Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/28/2015 BWX Technologies’ (BWXT) Technical Services Group (TSG) intends to win back contracts and grow its business in the wake of Department of Energy (DOE) contract losses that cut millions from its second-quarter 2015 revenue, Bill Fox, BWXT’s president of technical services and nuclear energy, said in an interview with NS&D […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/28/2015 Some operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Plutonium Facility have resumed following approval from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Field Office last month, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) site representative report released last week. “Nuclear operations associated with the T Base II machining activity” were […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/28/15 Consolidated Nuclear Security has resumed one weapon dismantlement program at the Pantex Plant after pausing the operation last month following an incident in which a production technician lost her footing on a slippery spot on the floor of a nuclear explosive cell and “went down to one knee and one […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/28/2015 The Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted a document justifying revisions to its emergency preparedness and response guidelines in response to recommendations from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), according to an Aug. 19 letter from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to the DNFSB. The memorandum provides reasoning […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/28/2015 The International Guards Union of America (IGUA) has named Gene Lente acting president after former President Randy Lawson resigned on Monday to work for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), NS&D Monitor learned this week. “I interviewed and was offered a position with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service,” […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/28/2015 The government of Kazakhstan and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday signed a formal agreement establishing a facility in the country’s northeast that will provide a reliable supply of low-enriched reactor fuel to IAEA member states. The fuel bank, set to open in two years at the Ulba Metallurgical […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/28/2015 Hill Air Force Base, Utah, will host an industry day for the Air Force’s Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent acquisition program from Sept. 24 to 25, according to an Aug. 20 FedBizOpps posting. The GBSD Program Management Office (PMO) intends to hold a more “in-depth technical discussion” and provide acquisition updates since the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/28/15 The Crane (Ind.) Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) has awarded Teradyne Inc., of North Reading, Mass., a sole-source $25 million firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract for the purchase of Trident 2 D5 testers, spares, instrument calibration, software, cables, and engineering, technical, and factory support services, the Defense […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 8/28/15 Pantex Workers Vote to Strike Union workers at the Pantex nuclear warhead assembly/disassembly plant in Texas voted late Thursday to strike. If the walkout is authorized by the Metal Trades Department in Washington, about 1,200 workers will go on strike at midnight Friday – when their current agreement expires. Clarence […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 8/28/15   DOE Takes Key Step Toward Y-12 Mercury Treatment Plant The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has received headquarters approval for Critical Decision-1, establishing the preliminary baseline for a new mercury treatment facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. “I’m very pleased with the progress that […]

NS&D Monitor 8/28/2015 IN INDUSTRY Longenecker & Associates announced yesterday the addition of Laurie Judd as director of technology and international programs. Judd previously served as vice president of government programs for NuVision Engineering and as manager of aerospace and defense technologies for UKAEA/AEA Technology, Culham. According Longenecker President John Longenecker, the company was impressed […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 Peace activists are gathering this week at various National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) laboratories to participate in protests and commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the United States’ atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Events include a remembrance ceremony yesterday organized by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA) at […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/7/2015 Pantex/Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security has completed an analysis of alternatives to pursue a business-case analysis of a new Pantex Administrative Support Complex (ASC) in a private-public lease concept, and CNS hopes to provide the National Nuclear Security Administration with a business case by September, CNS Pantex Operations Manager Michelle […]

As is our annual practice, NS&D Monitor is taking a summer publication break and will not publish for the next two weeks. The next regular issue will be on your desk Aug. 28. Subscribers to the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing service will receive editions twice-a-week on a Tuesday/Thursday basis during the break. In addition, we […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/7/2015 The Energy Department has extended its deadline for the red team reviewing options for disposal of tons of U.S. plutonium to report its findings to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz from Aug. 10 to Aug. 17, an NNSA official told NS&D Monitor yesterday. “[I]t was done to ensure that the red […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/7/2015 The Air Force aims for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent to reach initial operational capacity with nine missiles by fiscal 2029, and to achieve full operating capacity with a force of 400 missiles in fiscal 2036, according to the acquisition schedule obtained by NS&D Monitor. Last week, NS&D Monitor reported that […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Joyce Connery and Joseph Hamilton as members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Connery is leaving her post as director of nuclear energy policy within the National Security Council (NSC) Office of International Economics, a position she has held since 2012. Hamilton has […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 BWX Technologies’ (BWXT) Technical Services Group (TSG) is “positioning” for Department of Energy (DOE) work that could include management and operation of Sandia National Laboratories and other facilities, Sandy Baker, BWXT president and CEO, said during the company’s second-quarter results conference call yesterday. “Looking forward, TSG is actively positioning for […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) 2015 long-term budget estimate for its nuclear arms modernization programs has increased by $17.6 billion since last year, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released yesterday. The report says NNSA’s 2015 estimate of $293.4 billion over 25 years represents “an increase of […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/7/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration fined Los Alamos National Security $192,500 for multiple violations of Energy Department classified information security requirements, according to a July 28 letter from NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz to Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan. A DOE investigation found in 2012 that LANS, the contract […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 Several fiscal 2013 subcontracts at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) National Security Campus (NSC) in Kansas City, Mo., worth almost one-third of the total value of subcontracts reviewed by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Inspector General (IG), were awarded noncompetitively without justification, according to an audit report […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) intends to resubmit to the Department of Energy (DOE) Field Office the Evaluation of the Safety of the Situation/Justification for Continued Operations (ESS/JCO) concerning safety basis limits at the Area G nuclear waste disposal site, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) spokesman Al Stotts told NS&D […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/7/2015 The concurrent timeline for building the Ohio Replacement ballistic missile submarine will impact the industrial base for the smaller Virginia-class fast-attack submarines, and Huntington Ingalls Industries is talking with the government about how to best complete concurrent work on both vessels as efficiently as possible, HII CEO Mike Petters said […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/7/2015 Renewal of the 30-year-old U.S.-China civil nuclear cooperation agreement moved past the 90-day congressional review period on July 31, keeping the door open for U.S. private investment in the world’s fastest-growing nuclear market. However, U.S. companies will face competition from foreign companies, such as France’s AREVA, which has announced plans […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/7/2015 The United States’ Long-Range Strike Bomber, the Ohio-class submarine replacement, and the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) programs are the main fuel of potential budget overruns for the U.S. nuclear forces, according to newly released projections from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).  These programs will “drive the potential […]

Brian Bradley  NS&D Monitor  8/7/2015 Structural engineers at the Y-12 National Security Complex have begun preliminary design work to stabilize a concrete beam found with vertical and horizontal cracks, according to a letter sent last month from the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge site office to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and released this week. […]

Y-12 Relocates Uranium Canning Operations Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 8/7/15 A high priority at the Y-12 National Security Complex is moving work out of the 9212 complex, the oldest and shakiest of the Oak Ridge plant’s production facilities. It appears, based on a newly released report by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, […]

Pantex Union Workers to Vote on Contract Offer Saturday Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 8/7/15 After six months of negotiations, Consolidated Nuclear Security has reportedly made a best-and-final contract offer to the Metal Trades Council at the Pantex nuclear weapons plant. According to a statement released Wednesday by CNS, union workers at Pantex are expected to […]

The 343rd Bomb Squadron at Barksdale AFB on July 28 became the first reserve aircrew to be qualified on the new combat network communications technology (CONECT) modification on the B-52, according to an Aug. 5 Air Force Global Strike Command press release. "As reservists, the 343rd BS having CONECT qualified crews means the squadron is […]