IN NNSA
Pantex/Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security in March completed the first phase of implementing a pilot software program aimed to help National Nuclear Security Administration facility managers and maintenance managers decide how to best maintain building infrastructure, according to a Tuesday Y-12 press release. The first phase entailed CNS inputting data for mission critical facilities. Phase two will involve fully populating the system with all buildings in the inventory, and is expected to be completed this fall, according to the release. The ultimate goal, intended to be complete by 2018, is to load data from all 345 Y-12 facilities and 620 Pantex facilities, then implementing the program to plan maintenance and repair projects, according to the release. "Everything in a building has an estimated life. BUILDER allows us to track when components were last replaced and know when they will need to be replaced again," Y?12 Site Master Planner Jane Nations said. "This effort will greatly improve NNSA’s ability to more accurately determine maintenance and recapitalization costs across the complex, and improve how NNSA prioritizes all of the facilities as a whole."
ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT
On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, the National Nuclear Security Administration and Romania’s Ministry of Internal Affairs celebrated the start of operations of the radiation detection system at Henri Coanda International Airport near Bucharest, according to an NNSA press release. “The new radiation detection system at Henri Coand? International Airport clearly demonstrates the will of the government of Romania to expand and deepen its commitment to preventing unlawful nuclear transit through its territory,” said Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Anne Harrington. “This program is yet another significant milestone in our longstanding cooperation since 2008, and NNSA looks forward to fruitful collaboration in the future to keep dangerous nuclear materials out of the hands of proliferators, smugglers, and terrorists.” The Energy Department and Romanian Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform signed a 2008 agreement to cooperate in preventing illicit nuclear and radioactive trafficking in Romania. The detection systems have scanned more than 10 million vehicles, pedestrians and shipping containers since 2010, according to the release.
A nuclear weapons base in Italy that stores U.S. B-61 bombs may have been the target of a foiled terror plot, according to a Federation of American Scientists (FAS) report. Northern Italy’s Ghedi Air Base “stores 20 US B61 nuclear bombs earmarked for delivery by Italian PA-200 Tornado fighter-bombers in war,” the FAS report says, adding that a 2008 Air Force investigation found that the base “did not meet US security standards for nuclear weapons storage.” Italian police arrested this week two individuals who “allegedly were planning an attack” at targets that included the Ghedi base, the report says.
IN THE NAVY
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert on Monday released the CNO’s Navigation Plan for 2015-2019, and listed maintaining a “credible, modern, and survivable sea-based strategic deterrent,” including existing Ohio-class submarines, Trident 2s, and nuclear command, control and communications, as the Navy’s No. 1 overall priority. The plan also notes the Ohio-class Replacement’s construction is expected to start in 2021, with the first delivery scheduled for 2028 and the first patrol slated for 2031. The CNO’s five-year navigation plan is released yearly.
