Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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. […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 USEC’s stock share price saw a rapid rise this week, quadrupling on the heels of notice of additional $2.5 million in funding for American Centrifuge, though the program still only has enough money for about another week. USEC’s share price stood at about $11 at the July 2 market close, […]

NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 Y-12 Oxide Conversion Facility Runs for First Time in More Than a Year For the first time in more than a year, the problem-plagued Oxide Conversion Facility has been successfully operated at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge. Y-12 spokeswoman Ellen Boatner said the restart occurred last week, but she […]

Laboratory, Laid Off Employees to Appeal Age Discrimination Trial Verdicts NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 The ongoing battle over a 2008 layoff of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employees isn’t likely to be over any time soon. A group of workers split a pair of legal decisions with the lab over the last two years centering on breach […]

NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 IN THE AIR FORCE As part of a push to improve its nuclear mission, Air Force Global Strike Command has established an assistant director of operations at its missile squadrons in an effort to foster better communication between young airmen and senior leaders. The position is part of a Force Improvement Program […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/27/2014 Sandia National Laboratories is transferring a chunk of its production mission to the Kansas City Plant in a move officials say could save $3 million over the next five years. Chris Gentile, the president of Kansas City Plant contractor Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, and Sandia National Laboratories Director Paul […]

New Y-12/Px Contractor Says Retirement Due to ‘Family Medical Situation’ Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/27/2014 Bechtel executive Jim Allen, who was bid to be the chief operating officer for Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security, is retiring and will not assume his role as the No. 2 official for the new contractor. CNS spokesman Jason Bohne […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 6/27/2014 Incoming Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security has confirmed that it’s considering moving part of the Uranium Processing Facility’s design work to Bechtel’s Government Services home base in Reston, Va., but a spokesman said it’s not a done deal and emphasized that it won’t involve a large-scale relocation of work now […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 6/27/2014 The Department of Energy officially asked Congressional appropriators this week to reprogram about $33 million in National Nuclear Security Administration funds to support the American Centrifuge Project through the remainder of the fiscal year.  USEC is currently continuing work on the American Centrifuge Project under an 18-month subcontract with Oak […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/27/2014 House lawmakers are expected to take up the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act after taking a break for the Independence Day recess, though the prospects for completing the bill have been thrown into turmoil with the Senate version of the bill stalled. The bill, which funds the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/27/2014 The Air Force is set to begin briefing leadership on the results of its analysis of alternatives for replacing the current fleet of Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles, Global Strike Command chief Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson said this week. The analysis covers a variety of options for the new “Ground-Based […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/27/2014 Raising questions about how much the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management supports National Nuclear Security Administration missions, the House Appropriations Committee last week directed $21.3 million in funding for nonproliferation work in Russia to go toward spent foreign fuel work at the Savannah River Site and the Idaho […]

ORNL’s Titan Supercomputer Retains No. 2 Spot on World TOP500 List NS&D Monitor 6/27/2014 Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Titan supercomputer, a Cray XK7 system with a hybrid architecture, is still America’s most powerful computer, and has retained its No. 2 position on the TOP500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers. The new list released this […]

NS&D Monitor 6/27/2014 In Congress Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the former chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee and an advocate of National Nuclear Security Administration reform efforts, announced late last week that he will seek to become chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The current chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa […]

In Separate Hearings, Haney, NNSA Officials Also Fear Impact of Sequestration’s Return Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Even in a tight budgetary environment, the United States can “ill afford” to not modernize its nuclear deterrent, the head of United States Strategic Command told the House Armed Services Committee this week. Adm. Cecil Haney made his first […]

Held Tells Congress ‘Common Sense’ Approach to Uranium, Plutonium Capabilities Will Be Quicker, Cheaper Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 After years of moving toward building massive facilities to modernize its uranium and plutonium capabilities, a scaled back approach to modernizing the weapons complex that is expected to be quicker and cheaper has been adopted by the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Echoing preliminary findings by the Congressionally appointed advisory panel on National Nuclear Security Administration governance, acting NNSA Administrator Bruce Held this week told a House subcommittee that the agency’s approach to governance had failed. Held’s comments followed testimony last week from the co-chairmen of the advisory panel, Norm Augustine and […]

Kenneth Fletcher and Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Criticism of the Department of Energy’s plans to suspend work at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project mounted on Capitol Hill this week when lawmakers squared off with DOE officials at several hearings. Longtime MOX supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) led the charge in the Senate, […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Consolidated Nuclear Security, the incoming contractor at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons facilities, continues to gradually introduce its leadership team and its management plans through a series of messages to employees at the sites. Last weekend, CNS—a partnership led by Bechtel and including Lockheed Martin, ATK Launch Systems and […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Red Team has reached a “strong consensus” on an alternative plan to the Uranium Processing Facility, according to Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason, the team leader. Mason said the Red Team made its second on-site visit to the Y-12 National Security Complex last […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Over the last six months, the United States has reduced the size of its strategic deployed nuclear stockpile by 103 warheads, while Russia has increased the size of its stockpile, according to the latest New START Treaty data released by the State Department this week. The April 1 declaration reveals […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has stoked tensions between Washington and Moscow, and the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee said this week that it raised serious questions about Ukraine’s 20-year-old decision to give up its nuclear weapons as well. “The Ukraine was the third […]

Positions Created as Part of Reorg. Of Safety, Security Functions Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The Department of Energy has moved to fill a set of new Chief Security Officer positions created as part of reorganization of the Department’s health, safety and security functions, according to a message sent to employees late last week. Michael Lempke […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 The Department of Energy is looking to make changes to its human capital and IT services that could result in a greater consolidation from the field to DOE headquarters. Among the proposals under consideration, according to officials familiar with the discussions, is the shift of some human capital functions from […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/04/2014 Operations at a Sandia National Laboratories explosives testing facility remain shut down after a worker was burned in December when an experiment malfunctioned, a lab spokesman said late last week. The Dec. 11 incident at the lab’s Site 9920 left a worker with burns to his hand when a detonator […]