Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

ARLINGTON, Va. — The scheduled rebaselining process is done at the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., an agency official told the Exchange Monitor here Monday. The Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) next-generation factory for nuclear-weapons secondary stages. Audrey Beldio, principal assistant deputy […]

Arlington, Va. — Gen. Anthony Cotton, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command is expected to give a fireside chat on the weapons complex during the annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit that begins Monday morning in Arlington, Va. Cotton is one of many players in the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the nuclear weapons enterprise […]

WASHINGTON — Jill Hruby, ex-administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said last week the B61-12 gravity bombs have been “fully forward deployed,” meaning stationed by a potential conflict area to respond to threats. “The new B61-12 gravity bombs are fully forward deployed, and we have increased NATO’s visibility to our nuclear capabilities through visits […]

WASHINGTON — Ahead of President Donald Trump’s (R) swearing-in, Jill Hruby, now former administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, advised the Trump administration to look at the agency’s enterprise blueprint. “I want to be clear that the blueprint is not a wish list,” Hruby said last week at a tell-all at Washington think tank […]

WASHINGTON — Ahead of President Donald Trump’s (R) swearing-in, Jill Hruby, now former administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, advised the Trump administration to look at the agency’s enterprise blueprint. “I want to be clear that the blueprint is not a wish list,” Hruby said last week at a tell-all at Washington think tank […]

WASHINGTON — Brandon Williams, a former one-term congressman from New York’s 22nd district, is President Donald Trump’s (R) pick to head the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration. Chris Wright, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Energy, told the Exchange Monitor here Wednesday after his confirmation hearing that he picked Williams personally for the […]

WASHINGTON — Jill Hruby, outgoing administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, told the next administration ‘don’t lose the momentum’ in a tell-all on the state of the nuclear enterprise Thursday. “I think, you know, there’s other people saying this as well,” Hruby told the Exchange Monitor after her comments at Washington think tank the […]

WASHINGTON — Brandon Williams, a former one-term congressman from New York’s 22nd district, is President Donald Trump’s (R) pick to head the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration. Chris Wright, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Energy, told the Exchange Monitor here Wednesday after his confirmation hearing that he picked Williams personally for the […]

WASHINGTON — Brandon Williams, a former one-term congressman from New York’s 22nd district, is President Donald Trump’s (R) pick to head the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration. Chris Wright, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Energy, told the Exchange Monitor here Wednesday after his confirmation hearing that he picked Williams personally for the […]

Sen. Catherine Cotez Masto (D-Nev.) said on the website X Thursday that she met with Chris Wright, president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Energy. “I sat down yesterday with Chris Wright to discuss his nomination to the Department of Energy,” Cortez Masto, whose district abuts the Nevada National Security Site, said on the site. […]

President Joe Biden on Dec. 23 signed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, setting spending limits for nuclear weapons and waste programs and changing parts of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s authorizing law. The Senate approved the bill on Dec. 17. The House approved it Dec. 11. The bill sets policy and spending limits for […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s plutonium facility had a fire start from a lightbulb’s melted plastic dripping onto glovebox parts in November, a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board report said. The fire went out before staff could discover it, and was small enough that the sprinklers did not activate, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican […]

The 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which the House passed on Wednesday, would set the National Nuclear Security Administration’s spending cap at $24.9 billion for the fiscal year. The number, hashed out last weekend behind closed doors by a bicameral conference committee, is only about 0.2%, or $57 million, less than what the White House […]

A bill unveiled Saturday authorizes the National Nuclear Security Administration to spend slightly less than requested in 2025 and makes the agency’s production facilities a legal part of U.S. nuclear deterrence. The agency would be allowed to spend about $24.9 billion in fiscal year 2025 under a compromise National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). That would […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration posted a source sought notice on sam.gov Tuesday for a contractor to purify and reprocess lithium hydride that the agency produces. Lithium is a component of producing tritium, which is used in the thermonuclear weapons maintained by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). According to the notice, NNSA targets recycling […]

