Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY The U.S. Department of Labor has scheduled outreach events for next week in New Mexico to provide assistance with compensation and medical benefit claims for nuclear weapons workers and uranium miners. Attendees will receive information on the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, which “compensates current or former employees […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) this week introduced revised legislation on technology transfers from Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories to the private industry for commercialization after incorporating input from New Mexico businesses with experience in the transfers. The Accelerating Technology Transfer to Advance Innovation for the Nation Act is intended […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Pantex Plant is successfully implementing its explosives safety program but must correct some practices that could be hazardous to personnel, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) determined in a program review released this week. The plant, responsible for nuclear explosives […]

As is our annual practice, NS&D Monitor will not publish next week in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. The next regular issue will be in your inbox on Dec. 4. The Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will be published Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week, and we will issue bulletins should any major news break in the interim.

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 Funding for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility is expected to be included in the final fiscal 2016 appropriations bill after President Barack Obama’s official funding request clattered its way through scrupulous Energy Department-commissioned reviews, contentious congressional negotiations, and reported private meetings between DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration brass […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 The relationship between the federal government and national laboratories should be modified to ease the burden of federal regulations while promoting transparency and trust between the two entities, according to the co-chairs of the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories (CRENEL) and a laboratory director.  CRENEL, established […]

Valerie Insinna Defense Daily 11/20/2015 The Air Force’s current plan to buy anywhere from 80 to 100 Long Range Strike Bombers (LRSB) will not be sufficient to meet operational requirements, and double that number could be needed for a large scale conflict in which conventional and nuclear bombers are needed, a study by the Mitchell […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 Some welding on the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) may be redone following a violation detected during an inspection last month. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission noted that design documents for work at the MFFF included inadequate welding measurements based on standards established by the American Welding […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Inspector General (IG) in a report Thursday added infrastructure modernization to its fiscal 2016 list of management challenges facing the department. The new addition signals a need for DOE to focus on the issue, along with existing challenges in contract management, cybersecurity, safeguards […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 In perhaps a last-ditch effort to save the Piketon, Ohio, piece of the American Centrifuge Project, Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Cliff Rosenberger and state Rep. Terry Johnson (R) are calling for the Ohio legislature to officially reiterate to Congress that moving all of Centrus’ American Centrifuge Project (ACP) operations […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 The United States is considering “economic and military responses” to Russia’s violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a senior State Department official said last week.  Frank Rose, assistant secretary of the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, said Russia committed a “serious violation” against “one of the core […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 A program that promotes innovative ideas for nuclear disarmament is calling on the gaming community to develop digital game ideas to educate the public on the risk of nuclear weapons. N Square, a $2.4 million pilot program, has partnered with Games for Change, an organization that promotes the development of […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 15 projects from National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) labs, some of which feature nuclear deterrence applications, were chosen last week as winners of R&D Magazine’s annual R&D 100 Awards recognizing “the top technology products of the year,” according to the magazine. One of the winners in the software and services […]

NS&D Monitor 11/20/2015 IN THE NNSA The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) held yesterday a pre-proposal conference for the Nevada National Security Site’s (NNSS) management and operating contract competition. The conference for prospective contract bidders took place at the Embassy Suites Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev., and followed the NNSA’s Nov. 6 request for […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/13/2015 Partnerships between universities and national laboratories that support the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation are developing new detection, verification, and network analysis technologies for nonproliferation while promoting a student-to-lab pipeline meant to recruit a new generation of technical experts into the nuclear security enterprise. A […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/13/2015 The strength of the United States’ global partnerships on civil nuclear cooperation lie in the quality and reliability of American nuclear components and the reputational advantages they offer to foreign nations, according to a Department of State official. Thomas Countryman, assistant secretary of the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, […]