Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 The Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the Nuclear Security Enterprise is recommending not only a major overhaul for the National Nuclear Security Administration, but a recasting of how weapons complex contractors are compensated. The 12-member panel this week released its long-awaited report, “A New Foundation for the Nuclear […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 The Senate is expected to vote as early as today on a Fiscal Year 2015 omnibus spending bill unveiled on Dec. 9 which would allocate $853.3 million for research, development, testing and evaluation for the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine replacement program. The appropriations bill, approved by the House Dec. 11, […]

Most Nonpro Programs See a Boost Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 Despite the Administration’s plans for a shutdown of the project, construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility would continue at the $345 million funding level included in the Fiscal Year 2015 spending bill released by Congressional appropriators this week. That compares to the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 Russia’s violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty has prompted the Joint Chiefs of Staff to commission a military assessment of hypothetical threats posed by any Russian deployment of a ground-launched cruise missile in Europe or the Asia-Pacific region, while House Republicans this week pressed the Administration to provide […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration are not adequately employing best practices in the analysis of alternatives (AOA) for major capital projects and may continue to see cost and schedule increases on its major projects, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released this week. […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chairman Peter Winokur said this week that he is disappointed the Board dropped to the bottom of this year’s list of best “small” federal agencies to work for, but reiterated steps the Board is taking to help improve employee morale and satisfaction. The Board was […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 Less than a month after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Nov. 14 announced oversight and organizational changes within the troubled nuclear enterprise, the Air Force yesterday announced it will combine acquisition and product support management functions into a single two-star command based at Kirtland AFB, N.M. Air Force Secretary Deborah […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 As tensions over the annexation of Crimea and occupation of Eastern Ukraine persist between the U.S. and Russia, the prospective advancement of further economic sanctions against Russia and potential placement of defensive weapons in Ukraine should have no impact on bilateral New START cooperation, according to Steven Pifer, former U.S. […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy is planning to develop a new secretarial determination regarding its uranium transfers to cover cleanup work at Portsmouth and the downblending of highly-enriched uranium, releasing last week a request for information from the public about potential impacts on the uranium markets. The move comes after industry […]

Site Prep Work for UPF on Schedule, Under Budget, NNSA Says NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration says site preparation activities for the Uranium Processing Facility is on schedule and under budget, adding that there’s been no recorded accident or injury over the past 500-plus days. The preparations are taking place on the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 A State Department official during this week’s Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons called on countries, non-governmental organizations and academics to help the U.S. generate the trust and verification tools needed to bring about further worldwide nuclear reductions. Speaking on Dec. 9, the second and final day […]

NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 IN THE NNSA The National Nuclear Security Administration was ranked 288th out of 314 federal agency subgroups in this year’s list of the best federal agencies to work for, compiled by the by the Partnership for Public Service and released this week. The NNSA was ranked 58th in pay, but 279th in […]

NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 IN THE NNSA As expected, Teresa Robbins has been named deputy manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office. The NPO oversees the work at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants. It was reported in October that Robbins has been selected to fill the position, which had been held by […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 House and Senate authorizers are curtailing the Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction program, withdrawing support for the program after Fiscal Year 2015, according to the compromise version of the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act released this week. The CTR program, created by Sens. Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 An Operations Squad Commander with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Secure Transportation “engaged in unsuitable, reportable behaviors,” the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said this week. The IG did not release its Nov. 24 report on the Office of Secure Transportation, which protects nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 The United States must upgrade its nuclear deterrent and the $600 billion-$1 trillion 30-year price tag to modernize all three legs of the triad included in the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review should be manageable, National Defense Panel member and former Congressman Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) told NS&D Monitor this week on […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 Authorized funding for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in Fiscal Year 2015 would see a significant increase under the final version of the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, unveiled this week. The bill would authorize a funding level of $345 million and would direct that the money be […]

FPU for Cruise Missile Warhead Required in 2025 According to Compromise Bill Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/5/2014 House and Senate authorizers have agreed to language in the recently completed compromise version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Authorization Act that would require a First Production Unit be completed on a new air-launched nuclear cruise missile […]