Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 5/2/2014 It appears that there could be competition for the Brookhaven National Laboratory contract after all. Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) has kept a low profile during the BNL procurement, but industry officials say the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility contractor is strongly considering a bid for the contract. Brookhaven Science […]

NS&D Monitor 5/2/2014 New National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz will take his first tour of the weapons complex as the agency’s administrator next week, making stops at the Nevada National Security Site, the agency’s Albuquerque Complex, Sandia National Laboratories, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, NNSA spokesman Josh McConaha said this week. At Sandia, […]

Paul Donahue CEO, G4S Government Solutions Since taking over as CEO of WSI (G4S Government Solutions, Inc.) months before the Y-12 intrusion in July of 2012, it’s no surprise I’ve found it necessary to revisit, refocus and refine core security and oversight practices that did not adequately facilitate at Y-12 independence of thought and effective […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 5/2/2014 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory official Kim Budil is taking over as the University of California’s Vice President for Laboratory Management, University of California President Janet Napolitano said this week. Budil takes over for Glenn Mara, who announced his retirement last year and stepped down April 30. In her new role, […]

NS&D Monitor 5/2/2014 Y-12 UNION APPROVES ONE-YEAR EXTENSION Y-12’s union workers approved a one-year extension of the existing collective bargaining agreement on May 1, setting the stage for the transition of contractors at the Oak Ridge plant. “We’re glad to have this behind us,” Jones said. The extension includes a 2.5 percent wage increase and […]

NS&D Monitor 5/2/2014 IN THE DNFSB House lawmakers are looking to lower the maximum number of employees the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board can have by 20 percent. A provision in the House version of the FY 2015 defense authorization bill, which was reported out of subcommittee this week, would limit the number of full-time […]

NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 IN DOE The Department of Energy has amended the Brookhaven National Laboratory Request for Proposals, stripping language that would have required companies to establish a new entity to bid on the contract. The RFP previously required that a new legal entity be created for procurement, but in a pre-proposal conference presentation last […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 The Department of Energy’s directives revision process is “too cumbersome” and creates confusion, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chairman Peter Winokur said in a letter earlier this month to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. In his April 4 letter, which was recently made public, Winokur urged Moniz to review the directives […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 The Department of Energy could potentially save more than $2.3 million over the next three years by increasing efficiency  in acquisition and management of mobile devices such as phones, tablets and air cards, according to a DOE Inspector General report released this week. The IG’s review covered 10 sites in […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 When the actual job reduction targets for voluntary layoff programs at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants were revealed late this week, the proposed numbers weren’t as high as some expected. B&W Y-12 said it planned to eliminate about 140 positions at the Oak Ridge plant, with about 1,100 […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 With the transition of contractors at Y-12 and Pantex about a third of the way through, Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security President and CEO Jim Haynes has opened up more about plans and impacts and discussed some of the difficulties in what he’s termed the “mother of all transitions.” Haynes noted […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 In a new 23-page follow-up to a 2010 report that raised concerns about lagging development and validation of technologies planned for the multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility, the Government Accountability Office has identified some additional risks associated with the technology efforts. The GAO, at the request of Congress, is providing regular […]

Total Value of Proposed Contract Could Reach Approx. $120 Million Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014   In a new effort to continue to fund the American Centrifuge project, USEC is looking to serve as a subcontractor to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, though the Department of Energy has yet to give its approval. The proposed subcontract, […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 After surveying its ICBM force as part of a widespread force improvement program, the Air Force is turning its eyes to its bomber wings. Lt. Col. John Sheets, director of Public Affairs at Air Force Global Strike Command, confirmed this week that the service’s bomber wings would take part in […]

Reichert Replaces Dan Glenn, Who Was Bid by CNS But Was Subject of B&W Lawsuit Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security has replaced Dan Glenn as the operations manager of the Pantex Plant with another former Babcock & Wilcox official, revealing this week that Michelle Reichert would head up operations at Pantex […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 The Red Team that analyzed alternatives to the Uranium Processing Facility planned for the Y-12 National Security Complex also weighed in on management of the multi-billion-dollar facility, and NS&D Monitor has learned that the team recommended a major management change for the project. The recommendations of the team, led by […]

