Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 The Defense Department is looking to accelerate work on the new long-range standoff weapon, according to the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, released earlier this week. While the Air Force was expected to issue a Request for Proposals in the first quarter of FY 2017, an RFP for the […]

Latest in a Series of Assessments Raising Culture, Morale, Concerns Within Board Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 A “divisive and dysfunctional relationship” among the members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board appears to be playing a significant role in the poor morale plaguing the DNFSB staff, according to a new independent report released late […]

NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 IN CONGRESS Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) has been named the vice chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, committee Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said yesterday. The committee has not operated with vice chairmen for its subcommittees in recent years, but Thornberry said an unprecedented strategic environment necessitated strengthening the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 The Navy is continuing to accelerate the pace of returning W76-0 warheads to the National Nuclear Security Administration for storage and plans to be finished shipping the warheads back to the agency by FY 2016, the NNSA said this week. Fiscal Year 2016 budget documents released this week revealed work […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 The Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement is investigating an accident at the Office of Secure Transportation’s Vehicle Maintenance Facility in Oak Ridge that led to the partial amputation of an employee’s finger. The investigation was disclosed in a letter Office of Enforcement Director Steven Simonson sent on Jan. 30, […]

Cracks in Concrete at HEUMF Being Monitored by Y-12 Officials NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 Cracks in the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility apparently haven’t worsened—at least not significantly—over the past year-and-a-half, but studies are still underway to determine how to address the situation at the Y-12 facility that houses the nation’s principal supply of bomb-grade uranium. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 NATO’s allied defense ministers this week formulated a “Readiness Action Plan” and released a related joint statement which indicates a growing emphasis on allied strategic forces in Europe. The decision comes at a time of continued Russian occupation of Eastern Ukraine, existing bilateral tensions over the annexation of Crimea, Russian […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 Budgetary pressure in GOP-controlled Congress could force tough decisions on President Obama’s $12.6 billion request for the National Nuclear Security Administration, including on funding for the Uranium Processing Facility, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee suggested this week. The Obama Administration requested $430 million for […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 The Obama Administration is moving forward with a new strategy to maintain the plutonium capabilities at Los Alamos National Laboratory, requesting $155.6 million for the work in Fiscal Year 2016, an increase of $119.9 million from FY 2015 enacted levels. The project has emerged from the ashes of the Chemistry […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration downplayed this week a report by the Project on Government Oversight that raised concerns about Administrator Frank Klotz’s prior work for Department of Energy contractor Bechtel, noting that Klotz followed government guidelines in disclosing his previous work and saying his decision-making has been unaffected by […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 The Obama Administration is seeking $77.1 million in Fiscal Year 2016 for an apparent new classified Air Force facility overseas for the Long-Range Strike Bomber, according to budget documents released this week. The facility is described in the budget request only as “worldwide classified.” Like many other elements of the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 The Obama Administration’s decision this week to continue with construction on the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in Fiscal Year 2016 was met with praise from Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who was among the lawmakers that fought against the Administration’s decision to put the project […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/2/2015 Outlining the Air Force’s proposed Fiscal Year 2016 budget today, Maj. Gen. James Martin, Air Force Assistant Secretary for Budget, warned that elements of the nuclear enterprise could be jeopardized by sequestration. The Air Force’s budget request includes $272 million for the B-2 defensive management system, up $98.8 million from […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/2/2015 The Obama Administration is requesting $430 million for the Uranium Processing Facility planned for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Fiscal Year 2016, preserving the planned funding profile of the multi-billion-dollar facility thanks to a decision last year to shift the project from one “big box” facility to several smaller […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/2/2015 The Obama Administration is requesting $1.4 billion in Fiscal Year 2016 for the Ohio-Class Replacement program, a project that officials say the Navy plans to fund out of its own account from Fiscal Year 2016 to FY 2020, and that will take about two-thirds of the service’s shipbuilding budget if […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/2/2015 The Obama Administration was widely criticized last year by arms control and disarmament experts for seeking to cut the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nonproliferation budget, but the Administration is looking to now stabilize funding for the NNSA’s nonproliferation account in its Fiscal Year 2016 request, released today, asking for $1.94 […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/2/2015 The Obama Administration is requesting $345 million in Fiscal Year 2016 for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in what Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has called a “continuation” budget for the controversial project. The request, unveiled today, matches the amount of money Congress provided to keep […]

Proposed Budget Prioritizes Life Extension Program Work Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/2/2015 One year after delaying the cruise missile warhead life extension program, the Obama Administration is proposing to shift its approach in Fiscal Year 2016, accelerating work on the refurbishment effort and providing a significant funding boost for the program. The program, renamed the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 The Obama Administration is set to ask for a significant Fiscal Year 2016 budget increase for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program and relatively flat funding for its nonproliferation account, weapons complex observers and Congressional aides told NS&D Monitor this week. The Administration will unveil its FY 2016 budget […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 Defense industry executives identified contracts that support the nuclear triad as significant revenue factors during Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2014 earnings announcements this week. During separate conference calls this week, Boeing and Lockheed Martin leadership expressed optimism about the future of the companies’ ongoing joint work on the classified long-range […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 The Defense Department is budgeting $944 million for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) in the Future Years’ Defense Plan, and a Request for Information released Jan. 23 has generated interest from multiple possible suitors, as the Air Force strives to employ an affordable, more accurate intercontinental ballistic missile with new […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 Amidst a crippling budget environment, the Navy will support its No. 1 priority, the Ohio-Class Replacement nuclear submarine and plans to spend $5 billion from Fiscal Years 2017 to 2020 in advanced procurement funding for the first submarine, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, told the Senate Armed Services […]

NNSA, Livermore Moving Forward With Pu Shots on NIF Despite Activist Objections NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration is not backing off a plan to use plutonium in shots at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility despite a last-minute appeal by activist groups to postpone the experiments. The first shots on the […]

Construction Begins on RLWTF-Upgrade Project NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 Construction work has begun on the first phase of a project to replace the aging Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Late last week, Los Alamos National Security, LLC, the managing contractor at the lab, issued a notice to proceed with construction […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 A Los Alamos National Laboratory classification officer disclosed “sensitive, national security information” after misclassifying six documents, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General Office said in an apparent draft report released on the LLNL: The True Story blog this week. The undated draft report from Inspector General Gregory Friedman also revealed […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 Los Alamos National Laboratory manager Los Alamos National Security, LLC, has a long list of issues to address as it looks to recover from its worst year since taking over management of the lab in 2006, and laboratory Director Charlie McMillan emphasized that the laboratory will take a measured approach […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/30/2015 National security agencies doing business with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nuclear weapons laboratories should establish a “formally recognized” strategic partnership with the Department of Energy, a National Academy of Sciences panel said in a recently released report. The Committee on Assessment of the Governance Structure of the NNSA National […]