Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/17/2015 The Y-12 National Security Complex is exercising “energy savings performance contracts” (ESPCs) that include replacing dilapidated wooden cooling towers at the chiller plant with higher-efficiency towers, swapping existing steam lines with natural gas lines, and adding a new compressed air facility on the site’s east end, according to a July […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/17/2015 Centrus announced on July 10 that it has promoted Stephen Greene, Treasurer and Vice President of Finance, to CFO, Senior Vice President and Treasurer, effective July 24, according to a press release. Greene has served in his current posts since 2007. “Since joining the company, I have been impressed with […]

Y-12 Lithium Supply Could Run Dry, GAO Says The Y-12 National Security Complex could run out of the purified lithium needed to refurbish nuclear weapons components as early as 2018 if additional actions aren’t taken to replenish the supply of top-grade material, the GAO said in a report released Monday. The GAO report criticized the […]

The Navy has awarded Electric Boat a $9.8 million not-to-exceed, undefinitized contract modification for the procurement of the “first article” common missile compartment tube-to-keel robotic weld skids to the robotic welding integrator and engineering services for the Ohio-class Replacement (OR), the Defense Department announced on Wednesday. “The contractor will be procuring hardware relating to the […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Newly revealed emails between Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMC) highlight officials’ coordinated attempts to secure a noncompetitive extension of the Management and Operating (M&O) contract with the Department of Energy (DOE). Despite those attempts, DOE posted in May a “full and open competition” notice for the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Pantex has resumed work on the B61 and W80 warhead programs after a “code blue” situation at the plant in early May sidelined operations on the programs for weeks, a Pantex spokesperson told NS&D Monitor this week. The NNSA Production Office (NPO) on June 1 issued two Safety Evaluation Reports […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 The U.S. should modernize the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons complex to have a “full range of capabilities” to produce components for National Nuclear Security Administration life extension programs, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, President Barack Obama’s nominee to serve as the next Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated in […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Renewing the 30-year-old U.S.-China civil nuclear agreement would allow bilateral nuclear supply partnerships if China becomes a larger nuclear supplier, Tom Countryman, State Department Assistant Secretary of International Security and Nonproliferation, stated in Congressional testimony submitted on Wednesday. “These export opportunities could support tens of thousands of high-paying American jobs,” […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor  7/10/2015 Released on Wednesday, an independent review of The Aerospace Corporation’s recent study of plutonium disposition options projects similar costs for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility and a downblending alternative to dispose of surplus plutonium. The Nuclear Infrastructure Council posted the review, which essentially rejects Aerospace’s $47.5 billion life cycle cost […]

AT SAVANNAH RIVER On Thursday afternoon, S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s Nuclear Advisory Council played host to U.S. Energy Department official Pete Hanlon, the assistant deputy administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Material Management and Minimization, according to the Aiken Standard. Hanlon spoke about a recent study that priced the nation’s plutonium disposition […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Beating out at least one other bidder, incumbent Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies has won the management and operations contract for the Kansas City National Security Campus, which will extend the contractor’s 15-plus-year tenure running the facility, according to a press release posted today by the National Nuclear Security Administration. […]

Pat Host NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 The Air Force is about one-to-three months away from its decision on a contractor for its widely- anticipated Long Range Strike Bomber (LRSB) program, its acquisition czar said Thursday. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force William LaPlante defended the timing, saying it is more important that it gets started at […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 The Air Force and National Nuclear Security Administration completed the first development flight test of the B61-12 gravity bomb at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada on July 1, according to a July 8 NNSA press release. “This test marks a major milestone for the B61-12 Life Extension Program, demonstrating end-to-end […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Sandia National Laboratories’ role in nuclear modernization has contributed to the retention of a younger technical workforce, according to Paul Hommert, outgoing president and director of SNL. Speaking to NS&D Monitor July 8 on Capitol Hill, Hommert noted the “continuing challenge” to “attract and retain good people” with the necessary […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration has not decided on a path forward for the third phase of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility Reinvestment Project—referred to as TA-55—after a decision was expected by July 5. “The NNSA continues to evaluate options for the TA-55 Reinvestment Project Phase III (TRP III); […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 The U.S. currently deploys 449 intercontinental ballistic missiles, 248 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and 88 heavy nuclear-capable bombers, according to a New START fact sheet recently released by the State Department. The document released July 1 lists the quantity of nuclear warheads for each category of deployed and non-deployed U.S. nuclear […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Chair of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, during a speech Wednesday on Capitol Hill said he is “confident” that Congress will support nuclear modernization even if it crowds out other planned defense investments. “Our recent HASC hearing made clear that DoD will fund the nuclear modernization […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Russia’s status as a nuclear power contributes to it being the greatest threat to U.S. national security, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford told senators yesterday during his Senate Armed Service Committee’s confirmation hearing to become the next Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) asked Dunford, currently […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 The Babcock & Wilcox company split went into effect last week, separating the newly named BWX Technologies from the power generation spin-off Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, the two companies announced. BWXT began trading under its new ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange, the announcement says. John Fees, executive […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $5.89 million contract to Emerald-A&H Joint Venture for site infrastructure and services at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), according to last month’s award announcement. The “field readiness activities” to be performed by the contractor include the development of […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and National Security Technologies (NSTec) effectively managed the subcritical experiments they performed at the Nevada National Security Site’s (NNSS) U1a Complex, according to a June 26 audit report by the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General. “Nothing came to our attention to indicate that […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration recently released a draft environmental assessment for a proposed new 17,000-square-foot emergency operations center (EOC) at Y-12 that would consolidate the Plant Shift Superintendent’s Office, the Emergency Command Center, the Technical Support Center, and the Fire Department Control Room from their present locations to a […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Navy Strategic Systems Programs has awarded Lockheed Martin Space Systems a $27.5 million sole-source, unpriced-letter contract for long lead material and the “labor, planning and scheduling necessary” to sustain the Fiscal Year 2015 Trident 2 production schedule, the Defense Department announced on July 6. Work is expected to complete by […]

Lance Moore NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 Russia is undergoing a full-scale process of rearmament and a costly modernization of strategic and non-strategic nuclear weapons programs, lagging behind the pace of U.S. modernization programs, according to a panel of nuclear experts, who in Washington yesterday said the slower pace discredits Putin’s recent nuclear posturing. The experts downplayed […]

Labor contract at Y-12 extended again With union contract negotiations apparently still unresolved at the Pantex nuclear weapons plant, the start of contract talks at Y-12 has once again been postponed so that Consolidated Nuclear Security – the government’s managing contractor at both production sites – can focus its attention at the Texas plant. Steve […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 6/19/2015 Despite recently expressed industry concerns, the Air Force this week maintained that it is continuing its stated course of action of analyzing the business case for re-engining the B-52, with a hopeful RFP release for the planned program by the end of this summer, a service spokesperson told NS&D Monitor […]

IN DOE The Department of Energy’s Integrated Support Center-Oak Ridge has awarded Black Box Corporation $33.4 million for “operations, maintenance and upgrades to the Oak Ridge Federal Integrated Communications Network,” the company announced this week. The Pennsylvania-based company will provide integrated telecommunications support for sites that include Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 Security […]

DNFSB Reports Reveal Issues with Oak Ridge Conduct of Operations A series of reports released by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board have documented the Oak Ridge plant’s problems in carrying out work procedures and mission protocols this year. For the week ending May 15, the board’s Y-12 site representatives — William Linzau and Rory […]