Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Los Alamos National Laboratory exceeded its fiscal 2026 production goals and finished the year with a plutonium pit production rate 2.6 times its original target, Laboratory Director Thom Mason said during the lab’s final virtual town hall of the year. Mason called it the most successful period in the history of PF-4, the lab’s plutonium […]

Hopefully, readers won’t notice any difference but Exchange Monitor Publications was affected by that big Microsoft Outlook outage on Thursday. The outage, sandwiched between Veterans Day on Wednesday and Friday the 13th, made for an interesting week. Our information technology folks informed us early Friday that our email traffic was resuming. That said, if you […]

House Republicans on Tuesday evening voted to block an attempt to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In a 211-204 vote, the House moved to refer Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Ky.) articles of impeachment against Hegseth to the Judiciary Committee rather than bring them up for a floor vote, effectively stalling the effort. Nevertheless, Democrats have signaled […]

Public meetings to gather community input on the U.S. Air Force’s future LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by Northrop Grumman are to restart this month. The town halls will restart as the service prepares a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) brought on by the program’s 2024 Nunn-McCurdy critical cost breach and the resulting program […]

A recount in the middle of the night Wednesday confirmed the reelection of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), whose district abuts Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., according to local publication Post and Courier. Wilson fought off a challenge from 25-year-old Democrat Zyon Khalifa, who was just 2,840 votes from nearly unseating the senior congressman. The […]

Fairbanks Morse Defense last week said it won a $99 million four-year contract to provide repair and parts for submarine Emergency Diesel Generator (EDG) overhauls on six U.S. Navy submarines. The company and Navy did not specify which submarines will get the EDG overhauls. This award is part of the Navy’s mitigation strategy to extend […]

BURBANK, Calif. — Former National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Jill Hruby said the U.S. government needs to rebuild its understanding of nuclear weapons’ effects as it weighs deterrence in a changing strategic environment involving Russia, China and other nuclear-armed states. At the third annual Outrider Nuclear Media Summit, held Oct. 22-23 at Warner Bros. Studios, […]

With the Democratic Party seizing the majority in Congress, coupled with retirements on both sides of the aisle, the Senate Appropriations Committee will look a lot different in January 2027 than it did a year earlier. Current Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) lost her re-election bid to political newcomer Troy Jackson (D) last week ending her […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, Tenn., has been qualified by the feds to make a “binary” alloy for the first time in 20 years that could help modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said in a Nov. 5 press release that Y-12 has […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant plans (WIPP) currently plans to begin a nearly six-month outage for waste hoist upgrades in July 2027, with work expected to finish in early January 2028, officials said during a Nov. 4 community forum. The work will include upgrades to the waste hoist control and electrical systems, […]

Democrats’ sweeping victories in last week’s midterms, taking back control of the House and Senate, are set to reshape key spots atop defense committees, to include House Armed Services panels and Senate appropriations leadership.  Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who handily won his reelection bid and announced plans to run again for House Armed Services Committee […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Monday that contractors have broken ground on what will be a new 22,000-square-foot office center at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. NNSA and construction contractor Hensel Phelps broke ground Nov. 4 on the Savannah River Office Complex located in the Site’s H Area, […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy’s top submarine commander said the service will not accept an operational gap in its sea-based nuclear deterrent as it moves from Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines to the new Columbia class. Vice Adm. Rick Seif, commander of U.S. Submarine Forces, called the transition his “number one priority” during remarks at the […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – China’s expanding submarine production and seabed-mapping challenge the U.S. undersea advantage that underpins both conventional operations and the nation’s deterrent, as Beijing is increasingly targeting areas around key American operating locations, according to Vice Adm. Chris Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Forces, said China has launched eight Shang-class submarines […]

The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Colorado (SSN-788) arrived at HMAS Stirling on Oct. 27 to start a scheduled month-long maintenance period, the fourth such submarine maintenance period in the region since AUKUS’s establishment, according to a Navy press release.  This came days after the Pentagon announced SSN-788 will be the first American Virginia-class submarine assigned […]

