Life Extension Programs

General Dynamics (GD) on Wednesday announced Danny Deep will be the company’s next CEO effective Jan. 1, 2027, succeeding Phebe Novakovic, who has been the company’s top executive and chairman since January 2013. Deep has been president of GD since December 2025 and was elected to the company’s board in August. Novakovic will become executive […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing issued a conditional loan up to $4.2 billion to provide uprates at several of Vistra Corp’s nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said this week. The announcement came during Wright’s visit to the Vistra’s Perry Nuclear Plant on Monday afternoon. According […]

Constellation Energy continues its pursuit of uprating several of its operating reactors as the company signs its latest power purchase agreement with Google Tuesday. Constellation and Google agreed to a 20-year “clean energy collaboration” to add 890 megawatts of nuclear energy onto the PJM Interconnection grid, according to the press release. The agreement includes investments […]

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is on the move again and back to Ohio to visit Vistra Corp.’s Perry Nuclear Plant in Perry, Ohio on Oct. 5. According to a Department of Energy media advisory, Wright is expected to make an announcement that “will help lower electricity costs and strengthen grid reliability for the American people.” […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has completed all W80-4 nuclear warhead components planned for fiscal year 2026 months ahead of schedule, giving the agency additional schedule margin as it works toward delivering the first complete warhead in September 2027. The milestone was reached at the Kansas City National Security Campus, where production teams completed the […]

An AtkinsRéalis company, in a joint venture with Aecon Group Inc, was awarded a three-year, $1.7 billion contract Monday for a refurbishment project at Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Pickering nuclear plant. Candu Energy, AtkinsRéalis’ subsidiary company that designs and builds Canada Deuterium Uranium – or CANDU – reactors, will start work on Unit 5 as […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The biggest challenge for the National Nuclear Security Administration is receiving “stable, predictable, sufficient, timely funding” from Congress, Thomas Ashlock, the agency’s associate administrator for congressional and intergovernmental affairs, said Tuesday. “Everyone would agree that a CR [continuing resolution] is not good,” Ashlock said, referring to a short-term stopgap spending bill that […]

OMAHA, Neb. — The National Nuclear Security Administration expects to complete assembly of the remaining B61-13 subassemblies by the end of the calendar year, roughly one year ahead of schedule, Administrator Brandon Williams said Thursday. Speaking in an interview with Exchange Monitor on the sidelines of the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) Deterrence Symposium, Williams highlighted […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed the certification, or “diamond stamping,” of all planned canned subassemblies for the B61-13 nuclear gravity bomb this fiscal year, according to a Wednesday agency press release. NNSA also said in the release it certified the canned subassemblies, or the secondary stage of a two-stage thermonuclear weapon, at Y-12 […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed the certification, or “diamond stamping,” of all planned canned subassemblies for the B61-13 nuclear gravity bomb this fiscal year, according to a Wednesday agency press release. NNSA also said in the release it certified the canned subassemblies, or the secondary stage of a two-stage thermonuclear weapon, at Y-12 […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed the first production unit (FPU) of the W76/Mk4B reentry body for the Navy’s submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead, the agency said Wednesday. The first unit was produced nearly three months ahead of schedule, according to an email from NNSA. The Mk4B reentry body, developed in coordination […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed the first production unit of the W76/Mk4B reentry body for the Navy’s submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead, the agency said Wednesday. The first unit was produced nearly three months ahead of schedule, according to an email from NNSA. The Mk4B reentry body, developed in coordination with […]

While the nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) was not in the White House fiscal 2027 budget request, Brandon Williams, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), said it has administration support. “The funding from the reconciliation process is carrying the project forward at pace,” Williams said. “We’re ahead of schedule, and we’re going to […]

While the nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) was not in the White House fiscal 2027 budget request, Brandon Williams, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), said it has administration support. “The funding from the reconciliation process is carrying the project forward at pace,” Williams said. “We’re ahead of schedule, and we’re going to […]

