Publications: ExchangeMonitor Morning Briefing

ARLINGTON, VA – The W80-5, a new variant of the W80 warhead family, is on a “more aggressive schedule” to go on the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N), weapons directors said on the final day of Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Rita Gonzales, Deputy Laboratories Director for Nuclear Deterrence at Sandia National Laboratories, and Bradley […]

ARLINGTON, VA – To garner support for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers on federal land, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should “state its value propositions” early on, Senior Director at Microsoft Federal Bryan Lopez said here Wednesday. Lopez told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit that this goes a long way in helping hyperscalers consider […]

The Department of Energy issued a request for information (RFI) Wednesday seeking states interested in hosting Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses. The proposed campuses must support capabilities of the full nuclear fuel cycle, such as fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and disposal of waste, according to DOE’s press release. The approach could be more […]

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Air Force is considering modular missile silos to house the service’s future LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by Northrop Grumman, while using the same locations as the previous siloes. “My understanding is they [the Air Force] will largely use the same locations,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told reporters Wednesday […]

Westinghouse has partnered with Nordion and Public Service Enterprise Group Nuclear (PSEG) to launch the first commercial-scale production of Cobalt-60 in pressurized water reactors. Cobalt-60 is a critical isotope used in the medical field and other industries. Isotope uses include cancer radiation therapy, sterilizing medical devices and food irradiation.  Westinghouse, which designed the pressurized water […]

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Advisory Board (HAB) is looking for new members to help provide nuclear cleanup advice for the former plutonium production complex at Richland, Wash. Formed in 1994, HAB predates most other DOE Office of Environmental Management Advisory Boards. The panel provides “informed recommendations” to not only DOE but also the U.S. […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Charles Ball was named the lead for the Genesis Mission at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the agency’s head Brandon Williams said Tuesday in his keynote at Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. The Genesis Mission is an executive order from November by President Donald Trump which calls for a national effort […]

ARLINGTON, VA – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is embracing a culture of urgency and shifting from a scientific to production mindset, according to Administrator Brandon Williams Tuesday in his day 2 keynote at Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. “Urgency requires a fundamental, fundamental shift in how we work,” Williams said of the Department […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Scott Pappano, Principal Deputy Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), said Tuesday that Savannah River can still play a “supporting role” in pit production between now and the completion of its pit production facility. Pappano gave a keynote on the second day of Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. NNSA must […]

Nuclear power plants in the United States experienced fewer outages in the first three weeks of this year compared to 2025, according to a Monday report from the Energy Information Administration. From Jan. 1 to Jan. 21, nuclear power outages averaged two gigawatts or 2,000 megawatts, which is 20% less than the same period in […]

The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic device the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists uses to signify closeness to “global catastrophe” set another record closeness to midnight as of Tuesday. “A year ago, we warned that the world was perilously close to global disaster and that any delay in reversing course increased the probability of catastrophe,” the Manhattan […]

ARLINGTON, VA – The second-highest person at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Tuesday he is “absolutely considering contracting differently.” Scott Pappano, NNSA’s principal deputy administrator, gave a keynote on the second day of Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. “The world I came from, you know, in shipbuilding, advanced procurement was very much a […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Tuesday issued the much-anticipated draft solution for management and operation of the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. The draft request for proposals (RFP) said bidders will be encouraged to offer updated technical approaches to making plutonium pits at the complex. According to a Jan. 27 procurement document, […]

The Department of Energy has approved Antares Nuclear’s Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for its demonstration reactor under DOE’s reactor pilot program. Under the program, DOE has set out a goal of at least three reactors reaching criticality by July 4. Antares, founded in 2023, was one of the 10 companies selected for the program. The […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Centrus Energy has signed contracts worth $2.3 billion to provide low-enriched uranium to electric utilities and virtually all of it involves traditional LEU  Amir Vexler said here Tuesday. “The existing market is LEU,” Vexler told Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit, “There is no existing market for HALEU.” While HALEU is considered the […]

ARLINGTON, VA – Proposals are being assessed for contractors looking to build and power artificial intelligence (AI) data centers at Savannah River Site, the site’s field manager said in a panel on a snowy first day of  Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Due to inclement weather, Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration […]

ARLINGTON, VA – The site-wide environmental impact statement for Los Alamos National Laboratory powerline is done, the lab’s field office manager told the Exchange Monitor Monday on the first day of the Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Ted Wyka, field office manager for the Manhattan Project-era lab, said the lab is just waiting to finish up consultations […]

ARLINGTON, VA -The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and its contractors must modernize key infrastructure quickly, a Kiewit Nuclear executive said here Monday. “We are at an inflection point,” Mike Rinehart, president of Kiewit Nuclear Solutions, told Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit Monday afternoon. “The nuclear security enterprise is expected […]

The Huntington Ingalls Industries-led legacy waste contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico won 95% of its total available fee from the Department of Energy in fiscal 2025. Newport News Nuclear BWXT)-Los Alamos (N3B) earned more than $15.8 million out of a potential $16.7 million in fee for its 12 months of […]

BWX Technologies said Monday it has opened its Centrifuge Manufacturing Development in Oak Ridge, Tenn., supporting national defense-focused uranium enrichment for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).  BWXT, based in Lynchburg, Va., was awarded a $1.5 billion-value contract from NNSA in September to assist NNSA in creating a reliable supply of enriched […]

Canadian company General Fusion announced it has begun the process to become a publicly owned company. General Fusion, a British Columbia-based company, said in a Jan. 22 press release it has entered a definitive business combination agreement with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp.(SVAC) III. The proposed business combination is expected to be completed by mid-2026.  The […]

United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), the Amentum-led environmental contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, suspended onsite operations Monday Jan. 26 while ice removal takes place from recent inclement weather. “Only essential personnel who have been notified are to report to the worksite,” UCOR said in a Sunday night LinkedIn post. “Employees authorized to […]

The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed a record of 13 tritium extractions between fiscal 2025 and 2026, the agency said Jan. 23. This extraction amount was completed in nine months, the agency’s press release said. The previous record was eight extractions in 12 months between fiscal 2022 and 2023. “This […]

A Bechtel subsidiary received a $812 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for naval nuclear propulsion components by the Navy, according to the Jan. 21 contracts list on the Pentagon website. Bechtel Plant Machinery, based in Monroeville, Penn., is a prime contractor for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and is involved in many parts of the process for […]

Like much of the country, communities around the Department of Energy’s nuclear complex are coping with extreme winter weather as of Sunday afternoon. Based on a search of publicly available weather sites, DOE nuclear locales with some form of winter storm watches or advisories included Washington, D.C., the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the […]

Centrus Energy plans to expand its manufacturing plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn. at an investment of more than $560 million, according to the company’s Jan. 23 press release. The Bethesda, Md.-based uranium broker said the expansion of the Oak Ridge manufacturing plant supports its plans to expand the uranium enrichment plant at the Department of […]