Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The $37.4 billion House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill for fiscal 2017 prohibits the use of funds allocated for the Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility to place the plant in “cold standby,” a clear departure from the Obama administration’s proposal to terminate the project. The spending legislation in total grants the Department of Energy […]

The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee is proposing a requirement for the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that construction of the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility continue unless the secretary of energy reports to Congress on activities meant to address major points of contention on the project. The subcommittee on Thursday […]

The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday erased the $16.5 million sought for Savannah River Site infrastructure upgrades that was included in President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2017 budget request. The committee approved the bill after the Senate Appropriations Committee last week approved its version of the energy and water spending bill, which sustained SRS infrastructure funding […]

The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee on Thursday passed its mark for the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to the full committee with several amendments calling for reports related to comparative U.S. and Russian military capabilities to be submitted to Congress. The mark would also require construction of the Mixed Oxide (MOX) […]

Another senior official has departed the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico as of this week. John Tapia, LANL’s acquisition service management deputy division leader, according to his LinkedIn profile, managed a staff of 150 people with an annual operating budget of $16 million. He is no longer employed by the laboratory after a […]

Valerie Insinna Defense Daily The Air Force will issue a request for proposals (RFP) in a matter of weeks for its next-generation ICBM, known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), the Pentagon’s acquisition chief said Wednesday. “We are on track,” Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told lawmakers during a […]

As expected, South Carolina has denied a rural economic group’s request to intervene in the state’s lawsuit against the Department of Energy. The federal agency has failed to pay the state $100 million for a missed milestone at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF). The Southern Carolina Regional Development Alliance, which […]

BWXT Technologies said Thursday a subsidiary company has received a $241.5 million contract from the National Nuclear Security Administration to downblend 10.4 metric tons of highly enriched uranium to a proliferation-resistant low-enriched form available for use as commercial nuclear reactor fuel. The Nuclear Fuel Services contract is due to last through early 2019, according to […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration said this week there was “no measurable exposure” to workers from a large piece of radioactive metal discovered last month during site preparation for the Uranium Processing Facility. There have been varying reports about what was uncovered at the UPF site, although occurrence reports submitted by Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration confirmed that it is looking at ways to carry out repairs at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Building 9204-2, also known as Beta-2, which houses the Tennessee site’s nuclear weapons operations with lithium. But there’s still plenty of mystery about the plans for work in the crowded production complex inside […]

Honeywell’s first-quarter 2016 sales totaled $9.5 billion, while its year-over-year earnings per share rose by 9 percent, the company announced Friday. Core organic sales grew 1 percent, and the company raised its earnings per share guidance for the year by 7-10 percent, to $6.55-$6.70. A Honeywell subsidiary, Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, is the managing […]

Senate appropriators on Thursday passed their fiscal 2017 energy and water spending bill, including funding for the controversial mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. But they have asked the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold a hearing about the MOX approach that President Barack Obama nixed in his latest […]

The Senate and House fiscal 2017 energy and water appropriations bills meet President Barack Obama’s budget request to fund the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at $12.9 billion, agreeing on most major funding items with the exception of the mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel facility construction project. The House and Senate subcommittees moved their bills to full […]

A onetime employee of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Energy on Monday received an 18-month prison sentence for an attempted 2015 “spear-phishing” strike against DOE email accounts located at several National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sites, the Department of Justice said. The sentence came just over two months after Charles Harvey Eccleston, 62, pleaded guilty […]

According to occurrence reports filed by Y-12 National Security Complex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security in the last couple years, there have been more than 50 “events” in which radioactive debris has been uncovered during site-preparation activities for the multibillion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility. The radioactive discoveries are considered to be legacies of earlier operations at the […]

A U.S. citizen has been charged with conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government in the U.S. and helping develop special nuclear material in China without authorization from the Department of Energy, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday and announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Szuhsiung “Allen” Ho, a nuclear engineer […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) on Monday officially exited a reduced work phase, or deliberate operations, that was implemented after the company wrapped up an operational safety pause last fall. Now, the Savannah River Site management and operations contractor is fully in enhanced operations. Work in enhanced operations is closer to normal operations, but contingencies […]

Two professional nuclear societies are asking Congress to confirm as U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a senior National Security Council official whose nomination has been blocked due to Senate disagreements over the Iran nuclear deal. The American Nuclear Society (ANS) and the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) said Tuesday they […]

The Analytical Chemistry Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex is reportedly in good shape for the near future, thanks to a $10 million, yearlong facelift. The National Nuclear Security Administration said Thursday the project was completed ahead of schedule and according to budget. Building 9995, which houses the plant’s chemistry labs, was built in […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and its Y-12 site contractor, Consolidated Nuclear Security, are moving forward with infrastructure improvements at two key facilities at the Oak Ridge, Tenn., facility. This is apparently one of the top priorities at Y-12, needed to support efforts to ensure the scaled-back plans for the Uranium Processing Facility keep the […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) laboratory-directed research and development (LDRD) program supports positions that are considered part of the national laboratories’ “workforce pipeline for recruitment,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a newly released audit. The LDRD program promotes “creative and innovative” projects that are meant to “maintain the vitality of the laboratories’ defense-related […]

President Barack Obama last week announced his intent to nominate Dimitri Kusnezov as deputy administrator for defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration. Kusnezov, who has served as NNSA chief scientist since 2010, has worked in several different capacities for the agency since 2001, the White House said in its announcement. Positions Kusnezov held during this time include acting […]

Creation of a new multilateral contact group and plans to continue nuclear security discussions at international conferences were rolled out last week as means of building upon the progress made in four Nuclear Security Summits in protecting dangerous materials from misuse. The two-day summit in Washington, D.C., which brought together over 50 heads of state […]

The Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) will enter into force on May 8 after being ratified by the necessary number of nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced Friday. Nicaragua’s ratification of the amendment has fulfilled the requirement that 102 state parties, or two-thirds of the state […]

Two new annual reports released by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) reaffirm agency milestones in its stockpile and nonproliferation operations and highlight infrastructure investments, the proposed termination of the mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel approach, and departmental reorganizations as recent internal areas of focus. The fiscal 2017 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan noted no significant changes […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), the contractor that manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is seeking expressions of interest for the replacement of body armor used at the site, according to a recent solicitation posted. Vendors must demonstrate good past performance within the last seven years on similar supply contracts […]

Nuclear Watch New Mexico on Thursday said it had filed another Freedom of Information Act request aimed at getting the National Nuclear Security Administration to release fiscal 2015 performance evaluation reports (PERs) for the Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories. As the nuclear weapons agency has not responded to a FOIA request on Dec. 22, […]