Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 While negotiations on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty have been deadlocked in the U.N. Conference on Disarmament (CD) since 2011, nuclear expert and Princeton professor Zia Mian said this week that U.S. Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty could initiate a path forward for a future agreement. “It would […]

Nelson-Jean Appointed Manager of Livermore Field Office NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Nicole Nelson-Jean has been appointed as the manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Livermore Field Office, the agency said this week. Nelson-Jean has served as the acting head of the field office since January, when Kim Davis-Lebak left to serve as the manager of […]

Sandia Not Penalized for 2011 Explosion at Plasma Materials Test Facility NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 Sandia National Laboratories will not face a fine for a 2011 explosion in a building at its Plasma Materials Test Facility, according to a Preliminary Notice of Violation recently issued by the National Nuclear Security Administration. Workers in the facility narrowly […]

NS&D Monitor 10/10/2014 IN THE NNSA The National Nuclear Security Administration has begun searching for a new Associate Administrator for Management and Budget to replace Cindy Lersten, according to an announcement posted on USAjobs.gov this week. Lersten headed up the agency’s Office of Management and Budget since 2012, but NNSA budget director Robert Nassif is […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 Officials within the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Secure Transportation did not report or properly assess a “deliberate example of unauthorized access to nuclear weapons,” the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said this week. DOE’s IG released only a summary of its Sept. 24 inspection report Sept. 29, raising […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 The U.S. nuclear enterprise requires a fiscal “plus-up,” but military officials are still wrestling with where the necessary funding will come from, U.S. Strategic Command Vice Commander Lt. Gen. James Kowalski said last week. “We did a fair amount of investment in organizational changes and in focus of our nuclear […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 Despite a plan earlier this year to potentially put the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility into “cold standby” at the beginning of Fiscal Year 2015, construction will continue for the time being at the current rate, the National Nuclear Security Administration has confirmed. Citing rising costs for the project, the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 While U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech this week at the United Nations marked the second time in two weeks that senior Obama Administration officials have advocated for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty’s entry into force while citing the need for Congressional educational outreach efforts, it remains unclear when the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 Babcock & Wilcox confirmed this week that its Board of Directors is considering splitting its Government and Nuclear Operations business segment and its commercially focused Power Generation unit into two publicly traded companies, with B&W President and CEO Jim Ferland suggesting Oct. 1 that the move could enhance the value […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 Recent actions by Russia to ramp up its nuclear modernization program could serve as a major threat to the United States’ nuclear posture, Hudson Institute fellow William Schneider said this week. Speaking at an Oct. 1 event, Schneider said Moscow’s modernization plans stand in contrast to U.S. modernization efforts, which […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration is planning to fine Nevada National Security Site contractor National Security Technologies $110,000 for four violations stemming from the unauthorized disclosure of classified information in 2010. The NNSA issued a Preliminary Notice of Violation to NSTec Sept. 26, describing the security breach publicly for the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 The size of U.S. and Russian stockpiles of deployed nuclear weapons grew significantly over the last six months, according to the latest New START Treaty data released by the State Department this week. The Oct. 1 declaration reveals that the U.S. had 1,642 deployed warheads under the treaty’s counting rules […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration needs to be integrated with the rest of the Department of Energy not only because of its important national security work with the nuclear weapons stockpile but also because of its nonproliferation and emergency response work, outgoing Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman said during remarks […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 As USEC became Centrus Energy Corp. this week after completing Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, in its first major action longtime President and Chief Executive Officer John Welch announced his plans to step down. Welch, who has served as head of the uranium enrichment firm since October 2005, plans to leave […]

NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 UPF Procurement Chief Staying at Y-12 After All After conflicting reports over the past month, it looks like Rich Brown will be staying in Oak Ridge after all and oversee the procurement activities for the Uranium Processing Facility and/or its follow-on projects. Just a few days after UPF Project Director Brian Reilly sent […]

NS&D Monitor 10/3/2014 IN DoD Two B-52H Stratofortresses operated by 8th Air Force bomber crews were flown in a Sept. 22 simulated combat mission from Barksdale AFB to the Utah Test and Training Range, where one jet launched an unarmed AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile, Air Force Global Strike Command said in a Sept. 26 statement. […]