WASHINGTON — The head of the U.S. Strategic Command told the Exchange Monitor here Tuesday he could have public conversations in the spring on the nuclear employment guidance. The report, which the Pentagon said it submitted to Congress Nov. 14, describes the U.S. nuclear employment strategy in an unclassified format. “I’ll probably have conversations in […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration conducted low-altitude helicopter flights starting Tuesday this week over Las Vegas, Nev. ahead of the city’s Grand Prix, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said. According to a post Monday from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on the website X, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) used its helicopters […]

WASHINGTON — The head of the U.S. Strategic Command told the Exchange Monitor here Tuesday he could have public conversations in the spring on the nuclear employment guidance. The report, which the Pentagon said it submitted to Congress Nov. 14, describes the U.S. nuclear employment strategy in an unclassified format. “I’ll probably have conversations in […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration will conduct low-altitude helicopter flights starting Tuesday this week over Las Vegas, Nev. ahead of the city’s Grand Prix, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said. According to a post Monday from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on the website X, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will use […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority began a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage Nov. 1 at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 1, the quasi-government corporation announced last week. A Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) spokesperson told the Monitor in an email that tritium-producing burnable absorber rods (TPBARs) are “loaded during a refueling outage, irradiated during one cycle, […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority began a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage Nov. 1 at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 1, the quasi-government corporation announced last week. A Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) spokesperson told the Monitor in an email that tritium-producing burnable absorber rods (TPBARs) are “loaded during a refueling outage, irradiated during one cycle, […]

According to data gathered by the Associated Press and other media, Donald Trump was reelected president with 277 electoral votes and almost every incumbent lawmaker with a big defense-nuclear constituency won reelection. While Trump and these lawmakers will return to Washington come January, U.S. voters also helped Republicans take back the majority in the Senate […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Latvia has made “clear improvements” to its nuclear and radiation safety, according to an agency press release last week. The government of Latvia requested that the Integrated Regulatory Review Service, which includes IAEA staff members, review the regulatory framework by the country’s Radiation Safety Centre of State Environmental Service […]

The Department of Energy’s $900-million solicitation for proposals to deploy small light-water reactors includes an “opportunity” for nuclear security aid that, the agency said, could make the reactors more exportable. DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations dropped the long-expected solicitation on Thursday, offering domestic teams of power consumers, utilities, reactor designers and construction contractors a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions appointed James Dawkins as chief operations officer and executive vice president, according to Dawkins’ LinkedIn profile Saturday. In Dawkins’ new dual role, he will oversee the management and operations of National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) related programs at Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., according […]

James Peery, who has a tenure of over 30 years at National Nuclear Security Administration laboratories, announced his retirement last week, Sandia National Laboratories confirmed to the Monitor Tuesday. Peery served as lab director for Sandia National Laboratories from January 2020 to present, according to his bio on Sandia’s website. A spokesperson for Sandia told […]

The story “NNSA, antis, get more time to negotiate agreement after agency loses pit lawsuit” [Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, Vol. 28 No. 39], should have said that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims said that “parties’ discussion and proposal should take into consideration Plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief.” The story should also have said […]

This Friday, Oct. 18, will mark the end of the official term for Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chair Joyce Connery, but Connery will stay on longer to prevent the panel from losing a quorum, a spokesperson said Wednesday. A “quorum saving provision” in Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) rules allows Connery to stay […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Tuesday published a vision for the U.S. nuclear-weapons production complex that could exist in the decades when the last nuclear-arms-control treaty lapses and China finishes a major military modernization. The fruit of a year of work, the 40-page Enterprise Blueprint published Tuesday, and provided to the Exchange Monitor under […]

This Friday, Oct. 18, will mark the end of the official term for Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Chair Joyce Connery, but Connery will stay on longer to prevent the panel from losing a quorum, a spokesperson said Wednesday. A “quorum saving provision” in Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) rules allows Connery to stay […]