Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration is set to withdraw the Earned Value Management System certification for Los Alamos National Laboratory because of “systemic and material deficiencies” with the system, according to a draft letter slated to be sent to acting Deputy Lab Director Paul Henry obtained by NS&D Monitor. The […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 National Security Technologies officials are working to improve the safety culture at the Nevada National Security Site after being prompted to shape up in a recent letter from Nevada Field Office Manager Steve Lawrence. The National Nuclear Safety Administration hasn’t released the letter from Lawrence, but it was prompted by […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The Department of Energy this week formally selected Brookhaven Science Associates for a new five-year, $3.2 billion contract to run Brookhaven National Laboratory, choosing the only team to submit a bid for the contract. BSA, a partnership of Battelle and Stony Brook University, submitted the only proposal for the contract […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 Aligning with Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James’ call earlier this month to “institutionalize” the morale-boosting philosophy behind Global Strike Command’s Force Improvement Program (FIP), the command has formed its first ever specialized team for maintenance of launch control centers (LCCs), and has restructured its rotation model for missile officers. […]

Board Staff Highlight Concerns at Savannah River Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The Department of Energy has accepted a formal recommendation from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board on the need to strengthen emergency preparedness and response capabilities, but told the Board last week that it will need longer than a required one-year period to […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 Uranium firm TENAM has named Curt Steel as acting president after its general director was charged with conspiracy and extortion related to an alleged kickback scheme last month. Vadim Mikerin, general director of TENEX subsidiary TENAM USA, allegedly received more than $1.6 million in payments from officials from Transport Logistics […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The United States will attend December’s Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, which will highlight the far-reaching, catastrophic effects that nuclear explosions could cause, the State Department announced late last week. The State Department statement underscored U.S. efforts to work toward the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons, […]

One Guard Involved in 2013 Machine Gun Accidental Discharge Back at Work NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration has remained mum about fallout from the July 28, 2013 security incident in which a machine gun was accidentally discharged inside a hardened patrol vehicle at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, but a union official […]

Developer Begins Study on Remediation of Former KC Plant Home NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 Work to disposition the National Nuclear Security Administration’s former home at the Bannister Federal Complex in Kansas City began this week as developer CenterPoint Properties Trust started an extensive site analysis and environmental review of the World War II era facility. CenterPoint […]

NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Ed Najmola, the construction vice president for Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services, is leaving for a corporate post at CB&I this month. Taking over as acting construction vice president will be Danny Hosey, most recently the contractor’s area project manager for HVAC. Najmola joined […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Responding to proposals by arms control advocates calling for a 10-year delay of the long-range strike bomber, a top Air Force official this week cited the inefficiency of delaying projects and called for officials to move more quickly to modernize nuclear bombers. “At the end of the day, we just […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 The Navy’s most senior officer this week expressed concern that sequestration could prompt slashes in construction personnel for nuclear forces, and could result in a long struggle to reprogram funding for projects like the Ohio replacement.  Speaking Nov. 4 at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration will compete the Kansas City National Security Campus management-and-operating contract for the first time in 14 years, hoping that competition for the contract will bring about an increase in performance at what is already one of the weapons complex’s highest achieving sites. The agency late […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 With Republicans gaining control of the Senate this week in a wave of support during the mid-term elections, nuclear weapons experts and Congressional aides are expecting a shift toward support of modernizing the nation’s nuclear weapons complex in the GOP-controlled Congress, though the modernization aspirations of Republicans could run up […]

DOE Office of Enforcement Investigating Chemical Explosion at NNSS NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Officials from the Department of Energy’s Office of Enterprise Assessments’ Office of Enforcement will visit the Nevada National Security Site later this month as part of an investigation into a chemical explosion that occurred in June. The explosion at the site’s Nonproliferation Test […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor  11/7/2014 Babcock & Wilcox is moving ahead with a plan to separate its power generation business from its government and nuclear operations group, the company said this week as it released its third quarter financial earnings. The split is expected to be completed by mid-2015, and will result in the creation […]

Draft ‘Transition Plan’ Says New EM Los Alamos Field Office Could Open by January Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 As the Department of Energy prepares to shift management of the remaining legacy cleanup work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Office of the Environmental Management from the National Nuclear Security Administration, DOE anticipates […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 The Air Force must fill two new top-level openings within Global Strike Command after two commanders were relieved of duty this week following separate substantiated allegations of cruelty and sexism at Minot and F.E. Warren Air Force Bases, respectively. Col. Tracey Hayes, commander of F.E. Warren’s 90th Missile Wing, removed […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Federal charges of extortion and conspiracy charges were filed late last week against a Russian official working for a TENEX subsidiary and executives of the firm Transport Logistics International in relation to kickbacks for transportation contracts tied to the ‘Megatons to Megawatts’ program. TENEX contracted with TLI starting in 1996 […]

Brian Bradley and Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Russia is boycotting the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit scheduled for the United States, dealing a blow to President Obama’s efforts to strengthen the security of nuclear materials. The 2016 summit is expected to be the fourth and final summit, where representatives from more than 50 countries and […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 The Energy Facility Contractors Group is eliminating nine of its 13 working groups and cutting its December semi-annual meeting following a Department of Energy request for the restructuring. The changes come as part of efforts by DOE and EFCOG to bring a greater focus to the group’s efforts and ultimately […]

NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, joined to the lineup of speakers for the seventh annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit scheduled for Feb. 17-20 in Washington, D.C. Kislyak will give a keynote speech to kick off the seventh annual gathering of weapons complex, Pentagon, State Department and industry officials. Also […]

POGO Raises Concerns About Lack of Information on UPF NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 The Project on Government Oversight, a long-time Department of Energy watchdog group, this week said it has “serious concerns” about the lack of information being made publicly available on the multibillion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility and called for greater transparency on the national security […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Concluding a historic 69th annual session, the UN First Committee this week wrapped up its annual voting on nuclear and conventional disarmament nonbinding draft resolutions, pushing through an agreement that calls for bringing nuclear disarmament under “strict and effective” international control, and another resolution that urges the UN General Assembly […]

Lab Union Threatens Strike Over Wages, Benefits, Safety Issues NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 Union trades workers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are threatening to go on strike over concerns about low wages, benefits and safety issues at the lab, according to one of the union’s top negotiator. Approximately 100 people attended an Oct. 30 demonstration at […]

NS&D Monitor 11/7/2014 AT THE NATIONAL LABORATORIES The Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories held its fourth meeting this week, this time gathering at Argonne National Laboratory Nov. 4 for a closer look at the laboratories it is studying. The Congressionally mandated lab commission met with nearly a dozen officials, including […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/31/2014 U.S. arms control advocates and nuclear deterrence experts alike are attaching little importance to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent calls for further arms control reductions, with some suggesting that the statements were largely an effort to improve Russia’s global image and political standing. “I think Russia is feeling some pressure […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/31/2014 With about 11 months left before Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies’ contract to run the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus expires, NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz said this week that an announcement on the contract will come “very soon.” Honeywell’s contract to run the plant expires Sept. […]