Push Continues for MOX Construction NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 As South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) this week hailed a lawsuit the state has filed opposing the proposed suspension of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, members of the state’s Congressional delegation took credit for avoiding 1,000 layoffs at the site. The state filed suit last […]

Y-12 Union Tentatively Agrees to One-Year Extension NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 The collective bargaining agreement between the Atomic Trades and Labor Council and B&W Y-12 is expected to be extended for one year after the union announced a “tentative” agreement on the extension this week. The ATLC agreement at Y-12 runs out June 22, and with […]

Plant Recognized for Safety Performance NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 Kansas City Plant contractor Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies has gone 5 million hours without a lost workday injury  and was recently recognized by the National Safety Council for going 12 months without an occupational injury or illness that resulted in a day away from work. The […]

DOE Warns Plant on Nuclear Safety Issues NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 A series of recent nuclear safety issues at the Pantex Plant are drawing concern from the Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and Security. The HSS Office of Enforcement and Oversight recently issued an enforcement letter to contractor B&W Pantex, and while HSS declined […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/18/2014 Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz was sworn in as the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration late this week, formally taking over as the agency’s fourth full-time leader. Klotz’s nomination was stalled in the Senate for more than eight months, but he was confirmed by the Senate […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/18/2014 CRANE NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER, Ind.—With the defense budget continuing to tighten, the Navy and Air Force must expand their cooperation on the nation’s fleet of delivery vehicles, senior officials at a Strategic Deterrence Conference here said this week, with Navy Vice Adm. Terry Benedict advocating an “intelligent commonality” approach […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/18/2014   With about two months left before proposals are due for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science Brookhaven National Laboratory procurement, no clear-cut competitor to incumbent Brookhaven Science Associates has emerged and industry officials are questioning whether that will happen at all. Brookhaven is the first Office of Science […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/18/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration unveiled its Fiscal Year 2015 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan late last week, revealing updated costs figures for the agency’s rebalanced “3+2” warhead modernization strategy. The NNSA delayed work on the first interoperable warhead, cruise missile warhead and the First Production Units for the B61 […]

From staff reports NS&D Monitor 4/18/2014 As Consolidated Nuclear Security moves a third of the way into its transition as the management and operating contractor at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants, the Bechtel-led team is revealing more of its employment plans to employees, introducing additional members of its leadership team and giving some […]

One-year Extension of Y-12 Labor Agreement Expected It appears that a one-year extension of the labor agreement at the Y-12 National Security Complex may be close at hand. Consolidated Nuclear Security, the incoming contractor now in transition at Y-12 and Pantex, has given its approval for a limited extension of the current agreement with the […]

B61-12 Undergoes Successful Wind Tunnel Test The National Nuclear Security Administration’s B61-12 life extension program has reached another milestone as officials at Sandia National Laboratories successfully conducted the first wind tunnel test of the refurbished nuclear bomb. The eight days of testing at the largest wind tunnel that could accommodate the warhead, the Air Force’s […]

DOE Puts out RFP for Extreme Scale Supercomputing R&D The Department of Energy’s Office of Science and National Nuclear Security Administration are offering up another funding opportunity for research into extreme scale supercomputer technology. The agencies issued a joint Request for Proposals this week for contracts that could total approximately $100 million. Proposals under the […]

From staff reports NS&D Monitor 4/18/2014 Bruce Held, the former acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, received the report from a Red Team assembled to look at alternatives to the Uranium Processing Facility this week, but it’s not clear when—or if—the partially classified report will be released or how the NNSA plans to […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 4/18/2014 While a Department of Energy program supporting USEC’s American Centrifuge technology had been set to expire this week, some savings have allowed USEC and DOE to undertake a “no-cost” extension of the program until the end of the month. The extension will allow details to be worked out for current […]