Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/18/2015 The former president of the U.S. branch of a Russian nuclear company this week was sentenced to 48 months in prison for helping arrange over $2 million in “corrupt payments” meant to aid U.S. businesses in securing contracts with the Russian state-owned nuclear energy corporation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/18/2015 A transition of leadership is underway at the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, which represents more than 2,000 workers at the Department of Energy facilities at Oak Ridge, Tenn. Steve Jones, ATLC president and a key member of the team that negotiated new collective bargaining agreements at the Oak Ridge […]

Sandia Seeking Security Operation Services Contractor for California Site The Sandia National Laboratories is seeking a contractor for security operation services at its Livermore, Calif., site, a 400-acre area that includes national security research and development laboratories and facilities. Both large and small businesses are eligible to bid on the contract for an estimated five-year […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security has reportedly made significant progress in resolving corrosion issues within a segment of the fire-protection system at the plant’s Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, which holds the nation’s primary stockpile of weapon-grade uranium. According to reports from Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board staff, “microbiologically-influenced corrosion” […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 Deficiencies in the issues management program at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Los Alamos Field Office has led to ineffective tracking of corrective actions and inconsistent documentation, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General (IG) said this week. A Dec. 7 letter and audit report from the IG to the […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) and the Department of Energy plan to ramp up production of plutonium oxide feed to support the nation’s MOX method of plutonium disposition. The feedstock, which will be produced using the Savannah River Site’s H Canyon and HB-Line facilities, is a diluted version of plutonium […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 The Department of Energy’s (DOE) internal estimates for the long-term cost of nuclear weapons modernization operations exceed by over $4 billion President Barack Obama’s projections in the fiscal 2016 annual DOE and Department of Defense (DoD) joint report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a report released Thursday. The […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 The nation’s planned MOX method of plutonium disposition is vulnerable to annual funding constraints, while a downblending approach is lower in both cost and associated risks, according to Aerospace Corp. The company conducted a congressionally mandated study on alternatives to the costly MOX project, which includes ongoing construction of the […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday introduced a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government for five days beyond the Dec. 11 expiration of the current CR. The newly introduced bill maintains government funding at the fiscal 2015 funding levels of the current CR – passed at […]

Valerie Insinna Defense Daily 12/11/2015 The Navy anticipates building its top priority—the Ohio replacement submarine—during a fiscally austere period where the shipbuilding account will be strapped for cash, but using a special, Defense Department-wide account would give the service new funding mechanisms that could save anywhere from 5 to 10 percent per ship, the Congressional Budget Office […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 Two nongovernmental nonproliferation organizations on Wednesday issued a joint declaration on preventing nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear terrorism that called “as a matter of the highest priority for there to be an urgent and immediate requirement to rebuild U.S.-Russian relations.” The joint declaration by the International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking small businesses that could offer psychological assessment services to the agency’s Office of Personnel and Facility Clearances and Classification, according to a sources sought notice issued last week. The notice says the NNSA’s Albuquerque Complex is conducting market research for an “anticipated […]

NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 IN THE NNSA Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), managing contractor of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, is seeking expressions of interest for "architecture-engineering services" for an emergency operations center at the site, according to a sources sought solicitation posted by the Department of Energy (DOE) last week. The DOE said the new […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 Members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) identified reviews of quality assurance, emergency preparedness and response, and Department of Energy (DOE) directives as fiscal 2016 priorities at National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) labs. Speaking at a public business meeting last week regarding DNFSB’s work plan for the fiscal year, […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 Lawmakers this week criticized the Obama administration for the years-long delay in reporting to Congress their concerns regarding a Russian violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and for the United States’ lack of progress in restoring Russian compliance with the treaty. The treaty between the United States and […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 The Los Alamos National Laboratory and its newly selected protective force contractor, the Centerra Group, have completed a full transfer of security responsibilities from departing contractor SOC. The final change took place Tuesday despite a pending protest by SOC that disputed the award, a factor that went unmentioned in announcements […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 Investigations by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Inspector General’s Office (IG) from an April 1 to Sept. 30 reporting period resulted in nine criminal convictions, the recovery of $30.2 million in fines, and 12 suspensions and debarments, according to the IG’s semiannual report to Congress released this week. The IG’s […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 A Mission Impossible-like, self-destructing file is one of several potential options for safe 3-D printing of nuclear weapons while limiting the spread of additive-manufactured bomb components abroad, experts said Tuesday as policymakers and nuclear experts wrestle with an ever-evolving array of global risk scenarios surrounding the technology. Matthew Kroenig, a […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 The mission need Critical Decision (CD)-0 for the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) modular approach to plutonium manufacturing has been approved, according to Department of Energy documents shared with NS&D Monitor. The plutonium modular approach (PMA) project will provide the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) with “high-hazard, high-security laboratory space” […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 Hourly workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex approved a new five-year collective bargaining agreement on Thursday, concluding four weeks of negotiations on a positive note for the workforce and the government’s managing contractor for the nuclear weapons facility, Consolidated Nuclear Security. The ratified agreement will provide about 1,100 union […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 Congress is pushing for an updated cost assessment of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility following a congressionally mandated independent review this summer that priced the project’s life-cycle expense at $51 billion. Despite controversial hearings in Congress and indications from the Department of Energy that the project is too expensive, […]

Pat Host Defense Daily 12/4/2015 The Air Force wants to purchase 100 Long Range Strike Bombers (LRSB), service Secretary Deborah James said Wednesday, the high end of the 80-to-100 aircraft range the service has previously stated. LRSB is considered one of the Air Force’s top programs. Service acquisition officials anticipate spending $564 million per bomber […]

Staff Reports Defense Daily 12/4/2015 Some major modernization programs, including the Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) and Ohio-class nuclear submarine replacement, will be slowed as the Defense Department absorbs a $15 billion cut after fiscal year 2017, the Pentagon’s chief accountant said Nov. 30. Pentagon bean counters are not thrilled with the budget deal passed at the […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 Former U.S. and Russian officials this week called for an urgent restoration of the two nations’ communication and nonproliferation cooperation due to shared nonproliferation concerns. Speaking Tuesday at a conference hosted by the International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe and the Nuclear Threat Initiative, former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA), […]

Alissa Tabirian and Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 President Barack Obama last week signed the new fiscal 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that authorizes $607 billion in defense spending, following a previous veto of the bill over objections to the use of overseas contingency operations funds. The new deal passed the House and Senate […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 Consolidated Nuclear Security, the government’s managing contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is advancing plans to address the National Nuclear Security Administration’s mandate to reduce the enriched uranium inventory in the plant’s aged 9212 complex. A critical part of that effort apparently will involve stepping […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 The Department of Energy (DOE) identified deficiencies in hazard assessment and abatement and emergency response at the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in a preliminary notice of violation (PNOV) issued earlier this month to SNL’s managing contractor, Sandia Corp. The DOE investigated SNL’s worker safety and health program following a lithium ion battery […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has identified deficiencies in the Pantex Plant’s emergency preparedness and response program, according to a Nov. 24 letter from DNFSB Chairwoman Joyce Connery to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. The letter notes that certain accident scenarios – such as tornados, flooding, or earthquakes […]