The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation Office led a U.S. delegation at the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence’s Nuclear Forensics User Group Annual Plenary, the agency said Dec. 15.
NFUG involves scientists of U.S. national laboratories, the Pentagon, the DOE, the State Department and the UK counterparts of each agency. Its goal is to prevent or deter nuclear proliferation by “leveraging the nuclear forensics expertise of both nations.” Scientists at the Plenary gave presentations that spanned nuclear materials analysis, conventional forensics on components in an improvised nuclear device.
“By pursuing comparable forensic analytic techniques, U.S. and UK experts provide senior decisionmakers with scientific and credible information to underpin joint statements attributing any malicious use of nuclear material and pave the way for a unified response,” U.S. NFUG Co-Chair Alison Goodsell said in NNSA’s press release.
Two senior Democrats in the House of Representatives, one in Maryland and one in California, have announced plans to retire once their current term is up.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the member of House Democratic leadership who has served in Congress for 45 years, announced this week he would not seek re-election.
Meanwhile, Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), will not seek re-election in 2026. Brownley, who represents Ventura County, including the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and its Department of Energy cleanup area, has been in Congress for seven terms.
Obituary
Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) died early Tuesday at age 65 after a medical emergency Monday night caused him to go into emergency surgery, Butte County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The sheriff’s office said LaMalfa died during the medical procedure, but the office is conducting an investigation to determine the cause of death. LaMalfa’s death shrinks the already thin Republican majority in the House, with the advantage now at 218-213 with four vacancies. This means House speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) can only afford two deflections on party-line votes if all members are present.
LaMalfa had spoken out in the past in favor of licensing new nuclear reactors, and has said nuclear power is “one of the best choices for renewable energy we have.” He voted on measures in 2015 to give Congress the opportunity to vote on a final deal regarding Iran’s nuclear weapons program. As chairman of the Western Caucus, a congressional organization advocating for Western U.S. rural policy issues, LaMalfa was in favor of the most recent House energy and water appropriations bill draft passed on the House floor. “By prioritizing our nation’s nuclear and geothermal industries, we are promoting the delivery of cheaper, and more reliable power to every household and business,” he said.