Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) on Jan. 2 released a sources sought notice and questionnaire for Base Operations Support (BOS) at Naval Submarine Base (NSB) Kings Bay. “Any resulting contract will be Firm Fixed Price (FFP) with Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) provisions,” the notice states. “The contract term will […]

Activist Groups Ramp Up Opposition to NIF Plutonium Shots NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 Members of an anti-nuclear activist group met with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory officials this week about plans to use small amounts of plutonium in experiments at the National Ignition Facility after ramping up their opposition to the plans in a Jan. 6 protest. […]

NNSS Security Contractor Earns 90 Percent of Available FY14 Fee NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 Security contractor Centerra Group received an excellent rating for its Fiscal Year 2014 protective force work at the Nevada National Security Site, earning $2.25 million in fee out of $2.49 million available, according to information recently released by the National Nuclear Security […]

Purification Facility Remains Shutdown After Chemical Spill NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 A Y-12 facility that produces Fogbank for nuclear weapons use remains shutdown following a Dec. 16 chemical spill, and a federal spokesman refused to give a timetable for its return to action. “The Purification Facility remains shut down and is in a recovery mode at […]

SRS Security Contractor Earns About 90 Percent of Available FY 14 Award Fee NS&D Monitor 1/9/2014 Savannah River Site security contractor, Centerra Group, earned about 90 percent of its available award fee for Fiscal Year 2014, according to a scorecard released by the Department of Energy late last month. Centerra, which was known as G4S-Government […]

NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 IN THE WHITE HOUSE The Obama Administration will release its Fiscal Year 2016 budget request on time on Feb. 2, the Associated Press reported this week. The first Monday in February is the deadline for the annual budget release, a date the Obama Administration has missed frequently in the past. IN CONGRESS […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 In a new effort to further improve project management, the Department of Energy is moving forward with plans to conduct additional reviews of major projects to better identify and resolve potential problems before they have significant impacts. DOE’s new approach, unveiled late this week, involves what Department officials have described […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 A report released this week by the Congressional Budget Office estimates the total production cost of the Ohio-class replacement submarine at $92 billion, compared with the Navy’s $79 billion estimate. While the Navy has asserted its estimate is partly explained by a would-be favorable cost-by-weight ratio generated through its plan […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller said Dec. 17 she thinks Russia’s nuclear modernization hitherto has been “judicious,” but underscored that the U.S. would urge Russia to consider the level of stability that would be provided by any rail-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles—technology that Russian media […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 During a webcasted town hall meeting bringing together airmen from across the globe, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James called the nuclear enterprise the service’s “No. 1 mission.” James then struck a chord similar to the one she and other top service officials have in the past, citing the need […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has signed a memo instructing the director of the division of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation within the Office of the Secretary of Defense to evaluate whether implementation of several personnel- and resource-related reforms within the nuclear enterprise are having the desired effect. CAPE leadership plans […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 A pair of Bechtel and Lockheed Martin executives defended this week the role the private companies play in managing the National Nuclear Security Administration’s three nuclear weapons laboratories, telling a lab effectiveness panel that the corporate reachback brought by the companies that run the labs has made a difference. “If […]

Please note: the offices of EXCHANGEMONITOR PUBLICATIONS will be closed from Dec. 24 through Jan. 4. The Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will be published Dec. 22-23, and the next full issue of Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor will be on your desk Jan. 9. We will issue bulletins should any major news break in the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration has softened some language in its Kansas City National Security Campus Request for Proposals to attract more competition, but it remains to be seen how many companies will step forward to bid for the contract. Likely in response to concerns from potential bidders, the agency […]

The following interview about the NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation’s reorganization and coming move was conducted by Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor Editor Todd Jacobson. This reorganization has been in the works for some time. What was the overarching strategy that you sought to implement and what were the general principles you were going […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 Plutonium shots at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility are expected to take place for the first time in January as the National Nuclear Security Administration takes another—somewhat controversial—step on the massive experimental laser system. NNSA weapons program chief Don Cook told Congress last week that the plutonium shots […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 President Obama this week signed an omnibus spending package that funds the government for the rest of Fiscal Year 2015. Overall, the bill provides $8.23 billion for the NNSA’s weapons program, an $83 million cut from the Administration’s $8.31 billion request but a $450 million increase over the $7.78 billion […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 As the Navy continues its investigation into alleged recordings of undressed female sailors aboard the USS Wyoming ballistic missile submarine, NS&D Monitor has learned new details surrounding the documented events. Whereas previous media reports suggested that a 24-year-old male was the subject of an investigation focusing on the alleged recording […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 The Senate confirmed a pair of Obama Administration nuclear weapons and arms control nominees this week, clearing Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities Robert Scher and Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance Frank Rose before adjourning. But the wait for Scher and Rose was quite […]

Board Chairman Winokur to Retire Jan. 3 Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 In one of its last actions before adjourning for the year, the Senate this week approved the White House’s choice of Daniel Santos to serve on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The White House nominated Santos to the Board this summer to […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 President Barack Obama is required to submit quarterly reports to Congress detailing whether it remains in the national security interests of the U.S. to remain committed to the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty as long as Russia remains in noncompliance with the agreement, according to the Ukraine Freedom Support Act, […]

IN CONGRESS Congress wrapped up work on the final version of the Fiscal Year 2015 defense authorization bill late last week, with the Senate approving the measure and sending it to President Obama for signature. Among the bill’s provisions is language that would create a national park comprised of sites tied to the Manhattan Project. […]

Chemical Spill Temporarily Shuts Down Purification Facility NS&D Monitor 12/19/2014 Y-12 National Security Complex officials said this week they are still in the recovery and assessment phase following a Dec. 15 chemical spill at the plant’s Purification Facility. The facility’s only acknowledged mission is production of Fogbank, a classified material used in some thermonuclear weapons, […]

NNSA Weapons Program Receives $8.23 Billion in Bill, Down $83 Million From Request Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 A feasibility study for refurbishing the cruise missile warhead will go forward in Fiscal Year 2015, according to funding legislation released this week by House and Senate appropriators. The $9.4 million study represents a sliver of the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 After news broke that allegations of a sailor secretly recording female officers showering aboard a nuclear missile ballistic missile submarine had surfaced, House lawmakers expressed concern about morale in nuclear forces. Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee in a statement released Dec. 5, called the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 Robert Scher, the Obama Administration’s pick to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities, was cleared by the Senate Armed Services Committee this week. Scher was one of three civilian nominees on Dec. 9 that the Senate Armed Services Committee favorably reported out, by voice vote, […]

There is a legendary story in the lore of ExchangeMonitor. In the early 1980s, as Ed was just a few years in to building what would become ExchangeMonitor Publications & Forums, one of Ed’s first reporters was just about at his wits end after only a few months on the job. After watching his story […]

ExchangeMonitor Founder and Publisher Edward Helminski Dies at 72 NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 Edward Lawrence Helminski, the founder, publisher and president of ExchangeMonitor publications, died peacefully in his home in Washington, D.C, on Dec. 5. He was 72.  Helminski’s diverse career spanned from academia to energy policy work with states and the White House to newsletter […]