NNSA: Nuclear Security, Nuclear Safety

Governments often institute change slowly and new agencies sometimes have a tough time finding their footing in the system. The other side of that coin is that some new ideas and agencies come along at the time they’re needed and hit the deck running. The United States National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is one of those agencies. Established in 2000 by the U.S. Congress and operating under the aegis of the Department of Energy; the NNSA is responsible for the security and management of U.S. nuclear weapons, naval reactor programs and nuclear nonproliferation. One of the agency’s primary aims is to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy and to improve the safety and reliability of the United States’ nuclear weapon stockpile. The agency has three other missions regarding national security; reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction by promoting international nuclear safety and nonproliferation,  provide the United States Navy with safe and militarily effective nuclear propulsion plants and they also ensure the safe operations of said plants. Their final mission is to support the United States’ leadership in science and technology.

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One of the NNSA’s most successful programs is the Office of Secure Transportation (OST); which provides safe and secure transportation of nuclear weapons/components, nuclear materials and conducts other missions concerning national security. The OST was assigned the responsibility of developing, operating and managing a secure system of transport for all government-owned nuclear materials in significant/strategic quantities. These shipments are guarded by armed federal agents and moved in specially designed equipment.

The NNSA does a lot of overseas work; they are active in over 130 countries and in their 12 year history, they have collected 20,600 dangerous sources of radiation. One example comes from 2008; when the NNSA worked with Russian officials and other agencies to transport 341 pounds of enriched uranium in 13 radiation-proof casks from Budapest to Siberia.  Their dismantling work happens at the national level as well. In 2007, at Oak Ridge, Tennessee; they dismantled two nuclear weapons systems formerly employed by the U.S. Air Force. They have also broken down missiles and aircraft in an effort to reduce the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.

Their emergency response programs are important as well; the NNSA is the U.S. government’s primary responders for nuclear and radiological events. They focus on three areas; radiological search: teams that look for and indentify nuclear material, render safe: making sure any nuclear devices that are found are safely secured and consequence management: controlling the spread of radiological material in case of a terrorist attack, accident or natural event.

The NNSA has over 1,500 employees and budget of $9.1 billion; over one billion of which goes to power the nuclear navy. With its national laboratories and research, the NNSA is at the forefront of standards for document storage/retention and security. They keep track of some of the most dangerous material on Earth and their records are vital for national security. They know better than anyone how important it is to protect paperwork from theft and damage.

K.L. Security should be a number-one stop for anyone or business that has a DOE/NNSA requirement. We have Dahle high-security NSA/CSS approved paper shredders and Class 5 and Class 6 GSA-approved containers and cabinets. Our Hamilton products group has GSA-approved government and military security safes. There are also GSA-approved Class 6 general purpose storage cabinets and a great selection of fireproof safes.

We have you covered. Our security products mesh perfectly with the strict requirements that agencies like the NNSA observe. If you’re working with dangerous materials, then you can’t afford to lower your standards an inch.