Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), told the Exchange Monitor Wednesday it is “certainly not my job to agree” with President Donald Trump on whether to return to nuclear testing. “You know, the president is the Commander in Chief, the president will make all of these decisions,” Williams said in response […]

Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit will feature speeches from big nuclear weapons complex players, including National Nuclear Security Administration head Brandon Williams and the first public appearance by newly sworn-in U.S. Strategic Command commander Adm. Richard Correll. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) whose state houses silos for the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, will also speak. […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management has hired a longtime federal hand, Lara Beasley, to be its deputy director.   Beasley comes to DOE Legacy Management from DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Legacy Management office announced in a December press release. A native of the Chicago area, Beasley has worked with […]

Brandon Williams, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), will give the keynote speech at an event hosted by the House Nuclear Security Working Group, Bechtel and the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance Deterrence Center on the Capitol Wednesday. The Congressional Nuclear Security Working Group is chaired by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), whose district abuts […]

The annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit will feature speeches from big players in the nuclear weapons complex such as National Nuclear Security Administration head Brandon Williams, newly sworn in U.S. Strategic Command commander Adm. Richard Correll, and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) whose state houses silos for the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missiles. The agenda will also feature […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Dec. 23 it was renewing a $25 million grant for five more years to a consortium of nine universities for research and development in nuclear science, engineering and security. The Nuclear Science and Security Consortium (NSSC) will fund $5 million every year for five years […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Dec. 23 it was renewing a $25 million grant for five more years to a consortium of nine universities for research and development in nuclear science, engineering and security. The Nuclear Science and Security Consortium (NSSC) will fund $5 million every year for five years […]

Here’s the timeline for NNSA contracts at key DOE weapons complex sites The Department of Energy, hires private companies to oversee and manage the facilities in its weapons complex, including the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). These prime, or management and operating (M&O) contractors, normally consist of joint ventures between companies, and are not only […]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) wrote a letter Dec. 16 to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright asking DOE to review the need and scope of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) pit production program. Warren and Garamendi are both members of their respective chambers’ Armed Services Committees and of the bicameral […]

As it has for major events in the past, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will make low-altitude helicopter flights over the Las Vegas Strip area leading up to New Year’s Eve celebrations in the desert city. The flights by NNSA’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) Aerial Measuring System aircraft will measure […]

Amid an administration change, government layoffs and a lapse in funding that led to the longest government shutdown in history, here were the top stories in 2025 involving nuclear deterrence and the National Nuclear Security Administration. To kick off the year in January, shortly after the conclusion of now-Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s Senate confirmation hearing […]

As it has for major events in the past, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will make low-altitude helicopter flights over the Las Vegas Strip area leading up to New Year’s Eve celebrations in the desert city. The flights by NNSA’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) Aerial Measuring System aircraft will measure […]

The husband-and-wife team at the helm of Longenecker & Associates (L&A) have pledged to donate $500,000 over time to the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas. Longenecker & Associates said in a Dec. 9 press release that L&A CEO John Longenecker and Founder/Board Chair Bonnie Longenecker have made an immediate grant of $250,000 to […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed the last production unit of the W88 Alteration 370, a program to modernize the W88 nuclear warhead over several years, NNSA announced Tuesday. The W88 nuclear warhead entered the stockpile in late 1988 and is deployed in the U.S. Navy’s Ohio-class Trident II D5 Submarine-Launched […]

Crews at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site recently finished drilling two new groundwater monitoring wells and making a third one deeper, DOE’s nuclear cleanup office said Tuesday. Data from the new wells on Pahute Mesa should improve groundwater monitoring at the longtime nuclear testing site, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said in […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed the last production unit of the W88 Alteration 370, a program to modernize the W88 nuclear warhead over several years, NNSA announced Tuesday. The W88 nuclear warhead entered the stockpile in late 1988 and is deployed in the U.S. Navy’s Ohio-class Trident II D5 Submarine-Launched […]

Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. recently downgraded Building 9206 from nuclear facility status to radiologically contaminated, local publication The Oak Ridger said Monday. Building 9206 was constructed in 1944 and was used for processes such as uranium recovery and processing, as well as chemical recycling. The Y-12 building was shut down in […]

The U.S. Senate has confirmed David Beck as deputy administrator for defense programs at the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Beck was confirmed as part of a large bloc of Donald Trump administration nominees. NNSA announced Beck’s confirmation in a Thursday social media post. “Beck has over 40 years of experience in […]

Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. recently downgraded Building 9206 from nuclear facility status to radiologically contaminated, local publication The Oak Ridger said Monday. Building 9206 was constructed in 1944 and was used for processes such as uranium recovery and processing, as well as chemical recycling. The Y-12 building was shut down in […]

As the Air Force considers when to hold its first flight test in its Northrop Grumman-developed Sentinel missile, Lockheed Martin has received a nearly $454 million contract add-on from the Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The add-on is for the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile’s (ICBM) Mk21A re-entry vehicle. […]

In an email sent out to agency employees, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) head Brandon Williams warned of the consequences of disseminating classified or sensitive information. “It saddens me that this message is necessary,” Williams opened his Nov. 22 email viewed by Exchange Monitor, “but past actions by NNSA-affiliated personnel have undermined national leadership’s confidence […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) approved Critical Decision-4, or the completion of the final stage of construction, for the Process Support Facilities subproject for the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at Y-12 National Security Complex. “With the completion of the Process Support Facilities [PSF] at UPF, the team is one step closer to delivering this […]

North and South Dakota Sens. John Hoeven (R) and Mike Rounds (R), respectively, said the Northrop Grumman future intercontinental ballistic missile Sentinel will be under the Golden Dome project in upcoming defense bills. “The project itself, it will be a part of an Iron Dome project, or a Golden Dome Project,” Rounds told the Exchange […]

North and South Dakota Sens. John Hoeven (R) and Mike Rounds (R), respectively, said the Northrop Grumman future intercontinental ballistic missile Sentinel will be under the Golden Dome project in upcoming defense bills. “The project itself, it will be a part of an Iron Dome project, or a Golden Dome Project,” Rounds told the Exchange […]

In an email sent out to agency employees, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) head Brandon Williams warned of the consequences of disseminating classified or sensitive information. “It saddens me that this message is necessary,” Williams opened his Nov. 22 email viewed by Exchange Monitor, “but past actions by NNSA-affiliated personnel have undermined national leadership’s confidence […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) approved Critical Decision-4, or the completion of the final stage of construction, for the Process Support Facilities subproject for the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at Y-12 National Security Complex. “With the completion of the Process Support Facilities [PSF] at UPF, the team is one step closer to delivering this […]

Valar Atomics said this week that its technology has achieved zero-power criticality at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site. Hawthrone, Calif.-based nuclear company Valar Atomics said in a Monday press release its tests began Nov.12 and zero-power criticality was achieved Monday at 11:45 […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Thursday announced reorganization of the Department of Energy with a prominent role in the organizational chart for the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The reorganization is designed “to strengthen DOE’s ability to execute President Trump’s bold agenda to restore American energy dominance,” Wright said in a press release. “This […]

Laura McGill, director of Sandia National Laboratories, announced Thursday she was “absolutely confident” in the nation’s nuclear stockpile and had completed the lab’s annual certification of the stockpile. The stockpile assessment letter, which is addressed to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and will then go to Congress and the President, was finalized Sept. 22, the […]

Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), the Bechtel-led contractor team that oversees the Y-12 National Security Complex, is looking at office space near the facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. CNS recently took in expressions of interest (EOI) from potential suppliers of office space located within five to 20 miles of the Y-12 complex at the Department of […]