NS&D Monitor
2/28/2014
IN CONGRESS
Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.) announced late this week that he will not seek re-election this November. Pastor is a member of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, among other Congressional roles. “After 23 years in Congress serving the people of Arizona, I have decided that I will not seek re-election this year. It has been a great honor and experience, but it is time for me to close this chapter of my life and start a new one,” Pastor said in a post on his Facebook page.
Strategic Command chief Adm. Cecil Haney will appear before the House Armed Services Committee for the first time next week. Haney will testify before the committee alongside Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Locklear at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Room 2118 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Haney’s appearance before the committee will come on the same day that President Obama is expected to submit top-line Fiscal Year 2015 budget numbers to Congress. The Capitol Hill appearance will be Haney’s second since taking over as the head of Strategic Command late last year. Haney appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee Feb. 27.
IN THE INDUSTRY
Carol Johnson has joined the strategic advisory board of the consulting firm Longenecker & Associates. Johnson previously served as President of Washington Closure Hanford until her retirement from URS at the end of last year. “Carol has a proven track record in improving organizations to make them successful, and has experience throughout the DOE complex. She will be a valuable asset to our team in planning and implementing our future strategy for both government and commercial markets,” L&A President John Longenecker said in a release issued this week.
Babcock & Wilcox’s Nuclear Operations Group has been awarded a Naval Reactors contract that could be worth up to $1.3 billion over the next three years, the company said this week. B&W received an initial $508 million order for nuclear components that are used to manufacture nuclear power systems for Navy submarines and aircraft carriers, and future options in Fiscal Year 2014 through FY 2016 could bring in additional work under the contract, B&W said. “We are very pleased with this contract and the opportunity it affords B&W to continue to support our country, our customer, our employees and our shareholders,” B&W Nuclear Operations Group President Peyton Baker said in a statement. “The reliability of our nuclear products will again be called on to help ensure that our Navy can successfully meet its missions.”
ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT
President Obama this week approved a new civil nuclear agreement with Vietnam that has raised questions because of a lack of legally binding restrictions on enrichment and reprocessing. The agreement with Vietnam, finalized last October, has instead a non-binding commitment from Vietnam to rely on existing fuel services rather than developing its own sensitive nuclear technologies. “I have determined that the performance of the Agreement will promote, and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to, the common defense and security,” states a Feb. 24 presidential determination. It adds, “I hereby approve the proposed Agreement and authorize the Secretary of State to arrange for its execution.” The deal must still sit before Congress for 90 legislative days before entering into force.
