The United States National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is part of the United States Department of Energy. It works to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy. The NNSA also maintains and improves the safety, reliability, and performance of the United States nuclear weapons stockpile, including the ability to design, produce, and test, in order to meet national security requirements. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government responsible for energy policy and nuclear safety. ... Security measures taken to protect the Houses of Parliament in London, England. ... Nuclear energy is energy released from the atomic nucleus. ... Nuclear safety is a term which underscores and understates the danger implicit in the use of nuclear materials, and may be used to describe measures taken to prevent nuclear and radiation accidents. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ...

NNSA has four missions with regard to National Security:

• To provide the United States Navy with safe, militarily effective nuclear propulsion plants and to ensure the safe and reliable operation of those plants.
• To promote international nuclear safety and nonproliferation.
• To reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction.
• To support United States leadership in science and technology.

The NNSA maintains a database containing personal information on 37,000 persons who design and maintain nuclear weapons for the U. S. government. The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ... Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a Merchant ship powered by a nuclear reactor. ... World map with nuclear weapons development status represented by color. ... Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ...

The NNSA's Office of Secure Transportation (OST) provides safe and secure transportation of nuclear weapons and components and special nuclear materials, and conducts other missions supporting the national security of the United States of America. Since 1974, OST has been assigned responsibility to develop, operate, and manage a system for the safe and secure transportation of all government-owned, DOE or NNSA controlled special nuclear materials in "strategic" or "significant" quantities. Shipments are transported in specially designed equipment and are escorted by armed Federal Agents (Nuclear Material Couriers).

Data security concerns

The NNSA was formed in 2000 in response to the Wen Ho Lee espionage scandal at Los Alamos National Laboratory. ^{[citation needed]} Wen Ho Lee (Chinese: 李文和; Pinyin: Lǐ Wénhé; born December 21, 1939) is a Taiwanese American scientist who worked for the University of California operated Los Alamos National Laboratory and was accused of stealing secrets about the U.S.s nuclear arsenal for China. ... Los Alamos National Laboratory, aerial view from 1995. ...

In June 2006, the New York Times reported that sensitive information on nuclear weapons workers had been stolen from the NNSA, and stated that the theft had gone unreported for nine months following the theft. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

External links

• United States National Nuclear Security Administration
• United States Department of Energy
• New York Times story: Data Theft at Nuclear Agency Went Unreported for 9 Months, June 10, 2006