Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 The Nuclear Weapons Council has formally committed to build two modular structures to help sustain Los Alamos National Laboratory’s plutonium capabilities, opening the door to freeing up approximately $90 million in funds that had been in limbo as lawmakers pushed for a promise on the modular approach. Nuclear Weapons Council […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 As the State Department released its annual compliance report this week, formally accusing Russia of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Congressional lawmakers urged the Obama Administration to take action against Moscow. “We must take action to hold Russia accountable and bring Russia back into compliance with the treaty,” […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 Language in the Senate Appropriations Committee version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act unveiled last week includes a subtle warning to the National Nuclear Security Administration about future contract consolidation across the weapons complex. The committee was previously skeptical of the NNSA’s consolidation of the Y-12/Pantex […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 Los Alamos National Laboratory contractor Los Alamos National Security, LLC, could soon be on the hook for cost overruns on major projects, according to documents obtained by NS&D Monitor. According to a March 25-28 review of the Transuranic Waste Facility project, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, NNSA’s Office […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 A new report from Harvard University’s Belfer Center criticizes the Obama Administration for backing off its nuclear nonproliferation plans and calls on Congress to restore at least $100 million in nonproliferation cuts in Fiscal Year 2015. The report, “Cutting Too Deep: The Obama Administration’s Proposals for Nuclear Security Spending Reductions,” […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 USEC’s contract with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to continue work on the American Centrifuge Project has been formally extended through March of next year as the lab this week exercised a $41.6 million six-month option to fund the program. The extension, revealed in a July 31 filing with the Securities […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 A federal judge this week denied a request from the uranium conversion services ConverDyn for a preliminary injunction to prevent the Department of Energy from moving forward with planned transfers of excess uranium while a lawsuit the company has filed against DOE is pending. ConverDyn was unable to show that […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 The second anniversary of the July 28, 2012, security breach that radically transformed the Y-12 National Security Complex and had an impact on security throughout the government enterprise passed this week, and the three perpetrators—self-named the Transform Now Plowshares—issued a statement defending their actions and calling on followers to not […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 With no explanation, the Department of Energy abruptly changed the management of the DOE Berkley Site Office late last week. Paul Golan was named acting director, replacing Aundra Richards, who had headed up the Berkley Site Office since 2005. Golan also continues to serve as Director of the DOE SLAC […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 The delivery of key nuclear detonation sensor equipment for use on Air Force satellites has been jeopardized by poor project management at Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office report released this week. The National Nuclear Security Administration was tasked with producing […]

NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board Member Joseph Bader passed away this week at the age of 75. Bader had served on the DNFSB since 2004, and previously held executive and senior management positions at several companies, including Hill International, Inc., Fluor Daniel, Inc., Urenco, Inc., Exxon Nuclear and Westinghouse Electric Corporation. In […]

Senior Analyst Alleges Retaliation in Firing Over Publication of Nuclear Abolition Article NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 A senior nonproliferation analyst at Los Alamos National Laboratory says he was fired by the lab in retaliation for a report that aligns with President Obama’s nuclear policies but ran afoul of laboratory officials, according to a report by the […]

DNFSB Reveals Concerns About Maintaining Y-12 Uranium Facilities NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration has so far refused to release a copy of the annual assessment of Y-12’s old production facilities, but a recently released memo by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board revealed some highlights—as well as the concerns about […]

NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 IN CONGRESS The Senate is continuing to slowly confirm the Obama Administration’s nuclear nominees, clearing Brian McKeon as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy this week. He was confirmed by voice vote. McKeon, who was nominated to the position in January, had his nomination held up over GOP concerns […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 In comments that appear to signal a softening against the battered Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility under construction at the Savannah River Site, Deputy Secretary of Energy nominee Liz Sherwood-Randall this week called MOX the Obama Administration’s “preferred solution” for plutonium disposition before squarely placing the onus for funding the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 Senate appropriators fully funded the Obama Administration’s $643 million Fiscal Year 2015 request for refurbishment work on the B61 bomb, but according to documents finally released by the panel this week, it appears they did so grudgingly, and with considerable reservations. Led by Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair […]

Deputy Energy Secretary Nominee Faces Long Road After Senate Energy Hearing Todd Jacobson and Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 Madelyn Creedon was confirmed by the Senate this week as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Principal Deputy Administrator, giving the agency a full complement of Senate-confirmed officials for the first time in nearly 20 months. Creedon, […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 With new Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security in place, the Uranium Processing Facility is revamping its management structure and bringing in a senior project management official from Los Alamos National Laboratory to serve as deputy project director. Project Director Brian Reilly said in a recent message to the UPF project […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 A federal judge has schedule a hearing for next week on a request by the uranium conversion services company ConverDyn for a temporary injunction to block the Department of Energy’s planned transfers of excess uranium. With DOE currently scheduled to conduct its next transfer at the end of this month, […]

Sen. Graham, Gov. Haley also Expected to Join Tour of Site Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz will make a trip to the Savannah River Site on Monday, touring the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility among other projects at the site. Moniz and Klotz […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Acquisition and Project Management has selected three teams to provide project management support services, including teams led by two incumbent contractors. NS&D Monitor has learned that teams led by incumbents TechSource and Longenecker & Associates as well as relative newcomer MOCA Systems, a Newton, […]

Department to Extend Credit Monitoring Service for Another Year Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 Approximately a year after a significant cyber security breach at the Department of Energy put the personal information of thousands of people at risk, there have been no signs of misuse of data, according to the Department. The breach, which occurred […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has signed off on a new nuclear cooperation agreement with Vietnam, but the addition of several policy provisions added by Senate Democrats are unlikely to find support in the House. The Senate committee this week approved the pact in legislation that is largely based on […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration’s three nuclear weapons laboratories garnered nine 2013 R&D 100 Awards handed out by R&D Magazine, led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which was selected for four awards. Known as the “Oscars of Innovation,” the awards have been given out since 1963 for the best technological […]

Security Guards Reach Settlement With Former Site Security Contractor NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 More than 350 Oak Ridge security guards will receive back pay for overtime as a result of a settlement in their 2012 federal lawsuit against G4S Government Solutions, the government’s former security contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and Oak Ridge National […]

NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 Y-12’s Procurement Operations were recently recognized by the NNSA for achieving the highest savings rate across the weapons complex in 2013. Y-12 was able to achieve a 6.51 percent savings rate on its total strategic spending, according to the NNSA’s Supply Chain Management Center. The NNSA also said that Y-12 was embarking […]

Klotz Completes Lab Visit, Touring Additive Manufacturing, High Explosives Application Facility NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 New National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz continued his tour of the weapons complex, visiting Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory this week. Klotz’s two-day visit included updates on various programs such as national security, high energy density physics, cyber security, and […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Babcock & Wilcox has entered the fray in ConverDyn’s lawsuit against the Department of Energy’s uranium transfers, arguing that stopping transfers scheduled to occur this month would cause significant harm to its downblending business as well as U.S. national security and nonproliferation goals. B&W subsidiary Nuclear Fuel Services is the […]

Temporary Fencing at Y-12 Entrance Still Drawing Questions NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Fifteen months after a “temporary” security fence was erected to block an area near the entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex, the temporary structure is still in place and apparently will remain so for the foreseeable future. The fence was constructed along the […]