Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 The State Department this week called out a Russian diplomat’s recent announcement that his country has “virtually exhausted” bilateral nuclear reductions with the United States through the New START Treaty. “Of course we have not exhausted bilateral nuclear disarmament options,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email to NS&D […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 Boeing’s CEO this week played down concerns that the unsuccessful pursuit of the new Long-Range Strike Bomber could have significant impacts on the company. “There’s enough technology and we regroup and regrow organically,” Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said during a May 12 investor conference. Developed through Boeing Commercial Airlines (BCA) […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 As “slightly messy” debates continue at the ongoing Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference (RevCon), experts this week laid out options for a path forward for disarmament at the Arms Control Association’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. This year’s RevCon, which is held every five years at the United Nations in […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 As it appears that bilateral cooperation on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987 continues to sputter, arms control experts this week offered recommendations for accomplishing the aims of the accord. Options include boosting weapons transparency and negotiating a similar multilateral agreement. “I see an opportunity now in using the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 Lawmakers raised various concerns over the proposed renewal of a 30-year civil nuclear agreement with China during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week. The deal is currently set to expire at the end of this year. Committee Republicans and Democrats expressed concerns about possible Chinese intentions […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 Sandia National Laboratories Director Paul Hommert announced this week that he plans to retire in mid-summer. “The process to name my successor is well underway and will be complete in time to support a smooth leadership transition,” he said in a release. “The timing for my retirement is consistent with […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 Navy Strategic Systems Programs intends to negotiate a modification by May 29 to accelerate the delivery and increase the number of launcher subsystem tactical hardware for installation of the 1st Article missile tube quad pack for the Ohio Replacement and UK Successor programs’ Common Missile Compartment, according to Defense Department […]

Los Alamos Guards Union Looks to Resume Contract Talks Next Week NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 Talks appear set to resume next week on a new collective bargaining agreement for protective force workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, though the union representing the protective force workers is not optimistic an “acceptable” economic package will be reached. The […]

Court Overturns Sabotage Convictions for Y-12 Protestors NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 In a 2-1 decision, a federal appeals court has reversed the conviction of three Plowshares protesters on sabotage charges for the 2012 break-in at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and sent the case back to U.S. District Court in Knoxville, Tenn., for resentencing on the […]

Site Removes 26 Sealed Plutonium Sources Under Source Recovery Project NS&D Monitor 5/15/2015 The Savannah River Site has removed 26 sealed plutonium-238 sources in collaboration with the Off-Site Source Recovery Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the site announced this week. At Savannah River, the Tritium Facilities Analytical Laboratory had needed the sources to calibrate […]

IN DoD Defense Secretary Ash Carter this week nominated Adm. John Richardson to be the next Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). Richardson currently serves as Director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. “Admiral John Richardson was a clear choice,” Carter said. “He’s a bold thinker, a tremendous leader, and the go-to officer for many of […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor  5/8/2015 In another step by the Obama Administration away from the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, the long-awaited Surplus Plutonium Disposition Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement no longer includes MOX as a “preferred alternative” for disposing of the material. The National Nuclear Security Administration recently posted the final SEIS for the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 WARRENSBURG, Mo. — The top commander of the U.S. strategic forces pushed back this week against recent calls by a predecessor for the United States to reduce the high alert levels of its strategic deployed nuclear weapons. During the Strategic Deterrent Coalition’s symposium at the University of Central Missouri, held […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 WARRENSBURG, Mo.—Two senior nuclear triad leaders this week positively assessed their services’ communication records with Congress, days after the House Armed Services Committee approved legislation that would establish quarterly meetings between Pentagon brass and HASC after lawmakers raised concerns about the frequency of military-to-Capitol Hill briefings on nuclear forces. “What […]