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AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Pentagon Weighs Refurbishing or Replacing Ballistic Missiles
April 18, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The U.S. Defense Department is weighing the feasibility of extending the service life of the nation’s aging Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles versus replacing them in coming decades with brand new nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. The 450 Minuteman 3s are expected to last through 2030, but might be retained longer if ...
Amid Deep Cuts, the Pentagon Labors to Keep Its Forces Ready for Korea
April 11, 2013 As tensions escalate on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. military is striving to maintain peak readiness for forces assigned to the region, Defense Department leaders said on Wednesday. Deep cutbacks in training and preparedness accounts taken this year because of the so-called budget sequester are making the job more difficult. ...
U.S. Nuclear Lab Ready to Shelve Costly Facility Plan
February 22, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Los Alamos National Laboratory is proposing to shelve plans to build an expensive new plutonium research facility and instead permanently parcel out work to an array of smaller buildings, the institution’s director said on Thursday. “I’m concerned that in the current fiscal crisis, it may no longer be practical ...
Military could redefine global-strike weapons
January 24, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The U.S. military is weighing a redefinition of what constitutes a “prompt global strike” weapon, and the result could be to expand the kinds of conventional arms available to hit targets on short notice virtually anywhere around the world, according to defense sources. These might include weapon systems with shorter ...
U.S. may land key Asian nuclear trade deals in 2013
January 11, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
U.S. envoys could seal as many as three important nuclear trade agreements with Asian nations this year, with at least one more key pact in the region on the diplomatic agenda for completion by 2015. The renewal of Washington’s existing atomic cooperation pacts with Taiwan and South Korea is under ...
Decision on proliferation assessments pending at nuclear agency
November 20, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is poised to consider whether to begin requiring license applicants for emerging technologies to evaluate any associated proliferation risks, following the submission of a staff paper on the matter late last month, according to officials. The five NRC commissioners might debate the viability of a rule-making ...
Officials say U.S., Taiwan 'discussing assurances' on sensitive nuclear activities
November 20, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The United States and Taiwan have begun “discussing assurances” that could result in the East Asian nation’s pledge to avoid sensitive nuclear activities as part of a bilateral atomic trade pact renewal, Taiwan government officials said. In a two-day “prenegotiation meeting” last month in Washington, U.S. and Taiwanese officials launched ...
Pentagon official blames bomb cost hike on “incomplete” Energy agency estimate
August 3, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
A Defense Department official has blamed an “incomplete” initial cost estimate last year by the Energy Department’s nuclear security organization for new revelations that a program to revamp the B-61 nuclear gravity bomb has more than doubled in price. The effort to extend the service life of hundreds of the ...
Lab directors urged plutonium facility delay, former Biden aide charges
June 5, 2012 WASHINGTON -- A former White House aide on Monday said the directors of the U.S. national laboratories “came forward” during closed-door budget-planning sessions five months ago to propose a delay in building a plutonium research facility, a plan that has since drawn Republican fire (see GSN, May 29). Lawmakers have ...
General: Cost worries could derail plan for next bomber to be unmanned
May 11, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
Making the nation’s future bomber aircraft capable of flying by remote control could prove unaffordable, a senior U.S. Air Force general said on Thursday. Cost considerations are “probably going to make it difficult to afford an unmanned solution up front,” Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, who heads the Air Force Global ...
