Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

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 […]