Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 3/28/2014 A set of self-assessments of safety conscious work environment (SCWE) performed by Department of Energy sites and contractors suffered from several weaknesses that may reduce their overall usefulness, according to a report released last week. The DOE Office of Health, Safety and Security performed an evaluation of the self-assessments and […]

TEST FACILITIES REVITALIZATION PROJECT WRAPPED UP NS&D Monitor 3/28/2014 A $48.7 million project to revitalize Sandia National Laboratories’ testing facilities was completed earlier this month, $4 million under its original budget. The Test Capabilities Revitalization Phase 2 project upgraded the lab’s 10,000-foot sled track as well as its mechanical shock, centrifuge, aerosciences, and vibro-acoustic and […]

STUDY GROUP FORMALLY DROPS CMRR-NF LAWSUIT NS&D Monitor 3/28/2014 The Los Alamos Study Group, which sued the National Nuclear Security Administration in 2010 and 2011 to halt work on the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility, has officially dropped its lawsuit now that the NNSA has dropped its plans for the multi-billion-dollar facility. In its […]

REGALBUTO ADDED TO Y-12 UPF RED TEAM NS&D Monitor 3/28/2014 Monica Regalbuto may have a long wait to be confirmed by the Senate as the Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, but she’s filling part of the time on the Red Team examining alternatives to the Uranium Processing Facility planned for the Y-12 […]

STILL NO WORD ON MOX COLD STANDBY NS&D Monitor 3/28/2014 More than three weeks after the Obama Administration announced plans to immediately place the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in a ‘cold standby’ mode, the project’s contractor is still continuing work as normal without any direction on how to proceed. Construction contractor Shaw AREVA MOX […]

NS&D Monitor 3/28/2014 IN CONGRESS A Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing scheduled for this week was postponed and is likely to be rescheduled for early April. Acting National Nuclear Security Administration chief Bruce Held was scheduled to testify at the hearing March 26 alongside NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Don Cook, Naval […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 After three protests and more than 14 months, Babcock & Wilcox-led Nuclear Production Partners (NP2) is giving up its fight for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12/Pantex contract, the company said this week. NP2 three times protested the NNSA’s selection of Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security for the $22.8 billion contract, […]

Martin Schneider CEO ExchangeMonitor Publications 3/21/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration this week announced plans to extend the management contract for Sandia National Laboratories for another two years, with an option for a third year. Makes sense, right? After just finishing the seven-year odyssey that became the Y-12/Pantex contract competition, a two-year extension will give […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration at long last is moving to compete the Sandia National Laboratories management and operating contract, announcing this week that it is extending Lockheed Martin’s contract to run the lab for two years (with an option for a third) while it prepares to open up the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 Funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program is projected to continue to grow over the next five years, reaching nearly $10 billion by Fiscal Year 2019, according to the Obama Administration’s detailed budget justification for the agency that was released over the weekend. The Administration requested $8.3 billion […]

No Direction to Project Yet on Shutdown Work Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 In an effort to halt the planned suspension of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, the state of South Carolina this week filed suit against the Department of Energy over its decision to put the project into a “cold standby” mode. In […]

URENCO USA Says Significant Inventory On Hand Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 While the Nuclear Energy Institute is warning lawmakers of the potential impacts of sanctions under consideration on Russian low enriched uranium, URENCO USA says there is significant inventory on hand. The White House is considering including LEU among sanctions against Russia, and this […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 A significant slowdown in warhead dismantlement activities is planned for Fiscal Year 2015, according to budget documents released this week. The documents show a steep reduction in spending for dismantlement, with the money apparently being shifted to other programs in the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Directed Stockpile Work. As proposed, […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 Los Alamos National Laboratory is expected to wrap up work in the coming weeks on a troubled project to upgrade security at its Technical Area-55, and though the project has been delayed several months by technical problems, the lab is expecting to remain just under the project’s $244.2 million cost […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Science is adding award-term incentives to the Brookhaven National Laboratory management and operating contract but is also slightly decreasing the available fee for the contract, according to a Request for Proposals released this week. The RFP includes a five-year base contract and the opportunity […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 Shareholders have been able to convince two major contractors in the Department of Energy marketplace—URS and Babcock & Wilcox—to make changes to their boards of directors. This week, URS announced that it has reached an agreement with shareholder JANA Partners, LLC, which owns slightly less than 10 percent of the […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 A four-year effort to secure vulnerable nuclear material around the world failed to provide effective security for the world’s most at-risk nuclear materials, according to a report released yesterday by Harvard’s Belfer Center. The report, “Advancing Nuclear Security: Evaluating Progress and Setting New Goals,” comes on the eve of next […]

NS&D Monitor 3/31/2014   The following is adapted from Dr. Harvey’s October remarks to the Congressional Advisory Panel on NNSA Governance. Dr. Harvey updated his presentation for NS&D Monitor this week. The draft recommendations from the Panel are expected to be released next week. I am pleased to offer a perspective on the issues facing […]

THIRD AGE DISCRIMINATION TRIAL MOVES FORWARD NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 An age discrimination lawsuit involving ten former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employees is moving forward in a Northern California court. The trial is the third involving a group of 130 employees that were laid off from the lab in 2008, and involves scientists and engineers from […]

Y-12 EMERGENCY OPS CENTER PROPOSED IN BUDGET NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 According to detailed budget documents released this week, the National Nuclear Security Administration plans to begin design of a new Emergency Operations Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex, as well as new facilities at Sandia and Lawrence Livermore National Labs. There appears to be […]

NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 IN DOE The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has made its 18 selections to a Congressionally mandated Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories, and now it’s up to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to whittle that list down to nine. Moniz has until May 1 to […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/14/2014 In a twist befitting the National Nuclear Security Administration’s topsy-turvy Y-12/Pantex procurement, the latest protest by B&W-led Nuclear Production Partners (NP2) had the company stressing its weaknesses and the NNSA citing the “significant benefit” of NP2’s proposed cost savings, had the agency picked NP2 instead of Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 3/14/2014 As South Carolina considers potential legal action to fight the planned suspension of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, officials are pushing the Obama Administration on how it plans to fulfill its surplus plutonium disposition commitment. Due to cost increases, last week the National Nuclear Security Administration announced that it […]

Response to Sanctions Over Ukraine Would be ‘Serious Development,’ But U.S. Hasn’t Formally Heard Threat Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/14/2014 Russia has not directly told the United States that it could halt U.S. arms control inspections in response to sanctions over a disagreement about Ukraine, senior Obama Administration officials said this week. According to Russian […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/14/2014 A pair of Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee are accusing Pentagon policy nominee Brian McKeon of providing “misleading” answers to questions about Senate notification of potential Russian violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty during debate on the New START Treaty in 2010. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/14/2014 The President’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget released last week proposes terminating $10 million in Department of Energy Office of Science funding for the Lujan Neutron Scattering Center at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which has lab officials concerned for the future of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. The Lujan Neutron […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 3/14/2014 The NNSA’s Red Team investigating alternatives to the Uranium Processing Facility spent a whirlwind three and a half days this week at Y-12, getting briefings and an up-close look at the Oak Ridge plant’s uranium operations, and then adjourned to Oak Ridge National Laboratory a few miles away for discussions […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 3/14/2014 A senior White House official this week continued to defend the Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request for threat reduction and nonproliferation work, suggesting that the request was adequate to meet President Obama’s nuclear security goals. Requested funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nonproliferation account dipped in FY […]