent the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine an emergency shipment worth approximately $2.3 million after 29 radiation portal monitors were destroyed in Ukraine in fighting between the government and separatists. NNSA spokeswoman Francie Israeli offered more details by email after a June 17 Government Accountability Office report highlighted the destroyed […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has awarded South Carolina State University (SCSU), a historically black institution in the city of Orangeburg, a two-year contract to evaluate the agency’s University Consortia on Nuclear Security. The contract, awarded by NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (NA-22), is worth $173,940, according to an award […]