The US hasn’t conducted a full scale nuclear test since 1992, but the legacy of testing lives on, and a handful of companies are making billions.
The US exploded nuclear bombs in a number of places- and many people will recall the devastation wrought in the Pacific. It also blew up almost 1000 nuclear bombs about an hour’s drive from downtown Las Vegas. What was then known as the Nevada Test Site.
The site has since been renamed the Nevada National Security Site, and it remains a hot mess. Literally. In addition to the radioactive legacy of nuclear explosions (“Pregnant women are discouraged from participating in NNSS tours due to the long bus ride and uneven terrain”), there are also at least two nuclear waste dumps on the place.
It wouldn’t be unusual for a facility like this, designed to blow up nuclear bombs and assess their effects, to be under strict government control. Yet, this site is managed and operated through a private sector contract.
In May 2017 Mission Support and Test Services LLC (MSTS) was awarded with the management and operating contract for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). MSTS is a limited liability company consisting of Honeywell International Inc., Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., and Stoller Newport News Nuclear, Inc. (part of Huntington Ingalls Industries)”.[i]
Honeywell is also associated with other US nuclear weapons facilities including a US$ 2.6 billion (€ 2.5 billion) contract for the Sandia National Laboratory. Both facilities are responsible for warhead production, testing, and design.
Huntington Ingalls Industries is also part of the US$ 8 billion (€ 7.1 billion) contract at the US Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site and Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina.[ii] Right now, there are proposals underway to use Savannah River to start manufacturing plutonium pits– for the next generation of nuclear weapons.
Jacobs Engineering (along with Lockheed Martin and Serco) owns AWE ML, the company that manages the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). AWE’s involvement with Trident missiles covers the entire life cycle, from initial concept to assessment, design, component manufacture and assembly, in-service support and decommissioning and disposal.[iii] Jacobs is connected to both US and UK nuclear weapon facilities.
This isn’t surprising. The UK used the Nevada site for nuclear explosions as well, so it can be understood why the same company would be involved in both facilities.
Nuclear weapons do not need to be used in war to cause a dramatic and devastating legacy. The health and environmental impact of nuclear tests around the world are well chronicled, with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty organisation presenting a number of those stories. The devastating humanitarian harm caused by the development, production and testing of nuclear weapons is one of the reasons that the global community recognises 29 August as the International Day Against Nuclear testing. A chance to remember what the weapons have done, and continue to do as long as they remain in the arsenals of a few.
[i] NNSA, “NNSA Awards Nevada National Security Site Management & Operating Contract to Mission Support and Test Services, LLC”, Press Release NNSA, 12 May 2017.
[ii] Huntington Ingalls, “Annual Report 2016”, Huntington Ingalls, February 2017;
US Department of Energy, “DOE to Extend Savannah River Nuclear Solutions Contract at Savannah River Site to September 2016”, US Department of Energy, 6 September 2012 (energy.gov/em/articles/doe-extend-savannah-river-nuclear-solutions-contract-savannah-river);
US Department of Energy, “DOE-SR Exercises Option on Management and Operating Contract”, Website US Department of Energy, 4 August 2016 (energy.gov/em/articles/doe-sr-exercises-option-management-and-operating-contract).
[iii] AWE, “Overview”, AWE, July 2014 (www.awe.co.uk/app/uploads/2014/07/AWE-OVERVIEW-FINAL.pdf).