Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Bechtel said this week that it is establishing a program aimed at developing cyber security experts in conjunction with the two nuclear weapons laboratories it runs. Early-career professionals will rotate through Bechtel headquarters and Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories during the three-year program, which is designed to provide […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Reforms that have helped cut costs and streamline operations at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City Plant may not be widely applicable elsewhere across the weapons complex, according to a Government Accountability Office report released this week that summarizes previous studies of the Kansas City Plant model. The model, […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Figuring out what is wrong with the National Nuclear Security Administration may have been the easy part for the Congressional advisory panel on governance of the nuclear enterprise, but coming up with recommendations on how to fix the agency is proving to be a little more difficult. The 12-member advisory […]

Experts Urge U.S. Not to Withdraw From Treaty Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Frustrated with delays by the Obama Administration in taking action on potential Russian violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, two key Republicans this week urged the Administration to confront Moscow about the issue. In a July 17 letter to Secretary of […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 In a move that could have a significant impact for the Department of Energy marketplace, AECOM Technology Corp. is looking to purchase URS in a deal worth approximately $6 billion. The purchase, announced early this week, would involve AECOM acquiring all outstanding URS shares for $4 billion and assuming about […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Los Alamos National Laboratory’s nuclear criticality safety program is improving but remains “inadequate,” according to a Department of Energy report submitted to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board late last week. Operations at the lab’s Plutonium Facility have been paused since June of last year because of criticality safety concerns—the […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason, who headed the Red Team that reviewed the uranium operations at the Y-12 National Security Complex and recommended an alternative strategy to the Uranium Processing Facility, had a positive response to the NNSA’s creation of a uranium program manager. NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has closed a 2004 recommendation that called on the Department of Energy to strengthen active confinement ventilation systems at National Nuclear Security Administration and Office of Environmental Management sites. When it first drafted the recommendation, the Board was concerned that DOE was relying on […]

NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 IN CONGRESS The Senate confirmed career foreign service officer Robert Wood by voice vote July 15 as the United States’ Representative to the Conference on Disarmament. Wood’s confirmation came nearly seven months after he was first nominated to the position. Wood has been serving as the top U.S. official at the CD […]

Includes $8.2B for NNSA Weapons Program Martin Schneider NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 The House approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act this week, providing $8.2 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program, a cut of $111 million from the Obama Administration’s budget request. The House bill also provides […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 The White House announced this week plans to nominate Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall from the National Security Council to serve as the next Deputy Secretary of Energy. Randall currently serves as Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control. If […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 Pushing back against an effort by ConverDyn to stop the Department of Energy’s uranium transfers, DOE this week told a court that suspending the transfers would force it to halt the highly enriched uranium downblend program and cleanup work at Portsmouth. Last month uranium conversion company ConverDyn filed in federal […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 As a new controversial civilian nuclear deal with Vietnam sits before Congress, some members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week voiced opposition to the agreement. The Obama Administration sent the Vietnam deal to Congress in May, where it must sit for 90 consecutive legislative days before entering into […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 Obama Administration officials emphasized the importance of innovations and new technologies in stockpile stewardship and nonproliferation at a State Department conference held in Washington this week. National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz stressed that the national laboratories play a key role in developing those technologies, speaking at the fifth […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a network of activist, advocacy and watchdog organizations at sites around the nuclear weapons complex, is calling on the National Nuclear Security Administration to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and do another site-wide Environmental Impact Statement for the Y-12 National Security Complex. The […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration has entered into a contract arrangement with Cray to develop a new supercomputer to aid the NNSA’s stockpile stewardship activities. ‘Trinity,’ as the new supercomputer will be called, is scheduled for delivery beginning mid-2015 and will have “at least eight times greater applications performance” than […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration created a new position of Uranium Program Manager this week to oversee all efforts to maintain the agency’s uranium manufacturing capabilities. Tim Driscoll from NNSA’s Office of Defense Programs has been named to fill the new position, which “will be responsible for overseeing all program […]

NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 Los Alamos Amends Pro Force Work Expressions of Interest Los Alamos National Laboratory has dropped a requirement in its request for expressions of interest for its Protective Force Services subcontract relating to source selection criteria to have provided protection for a Category One Special Nuclear Material facility, according to a posting this […]

NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Mark Baca, a former official at the National Nuclear Security Administration, has joined the consulting firm Longenecker & Associates as a senior associate. Prior to retiring from the NNSA in 2009, Baca served as the Associate Director of the Office of Technical Services at the NNSA Service Center, according […]

NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 NNSA Administrator Klotz Visits Site, Helps With Move New National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz made his first visit to the Kansas City Plant this week, and personally helped to complete the NNSA’s move to a new nearby facility. During his visit, Klotz packed the last crate at the Bannister Federal […]

NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 Spallation Neutron Source Achieves Designed Beam Power The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has achieved its designed beam power of 1.4 megawatts eight years after construction was completed and operations began,. The milestone took place on June 26, shortly before shutdown for the summer maintenance period, but the plan […]

SRNS Working to Establish New Capability to Downblend Plutonium for WIPP Disposal NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 In order to continue downblending surplus plutonium for disposition, the Department of Energy is establishing a new capability in the Savannah River Site’s K-Area that is slated for completion next year.  The new plant would follow an initial round of […]

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Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC,  formally took over management of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 and Pantex production plants this week, and while the workforce at both sites had already undergone trimming during CNS’ four-month transition period, President Jim Haynes said this week that additional reductions could come in […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 More than six months after an investigation into operations at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board began and then had to be curtailed, it’s unclear whether that investigation has picked up again. The Postal Service Inspector General began an investigation in December into concerns about whether DNFSB Chairman Peter Winokur […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration will not punish new Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security for several major changes involving key personnel, NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart said this week. In an interview with NS&D Monitor, Erhart said two early departures of key personnel and a key transfer of another […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 Nine Department of Energy nominees remain in a sort of limbo with the Senate confirmation process gridlocked, and with Republicans still smarting over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s use of the nuclear option last year and the mid-term elections looming, there’s likely no relief in sight. The list of unconfirmed […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 Los Alamos National Laboratory has resumed about two-thirds of work at its Plutonium Facility after operations were shut down a year ago due to criticality safety and conduct of operations issues, a senior laboratory official said this week, but there is no clear timetable for a full resumption of activities. […]