Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 Despite growing tensions between the United States and Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller said this week the Obama Administration won’t be swayed from continuing to pursue its arms control agenda with Moscow. “The situation in Ukraine is […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 As the nuclear weapons complex moves from a period of sustainment to modernization, Congressional backing of the funding and strategy of the nuclear enterprise is higher than it has been in previous years, staffers from the House and Senate Armed Services committees said this week at the Seventh Annual Nuclear […]

NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 Longtime weapons complex official Troy Wade was awarded this week with the third annual Johnny Foster Award by ExchangeMonitor Publications and Forums. The award was presented to Wade at the Seventh Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, held in Washington. Wade served more than 50 years in the nation’s nuclear weapons programs in a […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 Plans for a newly scaled-back Uranium Processing Facility received largely positive reviews from officials this week at the Seventh Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, held in Washington, as officials expressed optimism that the project could stay within its $6.5 billion cost cap. The UPF, which has yet to begin construction, has […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 The final update of the Trident 2 D5 architecture before the debut of the Ohio-Class nuclear submarine replacement program is on track to be completed by 2024, Navy Strategic Systems Programs Director Vice Adm. Terry Benedict said this week. Construction on the Ohio-Class Replacement is expected to run from 2021 […]

Sandia Field Office Manager Geoff Beausoleil Named Replacement Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 Steve Erhart, who helped stand up the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office three years ago, is shifting to head up the agency’s new Office of Policy and he will be replaced by Sandia Field Office Manager Geoff Beausoleil. Office of Secure […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 In an unexpected turn of events this week, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board did not approve a draft memorandum endorsing a call to better integrate the National Nuclear Security Administration within the Department of Energy. SEAB members gathered for a teleconference Feb. 17 to approve the memorandum—and voice support for the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 The Air Force is striving to increase its force end strength by 6,600 personnel, a boost intended, in part, to “bolster” nuclear forces, Secretary Deborah Lee James said last week. Speaking at the Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando Feb. 13, James spoke about the service’s planned investments in the nuclear […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the new chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, which controls much of the Department of Energy’s funding, said last week that he expects to rely on Defense Secretary Ashton Carter for advice on the Uranium Processing Facility and other topics associated with nuclear […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board needs to do more to further improve internal procedures and controls, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released late this week. Before 2013, the Board had few written policies and procedures for its five members and its technical staff, according to the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/20/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration is evaluating the causes of several incidents of misclassified material at Los Alamos National Laboratory in response to a Department of Energy Inspector General report that revealed that “sensitive, national security information” had been inadvertently disclosed by a LANL classification officer. The IG report, released last week, […]

Labor Union Preparing for Contract Negotiations With CNS Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 Union leaders at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant are closely watching the bargaining-unit negotiations taking place at their sister plant, Pantex, and preparing for the beginning of negotiations in Oak Ridge later this spring. The Metal Trades Department contract at Pantex expires […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is raising a number of seismic safety issues at two Y-12 production facilities—Beta-2E and Building 9215—that have become integral to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s revised strategy for scaling back the scope of the Uranium Processing Facility and getting out of the decrepit 9212 […]

The following interview with House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee Chair Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) was conducted last week by Weapons Complex Monitor Editor Kenneth Fletcher.  NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 I’d like to talk a bit about the Department of Energy’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request and what some of your priorities will be going forward in […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 Senators whose states house facilities that play a major role in the U.S. nuclear enterprise mostly praised the Senate’s 93-5 vote yesterday to confirm Ashton Carter to replace Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary. “I look forward to working with Dr. Ashton Carter to protect American security interests both domestic and […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 In a four-team think tank exercise simulating defense budget planning in a tight fiscal environment, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) maintained the nuclear triad even as the prospect of a tight fiscal environment has surfaced, a CSBA budget analyst told the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) on […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 Bob Work, the Deputy Defense Secretary and Chairman of the Nuclear Deterrent Enterprise Review Group, highlighted strong airman morale while echoing officials’ concerns about aging facilities during his visit to Minot AFB this week, according to a Defense Department release. "Some of the stuff they’re doing is just amazing," Work […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 As different nations are modernizing or striving to develop their strategic capabilities, the United States must invest in upgrading its nuclear deterrent, Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said during a speech at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington Feb. 6. Haney pointed to Russia, which has engaged […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management contract management will remain on the Government Accountability Office’s High-Risk List for another two years, the government watchdog agency announced this week. GAO unveiled its list two years after it partially removed the agencies from its […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 The Air Force is extending by 21 days the response deadline for a Request for Proposals the service released on Jan. 13 for Reentry Field Support Equipment (RFSE) to support testing and maintenance of Minuteman 3 reentry vehicles, according to a Feb. 9 announcement. Interested contractors must now submit proposals […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 Naval Sea Systems Command, Strategic Systems Programs and Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command are seeking input “for potential small business sources” to provide maintenance and technical engineering services in support of the Data Processing Subsystem (DPS) Program, Command and Control System (CCS) and Non-Propulsion Electronics System (NPES) of the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 General Dynamics this week reported a $1.4 billion backlog for engineering services for design and development of the Ohio-Class Replacement submarine at the year-end of 2014, representing about 4.5 percent of total backlog reported for GD’s Marine Systems group at the end of 2014, according to the company’s 10-K filing. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 A joint statement issued by from participants of the P5 Conference in London last week reaffirming “a step-by-step approach to nuclear disarmament that promotes international stability, peace and undiminished and increased security for all” as the only realistic disarmament mechanism has prompted at least one disarmament advocate to ask for […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 Navy Strategic Systems Programs awarded Charles Stark Draper Laboratory a maximum amount $302.4 million sole-source, firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive and cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for ongoing work of the Trident D5 MK 6 Guidance System Repair Program with failure verification, test, repair and recertification of inertial measurement units, electronic assemblies and electronic modules, according […]

CNS, Union Agree to Extend Contract Talks NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 The Metal Trades Council and Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security have agreed to continue talks past a Feb. 16 deadline when the union’s contract was set to expire, but both sides aren’t talking about issues involved in the discussions. “Consolidated Nuclear Security and the Metal […]

NS&D Monitor 2/13/2015 IN CONGRESS Former Naval Reactors Government Affairs director Adam DeMella is joining the majority staff of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee where his portfolio will include the National Nuclear Security Administration, NS&D Monitor has learned. DeMella headed up Naval Reactor’s government affairs shop from 2001 until December. DeMella will assume […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 Coupled with a tight funding environment, the Navy’s Feb. 2 release of its Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, which contains $10 billion in programmed funding over the Future Years’ Defense Program for research and development and advanced procurement of the Ohio-Class Replacement Program (ORP), has raised questions about whether the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 Defense Secretary nominee Ashton Carter this week stated the Ohio-Class Replacement will “present unique constraints” on the Navy’s shipbuilding plan, especially if the Defense Department is required to be funded at Budget Control Act of 2011 levels. Should the funding caps return, Carter said he would meet with the Navy […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 Without budgetary relief, planned upgrades to the aging nuclear command and control (NC2) system could suffer. The Air Force’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request includes $287 million for modernization of the NC2 architecture, about $147 million more than the FY 2015-enacted amount. With the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) caps […]