Vol. 30, No. 14 
NNSA budget increase driven by weapons activities, no nuclear testing line item
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Contracts & Procurement
Savannah River RFP deadline extended 2 weeks
The deadline for responses to the request for proposals (RFP) to take over management and operations for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Savannah River Site was extended from April 28 to May 13, according to a procurement notice. The highly anticipated RFP was released late February for a standalone performance-based contract, according to NNSA’s […]
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Budget & Policy
SASC head Dem won’t “rubber stamp a bloated, undisciplined budget’
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, criticized the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion defense spending request for fiscal 2027, specifically pushing back on the planned use of $350 billion in reconciliation funds. The White House released a high-level budget request April 3 that only listed some toplines. It requested almost […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
New Mexico watchdog groups call pit budget increase ‘out of control’
The Los Alamos Study Group and Nuclear Watch New Mexico published separate statements this week criticizing the Donald Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 request for an increase in funding plutonium pit production and decrease to nonproliferation and non-weapons science programs. “Throughout this budget it is global dominance, not global cooperation, that is the stated theme. U.S. […]
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Innovation & Infrastructure
Jessica Kunkle to lead NNSA Office of Infrastructure
Jessica Kunkle is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) newest acting associate administrator for the Office of Infrastructure, a spokesperson for the agency told Exchange Monitor Thursday. Kunkle will be taking over for Nicole Nelson-Jean, who as of March principal associate administrator of NNSA’s Office of Environment, Safety and Health. The Office of Infrastructure is […]
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International
Senate arms control Dems reintroduce bill on Saudi nuclear agreement
A bill has been reintroduced in the Senate by co-chairs of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, which would require Congressional approval for any nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. The legislation is by Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) It is called the “No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act,” […]
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Warhead & Weapons Development
UPF tunnel milestone reached at Y-12
Crews at the Y-12 National Security Complex have completed final concrete placement for a tunnel that will connect major sections of the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF’s) enriched uranium mission. The project—known as the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility Connector (HCON)— is “in the dry,” signifying completion of the tunnel roof, allowing installation of internal systems […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
BWXT works with NRC to license new nuclear facility
Lynchburg, Va.-based BWX Technologies (BWXT) said Tuesday it plans to apply for a uranium enrichment license to build a new defense nuclear facility in Erwin, Tenn. The nuclear fuel company notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) so the agency can prepare to review the application, which BWXT will submit during the first quarter of calendar […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
Air Force, DIU picks Buckley and Malmstrom bases for microreactors
The Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) said Wednesday it picked Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado and Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana as potential locations for nuclear microreactors. The decision comes under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program (ANPI), a partnership between the Air Force and DIU to deploy “advanced, […]
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International
Trump announces two week ceasefire in Iran on social media
President Donald Trump said on social media Tuesday evening a two-week ceasefire was negotiated between the United States and Iran to finalize an agreement between the two parties. “Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being […]
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Transuranic Waste
WIPP one of few EM sites selected for more money in DOE 2027 request
Most Department of Energy nuclear cleanup sites would receive modest reductions in their fiscal 2027 funding, under the budget justification document released over the weekend by the White House. The request for the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., is $483 million, an increase of 12% from […]
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Budget & Policy
Wrap up: House appropriations panel to review DOE budget; Bill to codify nuclear energy executive orders; NRC to license DOE, Pentagon reactors; Golf traffic near SRS; more
The House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development and related agencies scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, April 15 to review the Department of Energy’s budget request for fiscal 2027. This hearing comes after the White House issued a budget request for fiscal 2027 that would give $32.8 billion to the DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear […]