Vol. 29, No. 48

Plutonium Pit Production

Pits, NNSA funding, the future of weapons testing: A look at key 2025 nuclear security stories

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 […]
  • Plutonium Pit Production

    Warren, Garamendi question EnergySec on ‘taxpayer waste’ in pit production, special study

    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 […]

  • Naval Nuclear Propulsion

    Lawmakers give Navy flexibility on sub procurements

    The fiscal year 2026 defense authorization bill is giving the Navy some flexibility in how it buys Columbia-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). The compromise bill, signed by President Donald Trump Dec. 18, allows the Navy to procure up to five Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines starting next year.  The explanatory statement released with the bill […]

  • Contracts & Procurement

    Here’s the timeline for NNSA contracts at key DOE weapons complex sites

    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 […]

  • Cleanup & Remediation

    DOE recovering key isotopes from Cold War era material

    The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and other Department of Energy branches said last week they have made big strides toward recovering rare plutonium-244 from old Cold War-era material at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. A new radiochemical separation capability successfully recovered valuable isotopes from a Mark-18A target at the Savannah River National […]

  • Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile

    NNSA copters to hover over Vegas strip for New Year’s Eve

    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 […]

  • International

    Wrap Up: Bechtel unit wins Pentagon contract; Orano strikes deal for space fuel: Longenecker donates to museum

    A Bechtel National company has landed a Department of Defense contract modification worth nearly $928 million for naval nuclear propulsion components, the Pentagon said last week. Bechtel Plant Machinery., Monroeville, Pa., was awarded the modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, according to a Dec. 19 summary of contract news from the Pentagon. About two-thirds […]

  • News & Analysis

    Publication Notice:

    In observance of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, Nuclear Security and Deterrence Monitor will not publish again until Friday Jan. 9. Exchange Monitor staffers are off Dec. 25-26 as well as Jan. 1-2. The Monitor wishes you a happy and safe holiday season!

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