The National Nuclear Security Administration has renewed an advisory committee tasked with providing recommendations on counterterrorism and counterproliferation programs, nuclear weapon modernization initiatives and nuclear nonproliferation and arms control regimes.

The Advisory Committee for Nuclear Security, formerly known as the Defense Programs Advisory Committee, will provide insights on building and implementing the nation’s mission to counter emerging nuclear threats, the Department of Energy said Friday.

In addition, the committee will advise the NNSA administrator on the technical approach to nuclear security and other topics, including workforce development and pipeline activities.

According to NNSA, the renewal of the committee is essential to ensure that the agency performs its duties and complies with rules and regulations related to nuclear security.

ACNS will operate in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Vice President Kamala Harris presided over a ceremony for the promotion of Jacob Middleton, director of national security space policy at the National Space Council, to the rank of brigadier general.

In his new rank, Middleton will continue to support the development and implementation of policy and strategy to synchronize civil, commercial and national security space initiatives, the U.S. Space Force said Thursday.

“As these sectors become more overlapped, it is critical there is a national entity that looks across all these sectors to ensure we get the most out of our space sectors and drive towards synergies that benefit people across the Nation and the world,” Middleton said.

Middleton previously served as the director of Space Forces, U.S. Air Force Central Command, vice commander of the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base and commander of Aerospace Data Facility Colorado.

He was selected to transition into the Space Force in 2019 following nearly three decades of service in the Air Force.

Lloyd Austin, defense secretary and a 2023 Wash100 awardee, announced Middleton’s appointment to the rank of brigadier general in May 2022.

The Department of Defense should consider accomplishing some steps in the acquisition process in parallel rather than in sequence in order to speed up supply procurement, U.S. Navy Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was quoted as saying in DOD News.

Grady, a Wash100 inductee, made his remarks during an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

He recommended the agency’s Adaptive Acquisition Framework and Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve as two pathways to expedite the acquisition of capabilities needed by warfighters. AAF includes five decision routes that can be combined or tailored by decision authorities and program managers according to the capability to be purchased. RDER, meanwhile, is an initiative to encourage, expand and accelerate prototyping and experimentation among different DOD components.

Grady cited the testing phase as an ideal stage for parallel processing. “We can do and embed the testing apparatus in the acquisition process as we work our way along, such that when we’re ready at the very end, all we have to do is that final test, as opposed to then starting the whole testing process,” he suggested.

The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office is soliciting public comment on possible revisions to the Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Strategy, created in 2011 by the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

In a request for information published in the Federal Register, NNCO said it is interested in better approaches to improve ethical, legal and social aspects of nanotechnology in the EHS research strategy.

The Nanotechnology Environmental and Health Implications Working Group has commenced its review of the 2011 EHS research strategy under the instruction of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. OSTP is seeking an updated plan that uses science-based risk analysis and management.

NEHI is looking for industry feedback regarding research accomplishments from human health and exposure assessment, environment, risk assessment and management methods, informatics and modeling, and nanomaterial measurement infrastructure. The working group also wants respondents to identify gaps in addressing the key research areas in the strategy.

The RFI will close on June 2.