ARLINGTON, VA – The W80-5, a new variant of the W80 warhead family, is on a “more aggressive schedule” to go on the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N), weapons directors said on the final day of Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Rita Gonzales, Deputy Laboratories Director for Nuclear Deterrence at Sandia National Laboratories, and Bradley […]

ARLINGTON, VA – The W80-5, a new variant of the W80 warhead family, is on a “more aggressive schedule” to go on the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N), weapons directors said on the final day of Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Rita Gonzales, Deputy Laboratories Director for Nuclear Deterrence at Sandia National Laboratories, and Bradley […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Sandia National Laboratories announced Thursday it conducted a flight test of the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb on an F-35 aircraft in August. The flight tests took place at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, with aircraft generation from Hill Air Force Base in Utah, a press release from Sandia said. […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Y-12 National Security Complex announced the “diamond-stamping” of a secondary stage of a nuclear weapon through the W80-4 Life Extension Program, the agency announced Sept. 25. “Diamond-stamping,” as the release calls it, refers to marking a product as war-reserve quality, or reliable and safe to use in a nuclear […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Y-12 National Security Complex announced the “diamond-stamping” of a secondary stage of a nuclear weapon through the W80-4 Life Extension Program, the agency announced Sept. 25. “Diamond-stamping,” as the release calls it, refers to marking a product as war-reserve quality, or reliable and safe to use in a nuclear […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is “on track” with its W88 warhead, the agency’s acting principal deputy administrator said in a Senate panel last week. “We’re on track with the W88, which is to achieve first production unit relatively soon,” James McConnell, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) acting principal deputy administrator, told the Senate […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is “on track” with its W88 warhead, the agency’s acting principal deputy administrator said in a Senate panel last week. “We’re on track with the W88, which is to achieve first production unit relatively soon,” James McConnell, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s acting principal deputy administrator, told the Senate Armed […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration will complete the First Production Unit of the B61-13 this fiscal year, according to Fox News April 9. With production complete in December for the B61-12 life extension program, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has now transitioned to producing the B61-13 gravity bomb, a new, higher-yield variant of the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration will complete the First Production Unit of the B61-13 this fiscal year, according to Fox News April 9. With production complete in December for the B61-12 life extension program, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has now transitioned to producing the B61-13 gravity bomb, a new, higher-yield variant of the […]

The B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb’s life extension program has “fully transitioned into the stockpile” after its last production unit was produced in December, Sandia National Laboratories announced Monday in a press release. With production complete for the B61-12 life extension program, the gravity bomb can now enter the stockpile for “sustainment,” the press release said, […]

The B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb’s life extension program has “fully transitioned into the stockpile” after its last production unit was produced in December, Sandia National Laboratories announced Monday in a press release. With production complete for the B61-12 life extension program, the gravity bomb can now enter the stockpile for “sustainment,” the press release said, […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — James Peery, director of the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories, told the Exchange Monitor Monday that the W80-4 had its first flight test on the Long Range Standoff Missile last week. Peery spoke with the Monitor after speaking at a panel at the Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit with Kim […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — There will likely be a 15-year minimum overlap in silos between the Sentinel and the last Minuteman III, an Air Force Global Strike Command leader said here Monday. “I think 15 years is probably an ambitious estimate,” Maj. Gen. Stacy Jo Huser, commander of the 20th Air Force in the Air Force […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — James Peery, director of the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories, told the Exchange Monitor Monday that the W80-4 had its first flight test on the Long Range Standoff Missile last week. Peery spoke with the Monitor after speaking at a panel at the Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit with Kim […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — There will likely be a 15 year minimum overlap in silos between the Sentinel and the last Minuteman III, an Air Force Global Strike Command leader said here Monday. “I think 15 years is probably an ambitious estimate,” Maj. Gen. Stacy Jo Huser, commander of the 20th Air Force in the Air […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration completed the last production unit of the B61-12 life extension program in December, the agency said Tuesday. With production complete for the B61-12 life extension program, the press release said, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will now transition to producing the B61-13 gravity bomb, a new, higher-yield variant of […]