Congress Sets Up Nuclear Submarine Slush Fund

May 28, 2014 | Edited by Lauren Mladenka and Geoff Wilson

Boomer bailout - “A Senate defense panel wants to create a separate fund to underwrite the nation's new nuclear-armed submarine fleet, a step the House also supports,” reports Rachel Oswald for Global Security Newswire. “The Senate Armed Services Committee's mark-up of its annual defense authorization legislation calls for the establishment of a ‘National Sea-based Deterrence Fund’ to finance the construction of new submarines to replace today's Ohio-class ballistic missile vessels, according to a detailed panel summary of the bill released on Friday.”

--“The Democratic-controlled committee approved the legislation on Thursday by a near-unanimous vote. On the same day, the Republican-controlled House passed its own version of the fiscal 2015 policy-setting bill that also included language ordering the creation of a special fund to pay for the new ‘SSBN(X)’ fleet. The House legislation authorizes the Defense Department to transfer up to $3.5 billion to the Ohio-class replacement account from ‘unobligated funds’ authorized for fiscal years 2014 to 2016. Meanwhile, the Senate bill would authorize an initial $100 million to get the fund going.” Read the full report here. http://bit.ly/1k2zQaG

Obama on Iran - “Despite frequent warnings from the United States, Israel, and others, the Iranian nuclear program steadily advanced for years. But at the beginning of my presidency, we built a coalition that imposed sanctions on the Iranian economy, while extending the hand of diplomacy to the Iranian government,” said President Obama in remarks at West Point this morning.

--“Now, we have an opportunity to resolve our differences peacefully. The odds of success are still long, and we reserve all options to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But for the first time in a decade, we have a very real chance of achieving a breakthrough agreement – one that is more effective and durable than what would be achieved through the use of force. And throughout these negotiations, it has been our willingness to work through multilateral channels that kept the world on our side.” http://1.usa.gov/1pjC5cV

Tweet - @RNicholasBurns: #Obama on #Iran: "We have a very real chance of achieving a breakthrough agreement" Most positive Obama statement to date Iran nuke talks.

Tweet - @WinWithoutWar: Obama at #WestPoint: “Our willingness to work through multilateral channels has kept the world on our side” #LetDiplomacyWork #Iran

Tweet - @nukes_of_hazard: Obama: "If nuclear materials are not secure, that could pose a danger in American cities." So y does 15 budget cut $ for security programs?

MOX boondoggle - “Auditors said the Energy Department may repeat missteps that led to cost and schedule overruns in an initiative to eliminate weapon-grade plutonium,” reports Diane Barnes for Global Security Newswire. “Officials used an ‘immature design’ to establish a 2007 ‘baseline’ plan for a new facility to convert the plutonium into mixed-oxide reactor fuel, the Energy Department's inspector general said in a new report. Gregory Friedman and his audit team said the move led to inappropriately optimistic predictions on construction costs and employee turnover. Ultimately, ramifications included three years of delays and nearly $3 billion in unexpected costs for the project at South Carolina's Savannah River Site.”

--“He said the problems found by his office's investigation and by similar probes are ‘applicable to the future direction of the MOX Facility and other large department construction projects.’ Previously, the Army Corps of Engineers determined that the MOX plant would cost $30 billion to build and maintain. The Energy Department earlier this year announced plans to mothball the MOX facility, due to rising costs and schedule delays. The department's semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration is still evaluating options for disposing of the 34 metric tons of excess U.S. weapons-grade plutonium, as required under a nonproliferation deal with Russia.” Read the full story here. http://bit.ly/1hdy5Zz

Missile defense in Asia - “The U.S. is weighing a plan to deploy an advanced missile-defense system in South Korea, as the Pentagon begins a new push this week to expand cooperation in Asia to counter the threat of North Korean missiles,” reports Julian Barnes for The Wall Street Journal.

--“The U.S. has conducted a site survey in South Korea for possible locations for a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery, or Thaad, but no final decisions have been made to deploy the system… The system is designed to intercept short, medium and intermediate missiles. Last year, in the face of provocations from North Korea, the U.S. deployed one such system to Guam to protect U.S. bases there. Deploying a Thaad system to South Korea could represent an important incentive to encourage Seoul to cooperate more fully with the U.S. and Japan in a planned regional missile defense system.” Read the full article here. http://on.wsj.com/1mqfS8m

Tweet - @NTI_WMD: Hundreds of billions of dollars on #nuclear weapons modernization. For what? NWS should think again. http://t.co/870weQ74cc

Applying pressure - “Congress is stepping up pressure on the White House to confront Russia over allegations that it is cheating on a key nuclear arms treaty — a faceoff that could further strain U.S.-Moscow relations and dampen President Barack Obama’s hopes to add deeper cuts in nuclear arsenals to his legacy,” the AP reports. “Butting heads with Russian President Vladimir Putin over compliance with a 26-year-old treaty to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons is not something that fits into Obama’s ‘reset’ with Russia, which already was stalled after Russia granted asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. But the issue has been simmering for a few years and Republicans on Capitol Hill want Obama to address it head-on.”

