Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

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 […]