NS&D Monitor
12/5/2014
IN THE NNSA
As expected, Teresa Robbins has been named deputy manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office. The NPO oversees the work at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants. It was reported in October that Robbins has been selected to fill the position, which had been held by multiple people on an acting basis over the past couple of years, but it took months to complete the federal approval process. “Ms. Robbins has a wealth of technical and project management experience and excellent personnel management skills. She is a great addition to the senior executive team in NNSA,” NPO Manager Steve Erhart said in a statement.
The National Nuclear Security Administration has awarded 15 Sustainability Awards for innovation and excellence to its national laboratories and sites. According to a Dec. 1 press release, the Y-12 National Security Complex won four awards, including Exceptional Service/Sustainability Champion, and the Pantex Plant took two awards, including one for Renewable Energy recognizing Pantex’s Renewable Energy Project. Los Alamos National Laboratory took home five awards, including one recognizing LANL’s elimination of sulfur hexafluoride in X-Ray pulsers, while Sandia earned an award for “Innovation and Holistic Approach,” which recognized the lab’s new data and information management systems. The Nevada National Security Site also won an award for green buildings and NNSA Headquarters earned recognition for its management of the Fleet Requirements Working Group.
IN DoD
The Defense Department announced late last month that Rear Adm. John Haley, director of U.S. Strategic Command’s division of Global Operations, J3, at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., will be reassigned to command the Naval Air Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, in Norfolk, Va. Haley assumed his current position in March 2013, after commanding Battle Force 7th Fleet/Task Force 70/Carrier Strike Group 5 aboard the USS George Washington homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, from April 2011 to January 2013. Haley was Director of Operations and Plans for the Chief of Naval Operations from April 2009 to March 2011. He served as deputy chief of staff to the commander of U.S. Pacific Command from January to July 2008, after which he became commanding officer of the USS George Washington. Strategic Command’s Global Operations (J3) coordinates the planning, employment and operation of DoD strategic assets and combines all operations, intelligence and global command and control operations.
IN CONGRESS
The Senate on Dec. 3 passed by unanimous consent the Mutual Defense Agreement, a 56-year-old treaty with the United Kingdom governing bilateral nuclear cooperation. President Obama must sign the agreement into law by the end of this month for it to be renewed. If renewed, the agreement would expire in 2024.
The Senate on Dec. 3 received and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs a bill that would authorize for Fiscal Years 2015 and 2016 $291 million to fund the planning, organization, equipment, training, exercises and operational assessments within Federal, State, local territorial and tribal groups in implementing radiological and nuclear testing capabilities in the event of a nuclear terror attack. The House on Dec. 1 passed the “Strengthening Domestic Nuclear Security Act of 2014” that would confer authority upon DHS’ Domestic Nuclear Detection Office to oversee the integration of the capabilities into the global nuclear detection architecture. The Office would conduct research activities to guide the initiative, which will also be ushered along by architecture studies and technology needs.
The House Armed Services Committee on Dec. 3 announced a joint subcommittee hearing next week examining arms control “cheating” by Russia and Obama Administration responses. The HASC Subcommittee on Strategic Forces and the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade within the House Foreign Affairs Committee will meet on Dec. 10 to hear testimony from Rose Gottemoeller, Under Secretary of State for International Security, and Brian McKeon, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Bilateral disarmament negotiations have skidded as tensions surrounding the annexation of Crimea and occupation of eastern Ukraine have increased. The State Department last summer accused Russia of abrogating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, which bans missiles capable of hitting targets between 500 and 5,500 kilometers away. Last month, Russia announced plans to boycott the 2016 nuclear summit to be hosted by the U.S.
ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT
Amb. Adam Scheinman, Special Representative of the President for Nuclear Nonproliferation, is traveling to Jeju, South Korea, and Vienna from Dec. 2 to 10, to consult government officials in preparation of the 2015 NPT Review Conference. In Jeju, Scheinman is participating in a panel discussion jointly organized by South Korea and the United Nations about the RevCon. In Vienna, he and Anita Freidt, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, will attend the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons.
IN INDUSTRY
ATK announced on Dec. 4 that the Justice Department has cleared the proposed merger of the company’s aerospace and defense groups with Orbital Sciences. The companies anticipate closing the merger in February, pending approval of both companies’ stockholders and satisfying other closing conditions.
AT MINOT
Some Minot AFB employees might realize a 33- to 37-percent increase in their next paychecks. According to a Dec. 4 press release by the American Federation of Government employees, about 100 base employees who are paid through non-appropriated funds will see the pay increases, approved by the Office of Personnel Management to offset a rise in living costs. “The shale oil boom across the Bakken region has led to extremely high living costs, making it difficult for employees to make ends meet on their pre-boom salaries,” the release quotes AFGE National President David Cox as saying. “Private-sector employers have already responded to the market by raising their wages, but the federal government has lagged behind until now.”