Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 09/11/2015 The U.S.-South Korea “123 Agreement” renewed in April will enter into force between Oct. 29 and Dec. 7 without any congressional objections, independent nuclear nonproliferation expert and former House and Senate staffer Jodi Lieberman said yesterday during a panel discussion on the agreement at the Center for Strategic and International […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/11/2015 The Department of Energy’s (DOE) mismanagement of email records, which has “remained largely unresolved” since a 2010 review first identified recordkeeping problems, "could significantly impact [DOE’s] ability to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests, ongoing litigation, or law enforcement efforts,” the DOE Inspector General (IG) said in a report […]

NS&D Monitor 09/11/2015   Centrus Announces Possible Upcoming American Centrifuge Layoffs Centrus Energy has notified about 380 American Centrifuge workers that layoffs could be coming in a couple months. The company, which heads the uranium enrichment project, emphasized that the notices don’t necessarily mean layoffs are sure to happen but are necessary to comply with the Worker Adjustment […]

NS&D Monitor 09/11/2015   CNS Reaches Agreement with Unionized Y-12 Guards Y-12 nuclear weapons plant managing contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security this week reached a new five-year labor agreement with the International Guards Union of America, Local 3. The relatively small contract covers about 45 employees — Central Alarm Station and Beta-9 operators at Y-12, as well as firearms […]

James Chavez has been appointed new vice president of Sandia National Laboratories’ (SNL) Energy, Nonproliferation and High Consequence Security Division and International, Homeland and Nuclear Security Program Management Unit, SNL announced this week. Chavez, who begins in his new position today, previously worked as the director of the Monitoring Systems and Technology Center and the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/4/15 The Air Force will not release a draft concept of operations (CONOPS) for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent at the weapon program’s third industry day scheduled for late September, but plans to distribute copies to defense contractors in October or November, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing has learned. “[T]he Air Force will […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 A strike involving roughly one-third of the general workforce at the Pantex Plant reached its seventh day today, and labor negotiations between plant site manager Consolidated Nuclear Security and the Metal Trades Council union still appear stalled. The collective bargaining agreement for unionized workers at Pantex expired at midnight Aug. […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 A team of contractor personnel determined early last month that the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Weapons Engineering Tritium Facility (WETF) is “ready to safely operate,” according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) site representative report released this week. Gas processing operations at WETF were paused in 2011 […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 The former president of the U.S. branch of a Russian nuclear company on Monday pleaded guilty to helping to arrange more than $2 million in “corrupt payments” intended to aid U.S. businesses in securing contracts for his Moscow-based employer, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced. Vadim Mikerin, 56, of Chevy […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 A truck carrying coveralls that contained samples of highly enriched uranium (HEU) was flagged last year upon trying to exit the Protected Area of the Y-12 National Security Complex, the Department of Energy (DOE) Inspector General’s Office (IG) revealed in a report released today. The IG said it received a […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 Members of the South Carolina congressional delegation late last month requested that the Department of Energy provide them with copies of all agency communications, guidelines, and instructions to The Aerospace Corp. for preparation of a report on plutonium disposition options the company completed in April. “In order for us to […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 The Department of Energy (DOE) this week issued a preliminary notice of violation (PNOV) to the company that manages the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) for a June 2014 chemical explosion that injured two workers at the site’s Nonproliferation Test and Evaluation Complex (NPTEC). “The drum explosion and expelled steel […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 Building 9107, an office building at the Y-12 National Security Complex, was demolished in July as part of the site infrastructure and services subproject for the new Uranium Processing Facility, the National Nuclear Security Administration confirmed this week. Agency spokeswoman Shelley Laver said in an email on Wednesday that an […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 The Department of Energy issued this week a preliminary notice of violation (PNOV) to Los Alamos National Security, the company that manages the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), for nuclear criticality safety violations at its Plutonium Facility (PF-4) at Technical Area 55 (TA-55). LANS’ violations are of “high safety significance” […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 Consolidated Nuclear Security is looking for an architecture and engineering services provider for a $1 million to $5 million project to evaluate and inspect “all types” of fire-rated barriers at the Pantex Plant, according to a FedBizOpps listing posted on Tuesday evening. The work scope would include approximately 450 facilities […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) last week sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter expressing concern over the Department of Defense’s (DoD) “unacceptable” errors in estimating the 10-year cost of the Air Force’s Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) aircraft. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 09/04/2015 The Y-12 National Security Complex stayed on budget and on schedule in a $50 million project to replace an obsolete site security system with the more modern Argus system, according to an Aug. 28 Energy Department Inspector General’s Office report released on Wednesday. Completed in 2013, Y-12’s Security Improvements Project […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 The Department of Defense (DoD) on Aug. 28 said it awarded Boeing Co. a $46,719,474 contract for seven Combat Network Communication Technology (CONECT) upgrade kits and support equipment for the Air Force’s long-range B-52 bomber. According to the announcement, "this contract also provides for 21 retrofit kits to convert previously […]

New Uranium Canning Capabilities Could Save Millions at Y-12 Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 9/4/2015 Adding new capabilities for canning weapon-grade uranium could save as much as $30 million over the next five years at the Y-12 National Security Complex, according to the government’s managing contractor for the Tennessee facility. Consolidated Nuclear Security this week released […]

NS&D Monitor 09/04/2015 IN THE NAVY Navy Cmdr. Vinny Wood, was temporarily removed from his assignment as Executive Officer of the Trident Refit Facility (TRF) at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay (Ga.) after allegedly violating a Military Protective Order issued against him on Aug. 21 over claims of an “unduly familiar relationship” with an unnamed […]

An article in the Aug. 28 edition of the Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor should have said that Sandia Corp. did not admit to wrongdoing in accepting a Department of Justice settlement regarding alleged lobbying of members of Congress. NS&D Monitor regrets the error.

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/28/2015 Sandia Corp. will pay $4,790,042 to settle claims that it used federal funding to lobby federal agencies and Congress to secure a noncompetitive extension of its management and operation contract for the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Aug. 21. The alleged lobbying, which […]

Congress was out and Washington was empty, but that didn’t stop news from breaking during our annual publication break. As chronicled in the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, here are a few stories that we’ve been following. Red Team: MOX Plant Has Greater Cost Risk than Downblending The Red Team ordered in June by Energy Secretary […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/28/15 As the Energy Department mulls how to dispose of 34 metric tons of excess U.S. plutonium, former New Mexico Governor and U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson on Aug. 21 sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), urging him to push DOE to move forward with the embattled […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/28/15 The State Department this week refuted Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) claim that Russia’s R-500 cruise missile is the primary culprit of the nation’s alleged violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987. “The R-500 is not the missile that we have determined is in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/28/15 The top officer and top civilian of the Air Force on Monday said neither a continuing resolution nor the service’s incorrect estimate of the Long-Range Strike Bomber’s research, procurement, and support costs in its two latest annual reports to Congress would affect internal planning for the new aircraft. “The mistake […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/28/15 The Energy Department and Bechtel National Inc. (BNI), the contractor for the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), late Monday afternoon released an expression of interest (EOI) for development of a 120,000-square-foot Multipurpose Fabrication Facility and a 150,000-square-foot optional adjacent warehouse facility, which would both be part of […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/28/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has called on its Los Alamos Field Office to create a working group that will solicit proposals for a “state-of-the-art seismic performance analysis” of the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Plutonium Facility (PF-4) as a step toward further strengthening the facility against earthquakes, according […]