Vol. 29, No. 27

International

IAEA says inspectors ‘safely’ depart from Iran, power still cut at Zaporizhzhia

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency departed from Iran on July 4 to return to headquarters in Vienna, the agency said on the X social media platform that day. The inspectors had been in Tehran “throughout the recent military conflict,” the post said. The agency’s director general Rafael Grossi also “reiterated the crucial importance […]
  • Budget & Policy

    Megabill gives billions extra to NNSA, nuclear triad

    President Donald Trump signed into law last week the massive reconciliation bill that would appropriate millions in extra funds to the National Nuclear Security Administration. The funds, part of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that includes $150 billion for defense purposes, would be available in fiscal 2025 through the end of fiscal 2029. The National […]

  • Budget & Policy

    Trump’s mega-reconciliation bill with $150 billion for defense becomes law

    The House last Thursday voted 218-214 to pass the massive reconciliation bill with $150 billion for defense that the Pentagon has built into its fiscal year 2026 spending plans. After consideration of the tax and spending bill went through the night in the lower chamber, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed by President Trump […]

  • Budget & Policy

    Hawley praises inclusion of radiation compensation in megabill

    The final version of the budget reconciliation package signed into law July 4 by President Donald Trump includes a long-sought bipartisan proposal to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). “After nearly two years of negotiations—and two separate passages of RECA packages by the Senate in 2023 and 2024,” the RECA expansion was included in […]

  • Budget & Policy

    Supreme Court declines to block mass layoff plans

    The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday said the White House can go ahead with plans for major layoffs and restructuring of the federal government while legal challenges play out, according to media reports. The Washington Post  and other media outlets reported Tuesday afternoon that the high court elected not to block planning for mass layoffs at […]

  • Naval Nuclear Propulsion

    HII looks to accelerate shipbuilding with C3.ai partnership

    U.S. Navy shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and enterprise AI application software company C3.ai, Inc. have expanded their partnership aimed at accelerating shipbuilding throughput. In a June 30 announcement, the companies said the new agreement expands their preexisting partnership to now integrate artificial intelligence (AI) solutions across shipbuilding operations like planning, operations, supply chain, labor […]

  • Contracts & Procurement

    Nuclear contractors to report earnings in coming weeks

    Several publicly-traded companies doing business within the Department of Energy weapons complex are scheduled to report earnings in the coming weeks. Here is a rundown of currently scheduled earnings releases and conference calls.  July 31: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News, Va., will report its second quarter earnings results, the company said in a press release. […]

  • Transuranic Waste

    DNFSB seeks DOE briefing on WIPP emergency escapeway

    The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has asked the Department of Energy for a briefing on plans to refurbish an old shaft and hoist relied upon for emergency evacuation of underground workers at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). “Despite long-standing recognition of underlying problems, age-related degradation and technical obsolescence issues with the shafts […]

  • Transuranic Waste

    WIPP shipment rates gradually rebounding, GAO finds

    The Department of Energy’s underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste is still well behind its shipment rate from before a major accident in 2014, but things are gradually rebounding, according to the Government Accountability Office. “According to DOE officials, WIPP [the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.] had been receiving as many as […]

  • International

    Wrap up: UK and France coordinate nuclear arsenals; U.S.-Thailand 1-2-3 agreement; Bacon won’t seek reelection; B61-12 joins Royal Air Force; Senate confirms energy undersecretary; more

    Europe’s two nuclear-armed powers France and the United Kingdom agreed to coordinate their nuclear arsenals, both countries’ leaders announced in a press release Thursday. The decision comes as French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K.’s prime minister Keir Starmer signed a series of defense agreements. “From war in Europe, to new nuclear risks and daily cyber-attacks […]

Get Published in ExchangeMonitor Publications