Naval Nuclear Propulsion

Huntington Ingalls Industries said Monday it closed its acquisition of the assets of W International, bringing in-house a supplier of submarine structures, modules, and assemblies that struggled to meet the Navy’s needs. Terms of the deal, first announced in early December, were not disclosed. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding-Charleston Operations site in Goose […]

The Australian defense minister on Tuesday announced another $164 million investment in domestic industry to support the supply chain for the future AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarine. The Albanese government, the federal executive branch of Australia, specified this covers funding various initiatives focused on about 125 businesses across Australia that will help build and sustain AUKUS […]

WASHINGTON — While unclear how President Donald Trump (R) will approach AUKUS, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) says there are ‘positive bits of evidence’ that it will be sustained in the new administration. “The president is very focused on shipbuilding, okay?” Kaine told the Monitor at the Capitol on Wednesday. “So that’s good. And I think […]

WASHINGTON — While unclear how President Donald Trump (R) will approach AUKUS, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) says there are ‘positive bits of evidence’ that it will be sustained in the new administration. “The president is very focused on shipbuilding, okay?” Kaine told the Monitor at the Capitol on Wednesday. “So that’s good. And I think […]

The CEO of shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries said the incoming Trump administration is likely more receptive to a plan developed by the Navy and industry to improve shipyard wages and quicken submarine production. Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) CEO Chris Kastner told reporters Jan. 9 during a roundtable ahead of the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium […]

The Congressional Budget Office review this month of the Navy’s latest 30-year shipbuilding plan highlighted how the planned submarine sales to Australia under the AUKUS agreement are likely to lower total U.S. submarine operational years. The Navy plans to sell an initial used Virginia-class submarine to Australia in 2032, a second used submarine in 2035 […]

The CEO of shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries said the incoming Trump administration is likely more receptive to a plan developed by the Navy and industry to improve shipyard wages and quicken submarine production. Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) CEO Chris Kastner told reporters Jan. 9 during a roundtable ahead of the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium […]

President Joe Biden’s (D) national security advisor said president-elect Donald Trump will like the “burden sharing” of the AUKUS deal and maintain it in his presidency. Jake Sullivan, head of the National Security Council, sat down for an interview with Australian think tank the Lowy Institute in December. When Lowy mentioned “a bit of concern […]

BWX Technologies last week completed its $100 million acquisition of a specialty materials business of L3Harris Technologies that is the sole provider of depleted uranium to the U.S. government, the companies said on Monday. The deal for the L3Harris Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee (AOT) business was announced November. The AOT business also provides tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, […]

BWX Technologies last week completed its $100 million acquisition of a specialty materials business of L3Harris Technologies that is the sole provider of depleted uranium to the U.S. government, the companies said on Monday. The deal for the L3Harris Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee (AOT) business was announced November. The AOT business also provides tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, […]

President Joe Biden’s (D) national security advisor said president-elect Donald Trump will like the “burden sharing” of the AUKUS deal and maintain it in his presidency. Jake Sullivan, head of the National Security Council, sat down for an interview with Australian think tank the Lowy Institute in December. When Lowy mentioned “a bit of concern […]

Former President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 29 at the age of 100, was engaged in nuclear power issues dating back to the 1950s when, as a young naval officer, he helped with cleanup of a partial meltdown at the Chalk River research reactor in Canada, according  to various published accounts. The Carter Center announced […]

Four Australian companies received Australian government contracts for a qualification process that will eventually let them work in and contribute to U.S. and U.K. submarine supply chains, the government in Canberra said this week. These four approvals, announced Wednesday, will allow the companies to manufacture samples of standard U.S. Navy valves and pipe fittings as […]

In a bid to increase capacity and accelerate production of submarines for the Navy, Huntington Ingalls Industries has agreed to acquire the assets of W International. W International is a 500-employee strong metal fabricator that already supports the submarine industrial base with structures, modules, and assemblies. The deal for the South Carolina-based company is expected […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ strong momentum in 2024 came to a halt in the third quarter due to challenges in shipbuilding and notably delays in an award from the Navy for submarine work. Net income in the quarter slid 32% to $101 million, or $2.56 earnings a share from $148 million or $3.70 a share a […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries Wednesday named Kari Wilkinson, currently president of the company’s Ingalls Shipbuilding segments, as the incoming president of its nuclear shipbuilding operations in Virginia effective Jan. 1, 2025. The Newport News segment is HII’s largest, generating $6.1 billion in sales in 2023. Newport News has more than 26,000 shipbuilders. The business builds and […]

