Vol. 30, No. 15 
EnergySec: Los Alamos “actually manufacturing pits,” goal of 100 in admin, 80 per year by 2030
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Plutonium Pit Production
After settlement, NNSA releases draft EIS for pit production
The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said last week it is preparing a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for producing the fissile cores of the nation’s nuclear weapons, or plutonium pit production. As part of the environmental review, required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NNSA must open the review […]
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International
Trump says Iran handing over uranium after U.S.-Iran talks reach stalemate
President Donald Trump said Thursday on Truth Social Tehran agreed to give up the uranium buried after the Midnight Hammer airstrikes in June 2025, which would greatly reduce Iran’s ability to construct a nuclear weapon if true. Tehran has not yet confirmed the agreement, according to the Washington Post. Earlier this week, U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations […]
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
Solid rocket motors in production for first 5 Sentinel flight tests
Solid rocket motors for the first five Air Force flight tests of the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) are in construction, the company said on Monday. “Every propulsive element of the Sentinel missile has been prototyped and tested,” according to the company press release. “Northrop Grumman has assembled the first three-stage […]
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Warhead & Weapons Development
Nakhleh becomes deputy director for weapons at Los Alamos lab
Charles Nakhleh became the new deputy director for weapons at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico effective April 1, lab management announced recently. Nakhleh assumes the post following the March 31 retirement of Robert Webster, who finished up a 40-year career with the nuclear security enterprise, according to a recent […]
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
Lockheed Martin wins near billion-dollar Trident II contract mod
Lockheed Martin Space has secured an $850.4 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy to continue work on the Trident II (D5) Life Extension 2 program, according to a Defense Department announcement. The cost-plus-incentive-fee modification supports advanced design and development efforts tied to the Strategic Systems Programs’ Shipboard Systems Program (SSP) Alteration initiative, the Pentagon […]
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International
IAEA confirms North Korea is expanding nuclear complex
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Wednesday North Korea has made a “very serious increase” to progress on its Yongbyon nuclear weapons complex, with expansions possibly including a new uranium enrichment facility. Grossi made his comments at a filmed press conference in Seoul, South Korea, where he met with South […]
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
Report advises Air Force to rebuild strategic attack capacity
A wargame conducted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies suggested that a stand-in, penetrating force of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber for strategic attack were key to blunting a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, is advising the Air Force to buy […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Woman pleads guilty to stealing $54K of Savannah River Site pension money
A South Carolina woman pleaded guilty last week to stealing money from her deceased relative’s pension benefits earned from working at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. On April 9, the Department of Justice announced Effie Mae Youmans, 71, of Columbia, admitted to theft of public money by wrongly collecting someone else’s pension benefits. […]
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Transuranic Waste
Post-outage, WIPP receives 25 shipments in March
The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) recorded 25 transuranic (TRU) waste shipments in March, following an annual maintenance outage that kept it offline since January. The 25 shipments are the first since the facility accepted 33 shipments in December, and an uptick from March 2024 when WIPP received 13 shipments, according to […]
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Defense & Military
Wrap up: Swalwell resignation; Another HII MOU for AI-shipbuilding; Trump trillion-dollar defense budget ‘new normal’; Another state removes cesium irradiators; more
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), whose district abuts Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said this week he plans to resign from Congress and withdraw from the California governor’s race following a series of sexual misconduct allegations. At this point at least four women, including a former staffer, accused Swalwell, with one saying he drugged her before assaulting […]