As the Democrats flip both the House and Senate in the midterm elections, the leadership of several committees will change drastically.  As of Thursday evening, the Associated Press and other national media outlets have projected the Democrats to win more than 250 seats in the House and hold at least 54 seats. The new session […]

Earnings rose at Fluor, Irving, Texas, in the third quarter, which the engineering and construction company with extensive government contracts, attributed to strong markets for energy and infrastructure. Net earnings for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 were $158 million or $1.16 a share up from a loss of $697 million or a loss of […]

Viewers did not need to stay up late Tuesday night to hear most major national news outlets had declared that the Democratic Party had won control of both the U.S. House of Representatives as well as the Senate as that was determined by 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time.  CBS News reported early Wednesday morning that Democrats […]

The United States Navy has selected its Naval Weapons Stations in Crane, Ind. to support large-scale advanced nuclear power generation at the naval installation. Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao announced on Oct. 28 at the 5th annual Northeast Indiana Defense Summit, hosted by Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), that the Navy is seeking proposals […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The National Nuclear Security Administration is exploring changes to its acquisition practices that could make it easier for commercial companies and firms without extensive NNSA experience to compete for work. B.J. Quigley, NNSA’s senior procurement executive, said at the Energy Technology and Environmental Business Association’s (ETEBA) annual conference last week the agency […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory plans to demolish roughly one-third of its primary Livermore, Calif. footprint over the next 16 years as it clears space and reduces infrastructure risk to make way for new mission capabilities. Mark Costella, transition and disposition program manager at LLNL, said at the Energy Technology and Environmental Business […]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, wants small and mid-sized U.S. businesses to help rapidly rebuild the agency’s nuclear production infrastructure, calling the effort a “national security imperative” amid sweeping modernization across the enterprise. Speaking at the Energy Technology and Environmental Business Association’s (ETEBA) annual conference last week, Williams […]

General Dynamics (GD) last week reported strong sales and earnings in the third quarter led by the company’s shipbuilding business followed by the Aerospace segment, the company said on its quarterly earnings call. Overall, in the quarter, GD’s net income rose 16% to $1.2 billion, $4.49 earnings per share (EPS), from $1.1 billion ($3.88 EPS) […]

Bethesda, Md.-based uranium broker Centrus Energy reported mixed results in its earnings for the third quarter, seeing a gain in its quarterly income, but a decrease in net revenue. Net income for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 was $31.6 million, or about $1.53 a share, up from $3.9 million, or $0.21 a share, in […]

Raytheon received an $8 billion contract from the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center that runs through 2036 to support the modernization and production restart of Strategic Communications Terminals. Raytheon, based in Marlborough, Mass., was awarded the maximum-ceiling, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity contract for developmental modernization, production restart services and technical studies associated with the Air Force Nuclear […]

Earnings rose at Lynchburg, Va.- based BWX Technology (BWXT) in the third quarter, which the company attributed to trends in energy security challenges requiring nuclear solutions. Net earnings for the third quarter ended were $102 million, or $1.11 a share, up from $82.2 million, or $0.89 a share, in the year-ago quarter, according to the […]

Betty Huck has taken over as manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Savannah River Field Office, overseeing more than $2.9 billion in annual contracts at the South Carolina site, according to a Nov. 2 press release. Huck succeeds Michael Mikolanis as field office manager, after Mikolanis announced in September he was moving back to […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) reported strong third quarter financial results driven by strong shipbuilding sales, profit on the Virginia-class attack submarine program, and milestones achieved in unmanned maritime systems. Net income soared 50% to $217 million, $5.48 earnings per share (EPS), from $145 million ($3.68 EPS) a year ago. Sales increased 11% to $3.5 billion […]

Three large Lithium-Ion batteries from the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), near Carlsbad, N.M., are being shipped to Pittsburgh where government researchers will study potential mine-fire risks. DOE and WIPP prime Salado Isolation Mining Contractors have reached an Inter-Agency Agreement with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The batteries […]