Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

NNSA Preparing Supplement Analysis Linked to New UPF Plans NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration has confirmed it is “in the process” of preparing a Supplement Analysis to determine if the agency needs to revise Y-12’s site-wide environmental impact statement because of changing plans for the Uranium Processing Facility. Steven Wyatt, a spokesman […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) on March 4 nudged fellow lawmakers on the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to bankroll the Navy’s National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund (SBDF), which was included in the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act as a separate fund from the service’s general shipbuilding account.  “We’re now in the beginning […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 National Nuclear Security Administration officials defended the agency’s decision to accelerate work on the W80-4 warhead in questioning this week from Democrats and Republicans on the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, making a case for additional funding for the warhead that will be used on the Air Force’s new […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz told House appropriators this week that he is not in favor of changing the name of the Department of Energy as a Congressional advisory panel recommended last year, but declined to say whether he supports one of the more extreme recommendations of the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 President Barack Obama has nominated Gen. Robin Rand for commander of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), a post currently held by Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, according to a Feb. 27 announcement by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. Rand has more than 5,000 flight hours, primarily in F-16s, T-38s and T-37s, […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 B-2 availability is increasing because of about 20 projects that help the Air Force manage its signature and parts supply, Lt. Gen.  Mike Holmes, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Requirements told members of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Subcommittee on March 4. Holmes […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 Leaders of strategic deterrence advocacy groups are reacting positively to the Air Force’s implementation of the Force Improvement Program (FIP), which began in February 2014 to address morale issues and equipment flaws in the service’s nuclear enterprise. “We think the Force Improvement Program is the right program at the right […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 The Congressional Budget Office has released information supplementing its January nuclear weapons cost study for Fiscal Year 2015-2024, which shows defense costs for all three legs of the nuclear triad peaking in either 2022 or 2023. The study estimates total government spending on nuclear weapons at $348 billion during the […]

IG: Lab Lost Out on Licensing Revenue After Patent Software Glitch NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 A software glitch caused Sandia National Laboratories to miss maintenance payments on 14 patents, forcing the laboratory to lose out on $119,000 in licensing and royalty revenue, the Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office said in a report released last week. The 14 […]

Worker OK After Puncture Wound at Tritium Facilities; SRNS Re-examining Work Areas for Hazards NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions is re-examining all radiological work areas at the Savannah River Site’s Tritium Facilities for potential hazards after an employee received a puncture wound to their hand after a glovebox slip-up. According to SRNS spokeswoman […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Boeing and Lockheed Martin are working with the Air Force on the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) guidance set, known as the Concept Design and Architecture Guidance (CDAG), to explore concept formulation, technology evaluations, and risk mitigation for the technology, according to spokespeople from those companies. The two defense giants are […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/23/2015 The Air Force official who oversees the U.S. nuclear bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile fleets on Jan. 20 said “nothing is off the table” in ongoing industry-government discussions to build a “faster, better, smarter” intercontinental ballistic missile system to follow the Minuteman 3. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center is […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 A top Defense Department official last week identified a point of bilateral contention in the New START Treaty as a factor in U.S. deployment plans for the Long Range Standoff Weapon (LRSO).  “We did make an effort to address nuclear-armed cruise missiles in New START, and we didn’t have a […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 Maj. Gen. Michael Fortney, Air Force Global Strike Command Director of Operations, last week said the Long-Range Strike Bomber will incorporate elements that will allow the aircraft to be nuclear-certified two years after conventional initial operating capacity (IOC), which is slated for the mid-2020s. “It’s going to be built with […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 More than three dozen Air Force senior leaders convened at Minot AFB on Feb. 20 for the quarterly meeting of the Nuclear Oversight Board (NOB), whose creation was announced by former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in November, days before announcing his resignation, according to an Air Force press release. “We […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 Weeks after the Obama Administration requested hefty funding increases to fuel the acceleration of cruise missile warhead procurement from Fiscal Year 2027 to 2025, a former Democratic staffer on the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee thinks the project could be in danger. “Whether you believe the cruise missile is […]

NNSA Completes Work on Y-12 Facilities Upgrade Project NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration has wrapped up work on a Y-12 National Security Complex project designed to upgrade a pair of aging facilities—Buildings 9212 and 9204-2E—and it said it has done it nearly 11 months ahead of schedule and $5.6 million under budget. […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The top Republican and Democrat on the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee vowed this week to push back against House leadership plans to set funding levels for the nation’s strategic and nuclear forces at sequestration levels, with Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), the ranking member of the subcommittee, suggesting such […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 A decision by the Nuclear Weapons Council to “refresh” the conventional high explosives (CHE) in the W88 warhead as part of a previously planned replacement of the warhead’s arming, fuzing and firing mechanism will push back the completion of a First Production Unit on the Navy portion of a planned […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The Defense Department is reviewing the top three modernization plans of each leg of the nuclear triad as officials grapple with a tight budget environment while nuclear weapon systems are aging out of their service lives and modernization bills are coming due, according to the Navy’s top enlisted official. During […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The Department of Energy should incentivize contractors through performance and award fee or risk losing competition on procurements, industry executives said last week in a roundtable discussion at the seventh annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit. The discussion comes as the Department is undertaking a new contract management strategy that includes moving […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 Past performance is likely to remain heavily weighted in future National Nuclear Security Administration management-and-operating procurements, but decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis, NNSA Acquisition and Project Management chief Bob Raines said last week. Speaking on the sidelines of the Seventh Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, Raines declined to […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 Already holding a dominant position among the Department of Energy’s science and energy labs, Battelle is eyeing a possible enhanced role in the nuclear weapons complex. Ron Townsend, Battelle’s executive vice president for global laboratory operations, acknowledged last week that Battelle—billed as the world’s largest private nonprofit research and development […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 Retired Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler, the former commander of U.S. Strategic Command, last week emphatically championed sweeping investments in nuclear command, control and communications (NC3), and cautioned against segregating individual NC3 components from funding. Speaking at the annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit Feb. 20, Kehler joined a group of active […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The Air Force is expanding its five-year nuclear enterprise funding portfolio to foster morale, equipment, and modernization improvements, as the service has programmed an additional $5.6 billion in the Fiscal Year 2016-2020 Future Years Defense Program over last year’s FYDP projection, the top Air Force official told Senators this week. […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 A top official at Consolidated Nuclear Security, the Bechtel-led partnership that manages the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants under a combined contract, said last week that there’s “not much flexibility at this point” for moving funds back and forth between the Tennessee and Texas plants. Dave Beck, vice president […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told House appropriators this week that about $200 million in additional funding would be needed in Fiscal Year 2016 and beyond above the President’s budget request for optimal construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. Testifying before the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Feb. […]

NNSA to Complete Seismic Review of Los Alamos PF-4 by Mid-March NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration expects to complete its review of the seismic vulnerabilities of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility (PF-4) by mid-March, NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz said in a Feb. 13 letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The review […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The Department of Energy is considering establishing a committee to help prioritize infrastructure needs across the DOE complex, a senior Office of Science official told a panel examining the effectiveness of the Department’s national laboratories this week. Joseph McBrearty, the Office of Science’s Deputy Director for Field Operations, stressed that […]