Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Y-12 National Security Complex has powered up two furnaces at its Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) for the first time, marking a milestone in testing equipment intended to support the site’s nuclear security mission. The initial startup of sintering and microwave casting furnaces begins a testing program for the new facility, according to an Oct. 8 […]

Early delivery of equipment for a Savannah River Site (SRS) training facility is helping accelerate preparations for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) plutonium pit production mission, the agency said in a press release. NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Scott Pappano visited SRS in September to review construction of the High-Fidelity Training and Operations Center (HFTOC), […]

BWX Technologies has received a contract worth approximately $189 million to manufacture nuclear reactor fuel for the U.S. Navy, the company said Oct. 1. The award calls for BWXT subsidiary Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) in Erwin, Tenn., to manufacture and deliver fuel for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. Work is scheduled to be completed in […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has promoted Greg Ennis to senior vice president and chief financial officer of its Mission Technologies division, the company announced Oct. 2. Ennis will lead Mission Technologies’ financial organization and oversee accounting, financial reporting, financial planning and analysis, rates and budgets, and program cost control across the division, HII said. Ennis […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Oct. 1 that Russia could use nuclear weapons if NATO attacked Kaliningrad, renewing Moscow’s nuclear threats amid growing military tensions between Russia and the alliance. Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club, Putin said Russia would respond to an attack on its territory with “all weapons” available to it, according to […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence currently has a vacancy available for its director position, according to a job posting on usajobs.gov. “I can personally attest that this is a uniquely important, demanding, and satisfying position, serving as both the senior intelligence officer/advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Energy and […]

Anduril Industries and the White House Tuesday announced plans for a new 2 million square foot shipbuilding facility in Maryland that will focus on producing Virginia-class attack submarine (SSN) parts. The new facility, built with a combined $6.6 billion in private capital investment and federal contracting, will be called Arsenal-2 as a nod to Anduril’s […]

The Navy awarded more than $170 million in Trident II D5-related contracts Oct. 1, extending flight-test, missile operations, rocket motor storage and other support as the Columbia-class submarine program moves toward service entry. The largest award, a $46.85 million contract to L3Harris Technologies’ Interstate Electronics Corp., covers engineering, logistics, installation, operation, maintenance and modification of […]

Members of the New Mexico Congressional delegation serving the area around the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) have lined up $10 million for upkeep of the haul road leading to the nation’s only disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste. The federal money will help shore up the U.S. 285 Relief Route, a […]

The Air Force and Northrop Grumman have broken ground on a new B-21 Raider final assembly line in Palmdale, Calif., putting a previously announced effort to accelerate bomber production into construction. The new assembly line at Air Force Plant 42 is part of over a million square feet of planned facilities expected to increase annual […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has completed all W80-4 nuclear warhead components planned for fiscal year 2026 months ahead of schedule, giving the agency additional schedule margin as it works toward delivering the first complete warhead in September 2027. The milestone was reached at the Kansas City National Security Campus, where production teams completed the […]

V2X has been awarded a position on a $46 million U.S. Air Force delivery order to produce equipment supporting integration of the Long Range Standoff (LRSO) cruise missile onto the B-52 bomber. The Reston, Va.-based company will provide carriage equipment under the Air Force’s Carriage Equipment Production Effort for the LRSO program, according to a […]

Korte Construction Co. has received a $52.4 million contract to build a nuclear command, control and communications acquisition management facility in Bedford, Mass., according to the Defense Department. The St. Louis, Mo.-based construction company was awarded a firm-fixed-price contract valued at $52,361,853, with a total cumulative face value of $55,415,514, the Pentagon’s Sept. 22 contract […]

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have reaffirmed commitment to building the “constructive relationship of strategic stability” pledged in May, but the two countries have yet to establish its meaning for growing nuclear and strategic competition. The leaders agreed during Xi’s Sept. 23-25 visit to Washington to build a strategic-stability relationship based on […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Pentagon’s Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) have signed an agreement to strengthen information sharing and cooperation on counter-unmanned aircraft systems. The memorandum of understanding establishes a framework for NNSA and JIATF-401 to exchange counter-UAS test data, research and operational insights as the agencies work to address evolving […]

The Department of Energy is preparing a Manhattan Project-era facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex for demolition while recovering equipment that can be reused across dozens of National Nuclear Security Administration facilities. The department’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and NNSA are working with their respective contractors, United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) […]

The Navy’s W93/Mk7 nuclear warhead and reentry system has entered the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase after achieving Milestone B, advancing the first new U.S. nuclear warhead program initiated in nearly four decades. The Navy’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive Strategic Systems Programs announced Sept. 24 that the W93/Mk7 program had entered the EMD phase of […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration conducted a “subsurface, non-nuclear chemical high-explosive experiment” at the Nevada National Security Site aimed at improving U.S. detection of low-yield nuclear explosions, the agency said Sept. 30. The experiment was conducted in the P Tunnel in Area 12 at NNSS and involved chemical high explosives and radiotracers, according to the […]

The Savannah River Plutonium Production Facility (SRPPF) in South Carolina will have 305 gloveboxes, the president of the operations contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) told a state nuclear panel Friday. “The main process building will have over 300 — 305,” said Jeff Griffin, president of Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions […]

BWXT Technologies (BWXT) sees a potential multibillion-dollar opportunity as the U.S. government rebuilds domestic nuclear-fuel capabilities for national security, including enrichment capacity and production of unobligated uranium, company executives said during a Sept. 29 investor day. The company is currently working under a roughly $1.5 billion National Nuclear Security Administration contract to develop capabilities for […]

The Navy on Tuesday announced it took “preliminary acceptance” of the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) aircraft carrier from Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) to work on testing and build crew experience while the company completes final ship systems. The service said this process will allow the crew to conduct at-sea testing […]

The Department of Energy is planning to renew another multiple year funding agreement with the Nye County, Nev. Sheriff’s office to help protect the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), located 65 miles outside of Las Vegas. The department will conclude its current two-year agreement with Nye County on Dec. 31. The existing cooperative agreement provides […]

Two Department of Energy contractors, one in in charge of operations and the other responsible for liquid waste and cleanup, touted recent developments at the Savannah River Site Thursday a meeting of the South Carolina Governor’s Nuclear Advisory Council (GNAC), A $1.4 billion training facility to support the Savannah River Plutonium Production Facility (SRPPF) is […]

Northrop Grumman has opened a new manufacturing facility in Utah as the Air Force increases B-21 Raider production capacity, backed by billions of dollars in procurement funding for the next-generation nuclear-capable bomber. The company opened its 845,000-square-foot East Gate 3 facility in Layton, Utah, Sept. 9., according to a company release. The expansion brings Northrop’s […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has not established clear criteria for when to use separate contract line items, potentially limiting oversight of major nuclear security projects, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. NNSA spent nearly $24 billion in fiscal 2025 on nine multiyear management and operating contracts that cover the government-owned sites […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is seeking a 29% fiscal 2027 budget increase to accelerate weapons production and new capabilities, and critics are questioning if this would be more money than NNSA can effectively spend. The proposed $32.8 billion NNSA budget would direct much of the increase toward Weapons Activities, which accounts for about 84% […]

Northrop Grumman has received a potential nine-year, $508.5 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to provide flight test and logistics support for remaining intermediate- and intercontinental-range ballistic missile targets. The cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-reimbursable and fixed-price-incentive contract covers flight test support for the remaining intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) targets in MDA’s inventory, as well as […]