--“The Russians are accused of testing a new ground-launched cruise missile in violation of the treaty. Russian officials say they have looked into the allegations and consider the matter closed. It’s unclear why the administration, which has raised the issue with Russia through diplomatic channels, doesn’t want to publicly blow the whistle on Moscow’s alleged violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed in 1987. The treaty banned all U.S. and Russian land-based ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 300 miles and 3,400 miles.” Full piece here. http://wapo.st/1pjAS5D

Improving procedures - “Experts have recommended improving operating and training procedures after inspectors raised concerns about explosives safety at the nation’s only nuclear weapons assembly and dismantling plant,” the AP reports.

--“A letter to Pantex from the U.S. Department of Energy cites six incidents since August 2012 that have heightened concerns,” which “include improperly packaging explosives in containers not meant for explosives, improper packaging of special nuclear materials and improper shipping of incompatible explosive materials.” Officials with plant operator B&W Pantex told a local newspaper “they did not want to comment on the letter from the director of enforcement and oversight in the department’s Office of Health, Safety and Security. John S. Boulden, director of enforcement and oversight in that office, wrote that the letter is intended to ‘convey concerns about the level of rigor applied by B&W Pantex in safely executing work.’ The operator should examine the broader issues identified in the letter and determine whether additional corrective actions might be warranted, he wrote.” Full article here. http://bit.ly/1pjqPNT

The fall guy - “A former security officer at a nuclear-arms plant is challenging his termination over a break-in by peace advocates,” Global Security Newswire reports. “Kirk Garland, 53, told a U.S. government mediator he took unfair blame for a breach made possible by systemic vulnerabilities at Tennessee's Y-12 National Security Complex, the newspaper reported on Monday. Garland has demanded salary he would have been paid had he not lost his job. He was let go for purportedly acting carelessly as the first security officer to reach the July 2012 intrusion's three participants.”

--“Garland argued that malfunctioning sensors and surveillance equipment enabled the group to cut through a series perimeter fences and enter the highest-security section of the facility. He said the trio was already well into its demonstration at the time of his arrival. Detractors, though, have argued that Garland's response could have enabled a more serious breach by extremists, had they staged a protest as a diversion. The trespassers' actions included splashing blood and painting slogans on the facility's storehouse for bomb-grade uranium.” Read the full report here. http://bit.ly/Sf0UZH

Quick-hits:

--“Raytheon Executive Sees New Threats Boosting Some Defense Budgets -- Update” by Doug Cameron in The Wall Street Journal. http://on.wsj.com/1k0JKLd

--“Possible North Korean nuclear test looms over Obama’s visit to South Korea” in CNN. http://cnn.it/1ikcnwf

--“Leaders of India, Pakistan Hold Surprise Talks on Improving Ties” in Global Security Newswire. http://bit.ly/1tmZQ1t

--“Nuclear Weapons: Toward Abolition or Armageddon?” By Yuki Tanaka. http://bit.ly/1tPgqJr

--“UPF a massive investment for… what, exactly?” by Robert Howarth in the Citizen-Times. http://avlne.ws/1nUwuGh

Events:

--“U.S.-Iran Relations Past Present and Future.” Discussion with Hossein Mousavian and John Marks. June 3 at 9:30am at the Atlantic Council, 1030 15th St., NW, Floor 12. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1knlaU2

--“Chain Reaction 2014.” Ploughshares Fund Gala with Michael Douglas, Jeremy Ben-Ami and Trita Parsi. June 3 from 6:00 to 8:30 at The Open Square at Futures Without Violence, 100 Montgomery Street, The Presidio of San Francisco. Purchase tickets here. http://bit.ly/1nexkld

--“Israel, Saudi, and Iranian Responses in the Days After a Deal With Iran.” Discussion with Alireza Nader, Dalia Dassa Kaye, and Jeffrey Martini. Moderated by Lynne Davis. June 4 from 1:00 to 2:00 at 2200 Rayburn House Office Building. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/RBn07W

--“Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era: India, Pakistan, China and the Future of Deterrence Stability." Discussion with Vipin Narang and Peter Lavoy. June 4 from 3:00 to 4:30 at the Stimson Center, 1111 19th St., NW, Floor 12. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1h9mbzS