Vol. 24, No. 47 
Congress Approves FY21 NDAA With Veto-Proof Margin, Passes Short-Term Budget Extension
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Another Big Jump in NNSA Covid Cases, With More Fatalities This Week
The National Nuclear Security Administration had more than 300 new confirmed COVID-19 cases last week, including two more fatal cases, a spokesperson said Friday. The semi-autonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapons agency tracked 311 new confirmed cases among contractors and civil servants of the viral disease caused by the novel coronavirus that broke out in China […]
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Budget & Policy
Five Lawmakers From DOE Nuclear Districts Back Texas Lawsuit to Overturn Election Results in Swing States
Among the 106 Republican members of the House of Representatives filing an amicus brief with a Texas lawsuit challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election — which President Donald Trump has claimed without evidence was compromised by widespread fraud — were five lawmakers whose districts include Department of Energy nuclear weapon sites. “This brief […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
One More Month to Narrow Down Tech Choice for New Domestic Uranium Enrichment, NNSA Says
The coronavirus pandemic pushed a choice between two competing defense-uranium enrichment technologies to January from December, the National Nuclear Security Administration said Wednesday. It’s the second time this year the agency has delayed the day of reckoning between the AC100 technology that Centrus Energy Corp., Bethesda, Md., started developing around 2012, and a smaller-scale enrichment […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Little Chance of Deviating From Obama, Trump Nuclear Posture Reviews, HASC Chair Says
Even in a government where Democrats will control the White House and at least one chamber of Congress, political consensus appears to favor continuing the nuclear modernization program the Barack Obama administration started in 2016, the head of the House Armed Services Committee said Monday. “Any effort to change that is running into very strong […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Fluor’s Q3 Revenue Dips; Company Returns to Regular Reporting Sked
Fluor, Irving, Texas, reported a dip in total revenue for the 2020 third quarter, even as its government sector enjoyed higher profits in the three months ended Sept. 30. Perhaps most significantly about the earnings press release issued Thursday morning is that it marks a sort of return to normalcy for the company, which has been scrutinized […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Pentagon Appoints Ex-NNSA Administrator Gordon-Hagerty to Advisory Board
A little over a month after the secretary of energy demanded her resignation as head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Donald Trump administration welcomed Lisa Gordon-Hagerty back into the fold, appointing her to a Pentagon advisory board. The Department of Defense announced Wednesday that Gordon-Hagerty will join its Defense Policy Board, potentially giving […]
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Budget & Policy
CORRECTION
The story “Compromise NDAA Also a Compromise on DOE, Pentagon Control Over Civilian Nuke Budget” (Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor Vol. 24. No. 46) should have said that, under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, if the Nuclear Weapons Council determines the secretary of energy’s proposed budget for the NNSA is inadequate, the White House […]