Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 While Babcock and Wilcox’s Technical Services Group is still grappling with the loss of the Y-12 and Pantex managing contracts, B&W President and CEO James Ferland expressed optimism this week about the unit’s future, especially as B&W moves forward with a restructuring to spin-off its power generating unit. In a […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 The Air Force announced early this week plans to extend by at least three months Northrop Grumman’s Partial Bridge Contract (PBC)—comprising sustainment of the Minuteman 3 Propulsion System. The service awarded a three-month basic extension with two additional three-month options for the PBC. The PBC could conclude as late as […]

DOE Convenes Separate Accident Investigation Board Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 The Department of Energy had already launched an investigation into the electrical systems at Los Alamos National Laboratory after several incidents occurred prior to this week’s electrical accident there, which left one worker seriously injured and eight others seeking medical treatment. The May 3 […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) questioned on Wednesday during a Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee the top enlisted Defense Department official on why the U.S. needs a replacement for the air-launched cruise missile, and expressed concern that the replacement’s W-80 warhead will vie with nonproliferation activities for federal funding. “This is a […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration late this week began conducting market research to see if a planned contract to help install radiation detection systems to prevent nuclear smuggling can be set aside for small businesses. The new contract is a follow-on to an existing contract to provide design, integration, construction, […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 Operations at the Pantex Plant were briefly suspended early this week in what the contractor that manages the plant has described as a “quality pause.” The pause was initiated after site workers “questioned non-nuclear hardware assembly processes,” a spokesman for the site’s managing contractor, Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC, said. The […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 Talks on a new collective bargaining agreement between Los Alamos National Laboratory and its protective force workers ran into a significant roadblock this week, with International Guards Union of American Local 69 breaking off talks after accusing the lab’s protective force subcontractor, SOC-Los Alamos, of negotiating “in bad faith.” The […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 Centrus Energy Corp. President and CEO Dan Poneman laid out a vision this week for the comeback of the uranium enrichment firm, emphasizing the need to be commercially successful in addition to fulfilling national security needs. Centrus, formerly known as USEC, has struggled to turn a profit in recent years. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 A senior U.S. diplomat defended ongoing efforts to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons complex late last week at the 2015 Review Conference (RevCon) of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, saying such efforts could help advance some disarmament goals.  “Modernization of our nuclear enterprise will over time allow for still greater reductions […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 There is no evidence that former Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman broke any ethics rules while at the Department of Energy regarding his future post as CEO of uranium enrichment firm Centrus Energy Corp., DOE Deputy General Counsel Eric Fygi said in an April 30 letter to Sen. John Barrasso […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division has awarded Lockheed Martin a $16 million sole-source indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for technical engineering, life cycle support and repair services of Ohio-class submarine data processing system (DPS) equipment and related systems, according to a May 1 Defense Department announcement. The announcement defines DPS […]

ATLC Agrees To Two-Month Extension for Current Contract NS&D Monitor 5/8/2015 The stretched-out and so-far-unsuccessful union negotiations at the Pantex nuclear weapons plant are apparently having an impact on Y-12 in Oak Ridge, the sister plant that is managed under the same contract as the Amarillo, Texas, plant. Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades […]

Language in House E&W Bill Called ‘Unnecessarily Restrictive’ by Administration Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 The Obama Administration is continuing to try to distance itself from the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, objecting this week to language in the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations Act that would keep construction […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 Expressing concern about Russia’s recent behavior, including its alleged violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and invasion of Ukraine, two Republican Senators this week criticized Secretary of State John Kerry’s  statement this week  that a 2013 U.S. offer to Russia for bilateral nuclear weapon reductions below New START levels […]

Kerry Announces Current Stockpile Size of 4,717   Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 Concerned about an increased emphasis on nuclear weapons dismantlement, the House Armed Services Committee this week added language to the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act that would cap the National Nuclear Security Administration’s dismantlement budget at $50 million over the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 The House Armed Services Committee agreed to a set of five amendments to the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act that would directly impact the Defense Department’s role in nuclear enterprise during a lengthy markup hearing on the bill this week. The bill was ultimately reported out of committee […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 Lawmakers were unsuccessful this week during floor debate on the House Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill in several attempts to reduce funding in the bill for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons activities. The full House subsequently voted 240-177 to approve the energy spending bill, which would […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor  5/1/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program got a significant boost in the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act cleared by the House Armed Services Committee this week as the bill authorizes $9.08 billion for the program, up from the $8.84 billion requested by the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 Even though the post-2021 budgetary landscape—as many nuclear modernization programs move from research-and-development to the production phase—will likely threaten investments in strategic deterrence, the United States should still follow plans to modernize the full nuclear weapon portfolio, a Senate appropriator told a Capitol Hill audience this week. “Will there be […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 As the Air Force starts this month to remove 50 Minuteman 3 rocket boosters from silos—or launch facilities (LFs)—across all three intercontinental ballistic missile wings, the existing boosters will rotate among the LFs and empty silos will be upgraded but kept warm, according to Air Force Global Strike Command. AFGSC […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 While analysts have suggested that the losing bidder for the Long Range Strike-Bomber program may exit the combat aircraft business or be a target for acquisition, the CEO for Northrop Grumman, one of the two bidders, appeared to downplay such concerns this week, saying a win would bring one more […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 The Department of Energy issued late last week its implementation plan for last year’s Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recommendation calling for strengthened emergency preparedness and response capabilities. The DNFSB recommendation was prompted in part by DOE’s response to the 2014 truck fire and radioactive material release at the Waste […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 Navy Strategic Systems Programs last week announced it will contract with Charles Stark Draper Laboratories to ensure Trident 2 Guidance Systems are sustained throughout their lifecycle. The new contract will involve detailed analysis of all factory and fleet performance data and development of alternative technologies to mitigate product obsolescence. Draper […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 Israel has shown support for ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the leader of the primary organization concerned with banning global nuclear tests said this week. “Recently, I was in Israel. Last year, they told me that ratification of the CTBT is not ‘if,’ but ‘when,’ Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of […]

More Mediation in Lab Age Discrimination Case Scheduled for Next Week NS&D Monitor 5/1/2015 Another round of mediation is scheduled next week between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and lawyers for 130 laid off employees, but this time, the mediator will be different. The two sides have brought in mediator Jeff Ross to preside over the […]