Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 A $171.1 million contract awarded to DRS Laurel Technologies for the production and installation of support hardware for U.S. submarines’ combat control and sonar systems will also entail research and development for the hardware’s implementation on Ohio replacement SSBNs, according to NAVSEA spokesperson Matt Leonard. Awarded in late September by […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration has beefed up federal oversight of the Uranium Processing Facility project in the wake of a space/fit issue that added $540 million to the projected cost of the now-scaled-back facility, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released late last week. The project was […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to continue to increase the use of firm fixed-price contracting for non-major capital projects as one of the strategies to improve its project management, the agency said in a report to Congress last month obtained by NS&D Monitor. The Congressionally mandated report notes that […]

Delays to LRSO Warhead Mean Pantex Could Face Production Lull After B61 Work Wraps Up Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 The Obama Administration’s decision to delay work on a new long-range standoff (LRSO) weapon for up to three years and defer work on a first interoperable warhead has created a potential production gap at the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration is on the verge of qualifying a 3-D-printed part for use in a nuclear weapon for the first time, marking a major milestone in the meteoric rise of the new production technology. Additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing, is already being used to produce tooling used […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Plans for a new pit storage facility to replace an aging storage bunker at the Pantex Plant are again moving forward. The NNSA Production Office last month requested Critical Decision-0 approval for a new Material Staging Facility at the plant, according to a recently released memo from the Defense Nuclear […]

More than 90 percent of the Department of Energy’s $26 billion budget is contracted out to a host of firms, large and small. DOE has been working hard over the past several years to improve how it reports, records and tracks contractor performance—a laudable goal, considering how much money is on the line. But there’s […]

Board to Undergo Safety Culture Assessment of Itself Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Employee dissatisfaction at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has hit a four-year low, according to the results of the 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, which the DNFSB posted on its website this week. The survey found a drop in positive responses […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Stockpiled nuclear material around the world continues to be a nuclear security threat, and the international community should not wait on the U.S. and Russia to strengthen nuclear material verification measures, Corey Hinderstein of the Nuclear Threat Initiative told attendees of a State Department-hosted briefing at U.N. headquarters this week. […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 10/17/14 Infrastructure modernization and deferred maintenance are a “special concern” in the Department of Energy Inspector General’s latest annual report on DOE management challenges, released late last week. Infrastructure modernization was not listed as a management challenge, but instead on a lower level watch list. However, the topic is a “special […]

N.M. Nuke Activist Group Hires Fired LANL Nonproliferation Expert NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Jim Doyle, the Los Alamos National Laboratory nonproliferation expert who has alleged he was fired based on an the publication of an article supporting nuclear abolition, has signed on to work with Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a nuclear activist group based in Santa Fe, […]

Sandia Names New VP for Science and Technology, Chief Technology Officer NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Rob Leland has been named Sandia National Laboratories’ new Vice President of Science and Technology and the lab’s Chief Technology Officer, the lab said late last week. Leland, a 24-year employee of the lab, replaces Duane Dimos and Julia Phillips, who […]

At Livermore DOE IG Criticizes Size of Lab’s Vehicle Fleet NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory could have done more to reduce the size of its vehicle fleet, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General report released this week that suggests the lab didn’t adequately look into replacing some of its 770 vehicles […]

NS&D Monitor 10/17/2014 In DoD Air Force Brig. Gen. John Cherrey has been promoted to take Maj. Gen. Michael A. Keltz’s former position of director of intelligence, operations and nuclear integration at Headquarters Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio in Randolph, Texas, according to an Oct. 9 Defense Department press release. […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 The top manager at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Site Office improperly utilized her position to force employees to perform work on personal matters and created a “negative work environment” before being terminated, DOE’s Inspector General said in a report released late last week. The publicly released version of […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Air Force Global Strike Command earlier this month started the ICBM Parts Centralized Funding Program, shifting responsibility for missile support system purchases away from the 20th Air Force and aligning it with the overarching command, according to an Oct. 3 release. Previously, heads of the 20th Air Force’s 90th, 341st […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 10/10/14 The Department of Energy is still spending more than necessary on software maintenance licenses, according to a DOE Inspector General report released this week that follows up on a previous investigation finding issues with the acquisition and management of desktop software. “Although the Department had made progress in addressing our […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chairman Peter Winokur announced to staff late this week that he will not seek re-nomination as the agency’s top official. Winokur said in an Oct. 9 meeting with staffers that he planned to serve until Daniel Santos (nominated to replace Joseph Bader) is confirmed as […]

Todd Jacobson and Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 The Obama Administration is taking a hard look at whether it needs to replace the air-launched cruise missile, outgoing Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs Andrew Weber told reporters earlier this week as he prepared to leave his position after five years. […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Stanford University is proposing a contracting pilot program that would dramatically reset the Department of Energy’s relationship with its national laboratories, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Board of Overseers Chairman Bill Madia told a Congressional panel examining the effectiveness of DOE’s labs this week. Speaking at an Oct. 6 meeting of […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 A group of nuclear explosive safety senior technical advisors that has made safety-related recommendations about the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Pantex Plant says their voice isn’t being heard, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board member Sean Sullivan told Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Madelyn Creedon this week. […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 10/10/14 Teresa Robbins has been selected to be deputy manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office, overseeing operations at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants. Her selection was announced in an internal message to federal employees this week, but there are reportedly additional steps in the approval process […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Calling the current state of the U.S.-Russia relationship “one of the worst in bilateral history, not only since the Cold War,” former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said this week that the two nations should restore dialogue on the mutual disarmament of nuclear weapons. During an Oct. 6 event in […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Three months into its management-and-operating role at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons facilities, Consolidated Nuclear Security’s leadership team continues to undergo changes. Janet Hunt, the human resources manager and architect of the contractor’s strategy on a range of personnel issues, is leaving the CNS team to return to her […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 A new approach to how the Department of Energy manages its projects is set to be rolled out in the coming weeks, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said this week, though he provided few concrete details about what changes may be in the works.  DOE has been looking at “redoing […]

Army Corps Issues RFI for UPF Site Preparation NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 The scaled-back Uranium Processing Facility appears to be finally moving forward. The Army Corps of Engineers has released a Request for Information seeking small businesses to perform site preparation work for the project, which has been delayed as the National Nuclear Security Administration examines […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 AECOM expects to wrap up its purchase of URS next week with votes by shareholders of both companies, according to a message sent to URS employees. The two companies have received all necessary regulatory approvals to complete the transaction, and both AECOM and URS have scheduled voted with their respective […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 A new U.S.-Vietnam civil nuclear agreement fully entered into force last week after an exchange of diplomatic notes Oct. 3 that finalized the deal. Notably, the agreement has raised questions from some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle because it lacks legally binding restrictions on enrichment and reprocessing, known […]