NNSA dismantles more nukes than planned
Published: Oct. 1, 2007 at 2:31 PMWASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The United States has stepped up its rate of taking apart nuclear weapons during the current fiscal year.
The National Nuclear Security Administration, an agency under the U.S. Department of Energy, said in a statement Monday that the number of nuclear weapons it took apart in Fiscal Year 2007 has been 146 percent above the figure for FY 2006. That increase was almost three times higher than the agency's goal of boosting the numbers by 49 percent over FY 2006, it said.
NNSA Administrator Thomas D'Agostino praised the number of nuclear weapons dismantled during FY 2007 as "an outstanding achievement."
"This is an outstanding achievement by our dedicated employees," he said. "By greatly exceeding our dismantlement goal, NNSA is supporting the U.S. leadership role in global non-proliferation and disarmament efforts."
"Our success ensures that these weapons cannot be used again, and sends a clear message to the world that this administration remains committed to reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. nuclear stockpile," D'Agostino said.
The NNSA noted that in 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush "directed that the stockpile be reduced nearly 50 percent by 2012, making it the smallest level since the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s. This means that in five years the stockpile will be one-quarter of its size at the end of the Cold War."
"NNSA Administrator Thomas D'Agostino praised the number of nuclear weapons dismantled during FY 2007 as "an outstanding achievement."
ReplyDelete"This is an outstanding achievement by our dedicated employees," he said."
The NNSA guys are in there turning the wrench now? Are contractors considered employees?
A lot of hard working folks (Lab's,Pantex)made this happen.
ReplyDeleteIt sure wasn't NNSA. The PXSO NNSA guys mainly live(sleep) at their desks and only go to the dismantment line when there is a photo Op. Once in awhile you will see the Facility Representatives go to the line and several aren't qualified to be FR's yet. Actuallly the DNFSB reps made more visits to the line than the NNSA guys. Perhaps they were the guys with the wrenches.
It's also not prudent to compare the number of dismantlements in FY 07 to FY06 because they are a different dismantlement weapon mix. In addtion the agreed upon work activities and counting method vary from year-to-year. BWXT mgmt. did a good con job on NNSA again.
NNSA Administrator Thomas D'Agostino praised the number of nuclear weapons dismantled during FY 2007 as "an outstanding achievement. (News)
ReplyDeleteYeah, but D'Agostino wants to put the nukes right back together again using the RRW program.
This is nuts, if you ask me. Why don't we just leave the current nukes alone so we don't have to spend big bucks associated with building NNSA's Complex 2030 nuke factories?
Leaving the current nukes alone except for maintaining them is just that - maintenance.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows that maintenance is no fun compared to development. There's lots of excitement and activity in the development phase. Folks feel special because they are involved in an up and coming program. Even if they can't discuss the details, they can talk about the big picture at parties and meetings. It feeds the enormous egos that managers have.
The maintenance phase is dull and unimpressing. There's no glory to it even if it is terribly important. Managers who have managerial ADD get bored because they are not the center of attention.
It's a cyclical process, and we're in the tearing down phase so we can move to the building up phase.