BWX Technologies, a naval-nuclear reactor company that contracts for the National Nuclear Security Administration, announced Thursday that it promoted Robb LeMasters to chief financial officer and executive vice president. “Robb has played a key role in transforming the corporation by supporting organizational development and continuous improvement,” Rex Geveden, chief executive officer, said in a company […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries Wednesday named Kari Wilkinson, currently president of the company’s Ingalls Shipbuilding segments, as the incoming president of its nuclear shipbuilding operations in Virginia effective Jan. 1, 2025. The Newport News segment is HII’s largest, generating $6.1 billion in sales in 2023. Newport News has more than 26,000 shipbuilders. The business builds and […]

Howard Markle was appointed vice president and general manager of the BWX Technologies Nuclear Operations Group’s Lynchburg facility, the company said Friday. Markle now will be responsible for operations of the Lynchburg facility, a little less than 200 miles southwest by road from Washington, which makes the reactor cores for nuclear powered warships and submarines. […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ strong momentum in 2024 came to a halt in the third quarter due to challenges in shipbuilding and notably delays in an award from the Navy for submarine work. Net income in the quarter slid 32% to $101 million, or $2.56 earnings a share from $148 million or $3.70 a share a […]

State and federal agencies plan a public meeting this week to discuss cleanup plans for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. A cleanup strategy favored by DOE and the other agencies would cost more than $70 million and involve complete removal of the prototype intended to eliminate long-term environmental […]

A Department of Energy advisory board Wednesday endorsed DOE’s preferred cleanup plan for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The DOE Idaho Cleanup Project Citizens Advisory Board endorsed the $70-million cleanup option in a public meeting.  The public comment period on remediation of the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric […]

State and federal agencies plan a public meeting this week to discuss cleanup plans for a naval prototype reactor at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. The public comment period on remediation of the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric Prototype Facility and its defueled reactor vessel at the Idaho National Laboratory started Oct. 15 […]

Two years after a St. Louis-area school was closed following reports of radioactive contamination, Missouri lawmakers are laying groundwork for new state laws about risks from legacy nuclear-weapons, according to a statement by the Missouri House Speaker Rep. Dean Plocher (R). The eight-member Special Interim Committee on the Impact of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Programs on […]

The first boat in the Columbia-class fleet of nuclear-armed submarines will cost several times more than the shipbuilder and Navy estimate, the Government Accountability Office said this week in a new audit report. Those overruns are in addition to delays already disclosed by the Navy in an April shipbuilding report, the Government Accountability Office said. […]

Defense ministers from the U.K. and Australia last week said they will negotiate a new treaty related to Australian-made nuclear-powered submarines to be developed under the AUKUS agreement. During a press conference following a trilateral AUKUS defense ministerial meeting in London, British defense secretary John Healey announced that he and Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime […]

Defense ministers from the U.K. and Australia last week said they will negotiate a new treaty related to Australian-made nuclear-powered submarines to be developed under the AUKUS agreement. During a press conference following a trilateral AUKUS defense ministerial meeting in London, British defense secretary John Healey announced that he and Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime […]

The six-month continuing resolution voted down Wednesday in the House would have delayed completition of nuclear-powered submarines, among other things, the Secretary of the Navy wrote this week in a letter to congressional appropriators. In the letter, dated Sept. 12 and publicly released Monday, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro reiterated some points made […]

The six-month continuing resolution voted down Wednesday in the House would have delayed completition of nuclear-powered submarines, among other things, the Secretary of the Navy wrote this week in a letter to congressional appropriators. In the letter, dated Sept. 12 and publicly released Monday, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro reiterated some points made […]

The House speaker’s plan to extend federal agencies’ 2024 budgets into the first six months of fiscal year 2025 faced more opposition Tuesday from inside and outside of his own party. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a letter to congressional appropriators, dated Sept. 7, that a six-month continuing resolution would put the schedule […]