Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Livermore Age Discrimination Lawsuit Mediation Ongoing This Week NS&D Monitor 4/10/2015 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory officials and lawyers for 130 workers laid off from the lab in 2008 ended an initial mediation session this week without a settlement in the long-running case. A third trial involving a new subset of the employees—10 scientists and engineers […]

Several Companies Interested in Supplying Y-12 With Depleted Uranium NS&D Monitor 4/10/2015 Consolidated Nuclear Security, the government’s managing contractor at Y-12, said this week that it has received “several” responses to a notice issued in mid-January seeking up to 6,800 tons of high-purity depleted uranium for production purposes. Contractor spokeswoman Ellen Boatner said those responses […]

NS&D Monitor 4/10/2015 IN CONGRESS Rep. Chuck Fleischmann has been named the vice chairman of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, giving the Tennessee Republican more clout on the powerful panel. Fleischmann’s district includes the Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other Oak Ridge Department of Energy facilities, and he’s been […]

Five-Year Contract Extension for ORNL Finalized NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 UT-Battelle, which has managed Oak Ridge National Laboratory since 2000, has signed a new five-year contract with the Department of Energy. ORNL Director Thom Mason confirmed March 30 that the extension had been signed. The existing contract was due to expire April 1. DOE announced in late 2013 its […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Two members of the House Armed Services Committee, including South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson, are voicing concerns about the National Nuclear Security Administration’s decision to use The Aerospace Corporation to conduct a study on alternatives to the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. In a March 25 letter to Energy Secretary […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Richard Reback, the acting general counsel of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, was placed on administrative leave last month after the Department of Energy revoked his security clearance, NS&D Monitor has learned. DOE’s decision to revoke Reback’s clearance was sparked by an investigation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 White House nuclear energy official Joyce Connery and nuclear industry veteran Bruce Hamilton have emerged as the top candidates to fill the two vacant spots on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, NS&D Monitor has learned. Connery, who most recently has served as the director of Nuclear Energy Policy for […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Questioning whether former Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman complied with ethics guidelines and federal conflict-of-interest laws, lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee this week launched a probe into Poneman’s recent appointment to CEO of Centrus Energy Corp. Earlier this month, the uranium enrichment firm, which under its […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 As Babcock and Wilcox continues to move forward with plans to split into two businesses, additional details have emerged of the management structure intended for BWXT Technologies, which will consist of B&W’s nuclear operations, technical services, nuclear energy, and mPower businesses. Bill Fox will serve as President of the Technical […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Senior Air Force leaders met this week to discuss nuclear command and control (C2) and how it fits in with national command and control structure as part of an ongoing quarterly roundtable aimed at discussing issues in the nuclear enterprise, the service’s top enlisted official said during a breakfast speech […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Ending months of speculation among industry executives, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) reorganized on March 30, creating two new directorates in addition to its existing ICBM Systems Directorate (NI) in an effort to streamline communication, roles and responsibilities, and depart from a more diffuse previous structure, an AFNWC […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Gen. Robin Rand will move from his job as commander of Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, to command Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) sometime this summer. He was confirmed by the Senate late last week. The assignment will boost AFGSC from a three- […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 The Department of Energy’s national laboratories are “choking” on a “proliferation of duplicative and burdensome” requirements, according to a Secretary of Energy Advisory Board task force on lab management, which recommended in a recently released interim report that the Department streamline administrative constraints on the labs. The task force said […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 After spiking in the fall, the size of U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles has dipped again, according to the latest New START Treaty data released by the State Department this week. The April 1 declaration revealed that the United States counted 1,597 strategic deployed warheads as of March 1, down […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Navy Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) awarded Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training a not-to-exceed $59 million undefinitized sole-source contract action for Trident 2 D5 Navigation Subsystem Strategic Systems Program Shipboard Integration (SSI) Increment 4, Increment 8 Inertial and Non-Inertial efforts, according to a March 31 Defense Department announcement. The Navy […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Department of Energy security contractor Centerra Group recently purchased Gregg Protection Services in its first major acquisition after becoming a privately held company. Gregg Protection Services was founded in 1997 and provides safeguards and security, training and performance solutions, staff augmentation and vulnerability assessments. Its major customers include DOE and […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 While five diplomats agreed during last week’s Carnegie Nuclear Policy Conference that the upcoming Review Conference (RevCon) of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty would be successful, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and officials’ nuclear rhetoric are presenting new challenges for diplomats, according to Jacek Bylica, Principal Adviser and Special Envoy for Non-Proliferation […]

NRC: No Issues on MOX Project During 2014 NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project a clean bill of health for the fifth straight year. In a report released last month, the NRC said it found no violations by MOX contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services Inc. […]

NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY The consulting firm Longenecker & Associates has hired Martin Schneider as Vice President for Strategy and Business Development, effective April 16. Schneider last served as CEO for ExchangeMonitor Publications and Forum, a media and business intelligence firm focused on the environmental cleanup and nuclear security sectors. Prior to becoming […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 The Air Force is building a team to look at the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent and how much of the intercontinental ballistic missile enterprise needs to be recapitalized, Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Requirements said this week. The review could have implications on force […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 Since the Air Force on Jan. 8 announced Boeing the winner of the Minuteman 3 Guidance Subsystem contract under a newly established, government-managed contracting structure for intercontinental ballistic missiles, the company has been working to replace a 40-plus-year-old technology on the weapons that includes instrumentation for flight tests, command destruct, […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 OGDEN, UTAH—Air Force nuclear missileers are maintaining a safe, secure and effective deterrent, but are doing so at a “diminished margin,” Dr. Jamie Morin, Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, said here at last week’s TRIAD forum. “That’s the most […]

NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 IN THE INDUSTRY Three members of Babcock & Wilcox’s Board of Directors will be up for re-election at the company’s annual shareholder’s meeting May 1, B&W said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late last week. The members up for reelection include Jan Bertsch, the executive vice president and chief financial […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015  The National Nuclear Security Administration will deliver a report to Congress on its response to the recommendations of the Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the Nuclear Security Enterprise in three-to-four weeks, NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz told the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee this week. The timeline represents […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 The Air Force has programmed a plus-up of about $5.6 billion for its nuclear enterprise over the Future Years’ Defense Program (FYDP), some of which would presumptively fund the procurement of close to 100 long-range strike bombers, but the Budget Control Act (BCA) could force the service to reduce to […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration is already reaping the benefits of consolidating the management and operating contracts at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants, having already saved $80 million, NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Madelyn Creedon said in a response to a Government Accountability Office report that raised questions about […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 OGDEN, UTAH – Collaboration between the Air Force ICBM System Program Office and Navy Strategic System Programs (SSP) looks promising, Michael Maglich, SSP Technical Director/Deputy Direct Reporting Program Manager, said last week here at the TRIAD conference. “I think we have a common forcing function, the budget, that we didn’t […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 Another lawmaker raised concerns this week regarding former Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman’s new position as CEO of Centrus Energy Corp., as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) questioned Poneman’s potential influence on Department of Energy staff. Earlier this month the uranium enrichment firm, which under its previous name USEC received substantial […]