Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/29/2015 In a capstone to the successful ‘Megatons to Megawatts’ program, President Barack Obama this week terminated an executive order that had been intended to ensure payments to Russia under the program would not be impacted by lawsuits. Under the “Megatons to Megawatts” program, 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/29/2015 As developments over the past year seem to have strengthened NATO’s desire to keep U.S. tactical nukes in Europe, the “burden” for those weapons should be shared, a top nuclear policy analyst said during a speech in Washington late last week. “[T]here’s absolutely no reason the United States of America […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/29/2015 The Department of Energy and its contractors should improve the management of spare parts at sites across the complex, according to a DOE Office of Inspector General report released this week. Spare parts inventories are needed to maintain DOE facilities, but the IG encountered issues at the three sites covered […]

Spallation Neutron Source Now Operating ‘Reasonably Well’ NS&D Monitor 5/29/2015 While the Spallation Neutron Source has had some rocky times over the past year, including a period last fall in which two target vessels failed prematurely back to back, in a more reason status report, operations chief Kevin Jones – who directs the accelerator division […]

NS&D Monitor 5/29/2015 IN NNSA The National Nuclear Security Administration announced this week the successful removal of three unused radioactive sources from the Armenian capital of Yerevan. The effort was conducted by the Armenia Nuclear Regulatory Authority with aid from the NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. Since 2002, ANRA and the NNSA have removed and […]

NNSA Conducts Tests to Detect Underground Foreign Nuclear Explosions NS&D Monitor 5/29/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration last week completed the fourth experiment in a series of tests aimed at improving the ability to detect underground nuclear explosions, known as the Source Physics Experiment. The tests are part of arms control verification efforts and could […]

NRC Blocks Longstanding Challenge to MOX License Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 Rejecting a longstanding challenge to the operating license of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility regarding security concerns, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently struck down an appeal by activist groups in a 2-1 vote. The groups, including Nuclear Watch South, Blue Ridge Environmental […]

Court Agrees to Provide Government More Time on Possible New Hearing for Y-12 Protestors NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has approved the government’s request for an additional 30 days—until June 22—to consider whether to seek a new hearing on the court’s recent decision that overturned the conviction of […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 To aid nonproliferation efforts, the National Nuclear Security Administration would be directed to establish a new “Uranium Science Institute” under the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, reported out of committee this week. The bill would provide a total of $426.8 million for the […]

Sen. Feinstein Calls MOX Project ‘Apex of Problems’ Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 While construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility is supported at a $345 million funding level in the Senate’s version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations legislation that was reported out of committee this week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration would receive a total of $8.9 billion for weapons activities under the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, reported out of committee this week. The bill would provide a $35.4 million increase from the NNSA’s budget request and $670 […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 In an apparent sign of problems at the Pantex Plant, the National Nuclear Security Administration has declared a “code blue” at the site. The move came after an “issue or condition” was discovered that could have “significant impact” on B61 and W80 weapons operations, NNSA spokeswoman Shelley Laver said in […]

Lockheed Martin Contract Extended Through April 2017 Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 The long-awaited procurement for the next contract to manage Sandia National Laboratories is moving forward, with the National Nuclear Security Administration releasing this week a sources sought notice and announcing plans to extend Lockheed Martin’s current contract for Sandia by another year. The […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration this month submitted to Congress its response to a set of recommendations laid out by the Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the Nuclear Security Enterprise. While NNSA agreed with much of the language and reforms outlined in the panel’s report, “A New Foundation […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 The contract for the Long-Range Strike Bomber should be awarded this summer, the Air Force’s top acquisition official said late last week. “It’ll be done when it’s done, but I’m expecting the next one to two months,” Bill LaPlante, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition), said during an Air […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 In contrast to their colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee, House appropriators have proposed blocking funding from being transferred into the Sea-Based Deterrent Fund in their version of the FY 2016 defense appropriations bill, reported out of subcommittee this week. The fund is seen as a potential source of […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration has begun gearing up to compete the management-and-operations contract for the Nevada National Security Site. This week, the agency announced in a presolicitation notice that it expects to issue a Request for Proposals for the new contract, which will be competed on a full-and-open basis, […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 A “package of options” must be assembled to meet the Congressionally mandated goal of producing 80 plutonium pits per year at Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to a Congressional Research Service report recently released publically. The National Nuclear Security Administration is moving forward with a new plutonium strategy that involves […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 Members of Minot Task Force 21 met this week with North Dakota Sens. John Hoeven (R) and Heidi Heitkamp (D); Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh; and Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, Air Force Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration; to discuss improvement and modernization […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 John Eschenberg, who has served as the federal project director for the Oak Ridge Uranium Processing Facility for the past three years, informed friends and colleagues this week that he is leaving his leadership post at the end of the month and will “focus on new career opportunities in the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 The United States is considering defensive and offensive capabilities if Russia does not return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said this week at the Center for International and Strategic Studies. These responses would indicate to Russia that “this […]

IN THE DNFSB The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is scheduled to hold a public meeting at its Washington headquarters on June 3. Topics to be discussed during the meeting include an overview of planned responses to matters raised in recent Organizational Assessments, existing Board performance metrics, existing Board policies and technical organizational structure. The […]

System Upgrade on Hold Due to Lack of Funding Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 Costs have more than quadrupled for a security system upgrade at the Nevada National Security Site with no firm completion date due to a lack of funding and project management issues by contractor National Security Technologies, LLC, according to a Department […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 The United States should seek to improve ts arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons to hedge against actors who might seek to offset this country’s conventional superiority, a former U.S. senior defense official said this week. “I think that we have to address qualitative inferiority that the United States has in […]

Report Ballooning MOX Costs to $47.5 Billion Criticized by Project Supporters Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 While a highly scrutinized report on surplus plutonium disposition options released this week found that downblending the material for disposal would cost a fraction of turning it into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel, it details hurdles remaining for both approaches. […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 In the face of a White House veto threat over concerns including nuclear policy provisions, the House late this week passed its version of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act in a vote of 269 to 151. The bill sets authorized funding levels and policy for nuclear weapons […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 The Department of Defense plans to fund the more than 50-year-old U.S. ICBM command and control structure, even if the military’s budget is limited by sequestration, a top Air Force nuclear official said this week. “The good news is significant investment in the President’s Budget to get at this, and […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 The Senate Armed Services Committee late this week completed its markup of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes authorized funding and policy provisions for the National Nuclear Security Administration and Defense Department programs associated with the nuclear triad. Notably, the bill would require the Defense Secretary […]