Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

NRC Extends MOX Construction Deadline NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week extended the construction authorization deadline for completion of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility by 10 years until March 30, 2025. Contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services requested the extension in May after delays in construction due to funding cuts and delays […]

Permanent Security Fence Going Up in Front of Y-12 NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 A new security barrier is being constructed at the Y-12 National Security Complex and this time it will be permanent. Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office, confirmed this week that a “temporary” security fence alongside Y-12 entrance […]

NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 IN THE WHITE HOUSE Jon Wolfsthal, a former arms control and nonproliferation advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, has been appointed as the senior Director for Arms Control and Nonproliferation at the National Security Council. Wolfsthal will begin his new job Dec. 1, serving as a President Obama’s top advisor on arms […]

  Hagel: Pentagon to Increase Funding to Rejuvenate Nuclear Enterprise Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The Defense Department plans to increase funding for the U.S. nuclear enterprise by an additional 10 percent over the next five years to help reform the nation’s aging nuclear deterrent, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Nov. 14. The funding will […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor  11/14/2014 The Department of Energy is heading back to the drawing board after terminating an award for an Office of Health, Safety and Security technical and security support services contract for the second time. With its latest award under protest by a team led by Project Enhancement Corp., DOE this week […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The United States can afford nuclear modernization, but where it falls on President Obama’s list is a matter for debate and will determine which projects will get done. That was the message that Clark Murdock, Director of the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 Officials with Sandia National Laboratories improperly used government funds to lobby for an extension to the Lockheed Martin-run contractor’s management and operating contract, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said in a report released this week. The IG report details a Sandia plan to push for a contract extension that […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration is not planning to release the names of the Source Selection Authority or Source Evaluation Board for its Kansas City National Security Campus procurement, the agency said late last week. “We consider the name of the source selection authority and any source evaluation board member […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 Leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee are pushing ahead on an omnibus spending package, though it remains unclear if there will be enough support for the massive spending bill when the current short-term stopgap spending legislation expires in December. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) and Senate […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 Russia is planning to cut back on nuclear security cooperation with the United States, the head of Moscow’s state-run nuclear company has reportedly told Obama Administration officials, the New York Times reported this week. Sergey Kirienko reportedly told U.S. officials that new nuclear security work is not “envisioned” in 2015. […]

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 […]