Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Full Ownership of Bannister Federal Complex Shifted to NNSA NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 The General Services Administration and the National Nuclear Security Administration signed a Memorandum of Agreement this week to shift ownership of Kansas City’s Bannister Federal Complex to the NNSA, marking an important step in the redevelopment of the site. Bannister was home to […]

LLNL Develops Realistic Radiological/Nuclear Training Technology NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said this week that it has developed a technology that will help train first responders on radiological and nuclear hazards. The technology involves injecting simulated radiation signals into the analog simplifiers of real radiation detectors that are used by first responders and […]

NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 IN THE NNSA Ken Ivey has been named senior scientific and technical advisor in the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office, which oversees operations at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants. Ivey, who has been serving in the position on an acting basis, will be based at Pantex. Ivey has held […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Three senior senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee last week asked President Obama to consider retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jonathan George as the next Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs. George would replace Andrew Weber, who left the position for a slot at […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James on Jan. 14 said the Long Range Stand-Off Weapon (LRSO) will be analyzed under a new set of acquisition criteria which will assess the relationship between costs and capability requirements. Officials to achieve a lower cost estimate by slightly relaxing capability requirements. The future […]

Boeing Hints at Possible Protest After Debrief From Air Force Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Northrop Grumman Technical Services on Wednesday won a $963.5 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, beating out Boeing to sustain the Minuteman 3 Ground Subsystem until Jan. 31, 2020, as part of the Future ICBM Sustainment and Acquisition Concept (FISAC). If Northrop Grumman […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 The Union of Concerned Scientists is continuing its opposition to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, recommending in a report released this week that the controversial project be abandoned in favor of less expensive options. The report, “Excess Plutonium Disposition,” was authored by UCS physicist Edwin […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security is taking a “deliberate” approach to improving operations at the two sites, CNS Chief Operating Officer Morgan Smith said late last week in response to reports that federal managers had been unhappy with the pace of improvements. CNS developed an “operational excellence plan” last year […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 U.S. Strategic Command chief Adm. Cecil Haney will meet later this month with commanders and stakeholders who support the Nuclear Enterprise to discuss investment and progress of the Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3) apparatus, Haney said this week. Hours later in her State of the Air Force Pentagon speech, […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 The year-end performance evaluations for NNSA contractors did not include any information on the first six-month period of Consolidated Nuclear Security, but top officials at CNS have indicated they think they’re doing a pretty good job. CNS’ first evaluation will be released as part of Fiscal Year 2015 evaluations. “I […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Lockheed Martin is competing for the Propulsion Subsystem contract to be awarded as part of the Future ICBM Sustainment and Acquisition Concept (FISAC), a company spokeswoman told NS&D Monitor late last week. Slated to be the last of four subsystem contracts awarded under the new Air Force-managed FISAC contracting structure, the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 The Hill AFB division of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center on Tuesday released a Request for Proposals for Reentry Field Support Equipment (RFSE), which will replace 40-plus-year-old nuclear warhead test equipment consisting of the Reentry System Test Set (RSTS) and Safety Enhanced Reentry Vehicle (SERV) Field Test Set (SFTS). […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Echoing the Obama Administration’s current stance, an independent panel of national security experts on Jan. 14 reiterated its recommendation published last month in a State Department report that the U.S. should work to bring Russia back in compliance with the INF Treaty and not withdraw from the agreement in an […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security is seeking a source for up to 6,800 metric tons of high purity depleted uranium metal and related material and services, the company said last week as it released a sources sought notice, though it’s unclear what the material might be for.  In the Jan. […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 For the first time in years, Y-12 and Pantex are in compliance with Department of Energy 350.1, which governs how much federal contractors can spend on employee benefits. Consolidated Nuclear Security, which that took over management of the two nuclear weapons plants on July 1 as part of a new […]

High Flux Isotope Reactor Back in Operation After Long Outage NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor came back into operation this week after a recent maintenance period. During the 32-day maintenance-and-refueling outage that was longer than normal because of the holidays, ORNL workers made modifications to the “deep well pump” […]

Sen. Joe Donnelly to Serve as Ranking Member Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is in line to be the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, NS&D Monitor has learned. Sessions served as the ranking member of the panel for the last four years and the top Republican on […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 Kansas City National Security Campus contractor Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies was the top performer in the weapons complex during Fiscal Year 2014, earning 96 percent of its at risk fee ($28.8 million out of $30 million available). Honeywell also earned an additional $14.4 million in fixed Work For Others […]

Incumbent Honeywell FM&T Only Company With Reps at Conference Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 A preproposal conference and site tour for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus procurement this week drew representatives from just one company, incumbent Kansas City contractor Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, NS&D Monitor has learned. The public […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 The Air Force is expected to award a contract by mid-January to sustain the Ground Subsystem for the Minuteman 3 as part of the Future Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Sustainment and Acquisition Concept (FISAC) after the service on Jan. 8 named Boeing the awardee of a $51.2 million cost-plus-award-fee FISAC contract […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 In an unprecedented move, the National Nuclear Security Administration has drastically reduced the Fiscal Year 2014 fee for Los Alamos National Laboratory contractor Los Alamos National Security (LANS) because of “performance failures” associated with the February 2014 radiological incident at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant while stripping the contractor of […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 With the $100 billion Ohio-Class submarine replacement program threatening to disrupt the Navy’s goal of building up to a 300-ship fleet by 2019, the service’s top acquisition official on Jan. 6 underscored the need for Congress and the Navy to have a “very important discussion” on SSBN(X) funding. Speaking during […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor  1/9/2015 There have been persistent rumblings of low morale at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s two-site Production Office almost from its inception in June 2012, and those concerns were apparently substantiated and underscored by the 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. It appeared, based on a drill-down of the results, that the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 Officials with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office in November voiced concerns about an “operational excellence plan” developed by Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security to respond to a series of incidents over the last few years, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in a recently released report. The […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 Ash Carter, President Obama’s nominee to be the next Secretary of Defense, is set to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee in early February, giving him time to recover from back surgery in December, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told reporters this week. McCain said the Committee was ready to […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 Construction work has been completed on the Savannah River Site’s Waste Solidification Building as the site’s managing contractor is preparing to put the facility into an “interim layup” due to delays in completion of the related Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project. The WSB is designed to process waste streams […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 The Air Force will host an Industry Day for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), the expected follow-on for the Minuteman 3, at Hill AFB in Utah from Feb. 18-20. Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center and the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Systems Directorate are sponsoring the classified […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 ATK’s Board of Directors has established the distribution ratio in connection with the spinoff of the company’s Sporting Group to ATK stockholders and the merger of ATK’s Aerospace and Defense groups with Orbital Sciences. According to a Jan. 6 press release, on the merger closing date, ATK stockholders will receive […]