Delays and Cost Hikes Plague Nuclear Programs

On the radar: NNSA’s string of bad news; Street view of the Rial crisis; Iran’s proposal; MEADS continues; Nuking Detroit; Nuking the moon; and the Last of the Manhattan Project scientists.

October 5, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke

Not a good week, year - In the last week, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) found out that two of its biggest programs are heading over budget and behind schedule. The W76 warhead refurbishment is experiencing significant delays and is expected to cost $221 million more than previously estimated. Meanwhile, the $6 billion Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) is getting a redesign, half-a-billion dollars into the program.

--Such products of mismanagement could be the new normal for NNSA, notes Nick Roth at Nukes of Hazard. In the last year, the costs of UPF increased, the $6 billion CMRR facility got delayed, the costs of the B61 nuclear bomb nearly doubled to $10 billion, the costs of the Mixed Oxide program increased by $2 billion, and an 82-year old nun broke into one of NNSA’s highest security facilities. The agency also has not completed basic reporting requirements for five- and ten-year stockpile plans. http://bit.ly/QzUij8

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Rial crisis - “In the Iranian capital, all anyone can talk about is the rial, and how lives have been turned upside down in one terrible week. Every elevator ride, office visit or quick run to the supermarket brings new gossip about the currency’s drop and a swirl of speculation about who is to blame,” reports Thomas Erdbrink in The New York Times on how Iran’s currency crisis is affecting people on the streets of Tehran. http://nyti.ms/PeQref

Cartoon - Tweets @AliVaez: KAL's cartoon re Nukes, Sanctions and Iran's economy http://econ.st/Q1jE9z via The Economist.

Negotiating positions - Iran has a nine-step proposal to defuse the nuclear crisis it has with the West. The plan begins with upfront dismantling of sanctions and leads to gradual suspension of nuclear work and enrichment to 20%. This is essentially the inverse of the latest U.S. position, which would have Iran suspend enrichment to 20%, export 20% stocks and close the Fordow facility in exchange for gradual sanctions relief.

--David Sanger of The New York Times outlines Iran’s proposal and notes the distance between Iran’s and the United States’ current negotiating positions. http://nyti.ms/PeRYRt

Stalled - “UN atomic agency says no date set for fresh Iran talks” from Reuters. http://reut.rs/RGrV4i

MEADS - The recently passed Continuing Resolution will keep the controversial Medium Extended Air and Defense System (MEADS) afloat through late March. The Pentagon does not plan to purchase any MEADS units once they become available, and three congressional committees zeroed out the program in their recent defense bills. Global Security Newswire has the story of the controversial yet still kicking program. http://bit.ly/OabPjl

Detroit used for nuclear test - A mock 10-kiloton nuclear explosion had 36 hospitals and 13 government agencies in Detroit exercising emergency response measures that would be required following a real nuclear explosion.

--“Obviously, we hope nothing like this ever occurs, but in the event of a nuclear detention in the metropolitan area it’s important for the efforts of multiple groups to come together to save lives as good as possible and get the communication out to the public on how they can be safe,” said the Detroit Medical Center press secretary. M Live has the story. http://bit.ly/VF2mSJ

Moonshot - Wired has a list of crazy things people proposed to put on the moon. Included: a nuclear explosion. The Air Force in the late 1950s proposed nuking the moon in order to test the effects of a nuclear explosion in low gravity. Full post here. http://bit.ly/UnbNIz

RIP, Robert Christy - Robert Christy, credited for his work on the solid-core design of the Trinity and Nagasaki bombs, has died at the age of 96. Alex Wellerstein at Restricted Data talks about Christy’s role in developing the bomb and what it means as the last of the living Manhattan Project scientists fade into history. http://bit.ly/T5qqJU