Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Chris Schneidmiller NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 A National Nuclear Security Administration program to identify potential nuclear proliferation threats in future years has multiple limitations that could undermine its effectiveness, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued on Oct. 30. The “Over the Horizon” (OTH) program under the NNSA Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) […]

Chris Schneidmiller NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 The Sandia National Laboratories this year lost a device that contained radioactive polonium 210, the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) said last week. The New Mexico facility in 2014 leased two static-eliminating inline alpha ionizers that each contained 10 millicuries of the substance, Steven Simonson, director of […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 The House of Representatives on Thursday passed its new version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2016 with a vote of 370-58 following an agreement between Congress and the White House that cuts $5 billion in previously authorized funding from the Department of Defense budget. The new […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 Boeing and Lockheed Martin are protesting the Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRSB) contract the Defense Department awarded last week to Northrop Grumman. The selection process for the contract, worth an estimated $80 billion, “was fundamentally flawed,” Boeing said Friday in an announcement. “The cost evaluation performed by the government did not […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 Tritium production is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s “most pressing defense mission need,” according to the recently released “Tritium and Enriched Uranium Management Plan Through 2060” from the Energy Department. Tritium for use in the NNSA’s weapons program is produced by burning unencumbered low-enriched uranium at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) yesterday released its request for proposals for the follow-on contract for management and operation of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The contract will feature a five-year base period and five-year option period and is expected to be worth $500 million-$600 million per year. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 BWXT should be a “major player” in the next procurement of missile tubes for the Ohio Replacement ballistic missile submarine, which should also provide several opportunities for consolidation of the supplier base, BWXT President and CEO Sandy Baker said Thursday during his company’s quarterly investor conference call. BWXT—then Babcock & […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 A former Babcock & Wilcox employee is suing the company, along with recent spinoffs BWXT and BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, for at least $1.5 million as a result of lost compensation and benefits and other damages she said resulted from her wrongful termination in 2013, according to a complaint filed […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 Seventeen members of Congress are urging the Department of Education to grant eligibility to all employees of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) 16 national laboratories for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLFP). Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) Nov. 2 letter to the Department of Education says the PSLFP, which forgives […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 Some mercury cleanup activities at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant are seemingly starting to pay off with results in the environment, although much more remains to be done to address the plant’s biggest legacy from the Cold War. The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management in Oak Ridge said […]

The ExchangeMonitor Publications & Forums is accepting nominations for the Johnny Foster Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented at the Eighth Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, scheduled for Feb. 16-19, 2016, in Arlington, Va. The award is named for former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Johnny Foster, who was the inaugural honoree in 2013. It […]

Pantex Plant Security Gets High Marks in DOE Inspection The Pantex Plant security force scored almost unprecedented high marks during a July-August inspection by a 100-member team from the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments, according to plant manager Consolidated Nuclear Security. Michael Mitchell with Protective Force Operations and Training at Pantex said in a […]

NS&D Monitor 11/6/2015 IN THE NNSA The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) late last month hosted eight foreign disarmament experts representing Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) non-nuclear weapon states for a transparency visit. The U.S. labs demonstrated technologies “through which the United States maintains the nuclear weapon stockpile in a non-testing […]

Y-12 Building Irritant Disappears A persistent problem with “airborne irritants” near the Y-12 site’s oldest facility has apparently dissipated or disappeared, at least for the time being. The issue at Building 9731 – the original pilot plant at Y-12 during the World War II Manhattan Project – first cropped up in February. It later was […]

CRENEL Final Report Released Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/30/2015 Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday suggested holding regular meetings between lawmakers and national laboratory directors, and expressed hope that more frequent communication of this type could help lab projects and programs finish on time and on schedule. […]

NS&D Monitor 10/30/2015 NSTec Names New President The company that manages the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) on Wednesday announced that it was promoting an executive to the position of president. National Security Technologies (NSTec) Vice President for Program Integration Christopher Deeney will replace Raymond Juzaitis, who is retiring. Deeney for a limited time will […]

NS&D Monitor 10/30/2015 Charges Filed in Y-12 Security Breach A 34-year-old Clinton, Tenn., man remains in jail in lieu of $25,000 bond on charges related to his alleged breach of security Oct. 22 at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge. A Sessions Court hearing for Timothy Daniel Preston is set for Nov. 3 in […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/30/2015 The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management has started communicating with other government bodies about how shutting down the Piketon, Ohio, portion of the American Centrifuge Project (ACP) will be paid for, and who will foot the bill, Mark Whitney, DOE principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental management, told House […]

Chris Schneidmiller NS&D Monitor 10/30/2015 The two-year budget agreement approved by Congress this week opens the door for increased spending on Department of Energy nuclear weapons operations. House lawmakers on Wednesday voted 266-167 in favor of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which would raise the discretionary spending cap for security activities and non-security activities […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/30/2015 Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies, national laboratories, and industry were on Capitol Hill Tuesday to emphasize the need to ramp up monitoring of radiological materials and urge continued federal funding for programs that counter nuclear smuggling and prevent radiological dispersal device (RDD) attacks […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 10/30/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration has not commented on whether it has taken punitive actions against Consolidated Nuclear Security, the management and operations contractor at the Y-12 site, for a significant shipping error in July in which the wrong amount of highly enriched uranium was sent to a private company in New […]

Valerie Insinna Defense Daily 10/30/2015 If a yearlong continuing resolution (CR) is enacted, the Navy will pull out all stops to protect the Ohio replacement program and keep it on schedule, but not all programs will be as lucky, a top Navy official said last week. One casualty would be the heavyweight MK 48 torpedo production […]

Dan Parsons Defense Daily 10/30/2015 Northrop Grumman [NOC] has been chosen to build the Air Force’s next-generation long-range bomber, a major aircraft manufacturing contract that is worth an estimated $80 billion. The incumbent manufacturer of the B-2 Spirit bomber beat out a heavyweight team comprised of Boeing [BA] and Lockheed Martin [LMT]. The contract award will significantly shape the defense […]

The ExchangeMonitor Publications & Forums is accepting nominations for the Johnny Foster Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented at the Eighth Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, scheduled for Feb. 16-19, 2016, in Arlington, Va. The award is named for former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Johnny Foster, who was the inaugural honoree in 2013. It […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/30/2015 A team of five Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) staffers that joined over 200 experts from 44 countries to conduct an on-site field exercise in Jordan late last year to evaluate progress in developing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was recognized for “exceptional work,” the National Nuclear Security […]

Westinghouse to Acquire CB&I Nuclear Construction Business Westinghouse Electric announced on Tuesday that it will acquire CB&I Stone and Webster, the nuclear construction and integrated services business of CB&I. The merger excludes the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project. 

NS&D Monitor 10/30/2015 Contractor Criticality Safety Infraction Reported at Sandia A contractor in September caused a criticality safety breach that forced the evacuation of a section of the Sandia National Laboratories, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board site representative report released this month. The worker was taking measurements at the SNL Annular Core […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 10/23/2015 President Barack Obama yesterday vetoed the fiscal 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that authorized his $611.9 billion request for defense discretionary spending, including $12.5 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The bill championed various NNSA upgrades, including funding for deferred maintenance to address aging laboratory infrastructure, a […]