NS&D Monitor
9/26/2014
IN THE NNSA
The National Nuclear Security Administration recently completed an important test of the new joint Air Force and Navy radar in the W88 ALT 370, the agency said this week. The W88 ALT 370 will replace the arming, fuzing and firing assembly on the W88-0/Mk 5 warhead, and the Critical Radar Arming and Fuzing Test represented the first of several flight tests scheduled to measure the performance of the warhead during hypersonic atmospheric reentry. The NNSA said the data provided by the test met all flight test objectives. “The CRAFT test marks a significant achievement for the W88 ALT 370 in certification of a safe, secure, and effective stockpile without the necessity to perform underground nuclear explosive testing,” NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Don Cook said in a statement. “As the first flight test of the program, CRAFT is instrumental in qualification of the Arming and Fuzing radar module in joint development with the Air Force and Navy.” Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Kansas City Plant and the Pantex Plant helped with the test, and the early prototype arming, fuzing and firing device designed for the test contained components designed and produced by Sandia National Laboratories’ Arming and Fuzing Systems Group. Sandia’s Telemetry and Stockpile Support Department also designed the telemetry system that transmitted data from the flight test back to receiving stations on earth.
IN THE DNFSB
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will hear from Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and other senior DOE officials on the topic of safety culture at a meeting scheduled to be held Oct. 7. The meeting will be the third in series of five meetings the Board plans to hold on the topic of safety culture across the DOE complex. At the Oct. 7 meeting, Moniz is expected to discuss “his vision for establishing a strong safety culture in DOE,” according to a notice published late this week in the Federal Register. Also set to appear at the meeting is National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz, who will discuss “concerns identified in NNSA safety culture assessments and present his approaches to address those concerns”; and Deputy Under Secretary for Management and Performance David Klaus, who will discuss “concerns identified in DOE safety culture assessments and his approaches to address those concerns,” the notice says.
IN THE INDUSTRY
The Air Force has awarded Boeing a $4.9 million contract to refurbish and replace an integral unit for the testing of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile guidance systems, according to a Sept. 22 company release. Boeing will develop and renew the Guidance Data Acquisition System (GDAS) associated with the missiles’ NS50 guidance computer, which is based on a 16-bit high-speed microprocesssor. Originally developed in the 1990s, the overall architecture of the current GDAS has become unsupportable, Boeing spokesperson Queena Jones said in a Sept. 25 email to NS&D Monitor. Boeing has served as the primary contractor for operation and maintenance of Little Mountain Test Facility—where the GDAS will be tested—at Hill Air Force Base since 2007. The contract was awarded on May 22, 2014, and Jones said work will continue through March 31, 2016. Boeing is currently developing and designing new software and hardware; the hardware will be completed in the summer of 2015. Software design, finalization and system integration and checkout will continue into 2016. The last GDAS upgrade occurred in 2004.
The Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Agency has awarded contract modifications to McCrone Associates Inc., and Schafer Corp., for $10 million and $9 million, respectively, to evaluate particle samples for verification of nuclear test ban treaty compliance. Announced Sept. 22, the modifications will support the U.S. Atomic Energy Detection System, which comprises of sensors set up in various global locations to detect nuclear events. The modifications both entail the providing of “non-personal services” for the processing of test samples, according to a contracting announcement issued this week. Both companies are expected to complete their shares of the work by Sept. 30, 2015.
IN THE NGOs
The Simons Center for Interagency Cooperation is asking for submissions of manuscripts focusing on the challenges posed by weapons of mass destruction. The agency has set a Jan. 9, 2015 submission deadline. Selected papers will be published in the center’s InterAgency Journal. “The InterAgency Journal seeks thoughtful articles that provide insight and fresh thinking in advancing the knowledge, understanding, and practice of interagency coordination, cooperation, and collaboration,” the center said earlier this month. “Submissions will receive blind peer review in accordance with standard professional academic journal practice. Submissions will be evaluated on the basis of originality, substance of argument, style, and contribution to advancing the understanding and practice of interagency cooperation regarding WMD.” The guest editor for the manuscripts is Dr. John Mark Mattox, senior research fellow at the National Defense University Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Director of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Graduate Fellowship Program. More information can be found on the Simons Center website.
