Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Exchange Monitor is modernizing its web footprint and rebranding some newsletters to better reflect the markets we serve and the beats we cover. ExchangeMonitor.com is still the online home for the news and analysis you have come to rely upon over the years. Only now it has a dramatically better search ability and functionality. Exchange […]

With less than three weeks to go before the Nov. 3 general election, here is a look at some of the key House of Representatives and Senate races around Department of Energy nuclear weapons sites. The sites and races are listed alphabetically.  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California: Rep. Lateefah Simon (D) is seeking re-election […]

Golden Dome could strengthen U.S. nuclear deterrence by protecting elements of the nuclear triad and other strategic infrastructure from conventional and nuclear missile attacks, panelists said this week. The discussion, hosted Tuesday by the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance Deterrence Center, comes as U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) examines the strategic implications of Golden Dome. Patrycja Bazylczyk […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Army’s Janus nuclear power program could support the military’s broader energy resilience goals under the Donald Trump administration’s “Fortress America” initiative, though officials said the effort will encompass multiple energy technologies. “Fortress America” – which stands for Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply and Survivability – is a national […]

Mission Support and Test Services (MSTS), the management and operating contractor for the Nevada National Security Site, is seeking industry interest in drilling a 24-inch-diameter wellbore to a total vertical depth of 6,500 feet, according to a new federal contracting notice.  The Oct. 12 request for information and expression of interest seeks information from potential […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch said Tuesday it has now reduced its inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) cylinders at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio by 20%. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management announced Tuesday its AtkinsRéalis-led contractor Mission Conversion Services Alliance (MCSA) has converted DUF6 from 4,500 cylinders at Portsmouth, into a safe […]

The Air Force tested an unarmed Mk21A reentry vehicle Oct. 9, launching it aboard a Minotaur I rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., as part of the vehicle’s development. The flight was an in-flight environmental test supporting development of the Mk21A, a new reentry vehicle that the Air Force plans to integrate onto a […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding division has won a $56 million Navy contract to provide engineering and design support for the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program, the company said Oct. 13. The contract includes an option that would increase its cumulative value to $91 million if exercised, HII said in a press release. AUKUS […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has awarded a nearly $3 million contract to renovate part of its Albuquerque headquarters into a secure space, according to a federal procurement notice. NNSA awarded QA Engineering $2.99 million Sept. 28 for design-build construction to renovate a limited area of the John A. Gordon Complex and convert it […]

General Dynamics (GD) on Wednesday announced Danny Deep will be the company’s next CEO effective Jan. 1, 2027, succeeding Phebe Novakovic, who has been the company’s top executive and chairman since January 2013. Deep has been president of GD since December 2025 and was elected to the company’s board in August. Novakovic will become executive […]

NATO proceeded this week with its annual nuclear deterrence exercise this week despite recent Russian warnings that it could use nuclear weapons if its territory, including Kaliningrad, comes under threat. The 10-day, now declassified Steadfast Noon exercise began Oct. 13 and is hosted by Italy, with aircraft from 17 North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries participating. […]

The U.S. and China are discussing reciprocal visits to each other’s nuclear facilities, a potential transparency measure as Washington raises concerns about Beijing’s nuclear activities. The Donald Trump administration has held talks with Chinese officials about allowing each country to visit nuclear facilities operated by the other, the Washington Times reported Oct. 8, citing U.S. […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 53 shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste in September, marking its highest total since April and putting a strong end to a challenging fiscal year.  The September total is significantly more than the 29 shipments of TRU waste sent in August, and the […]

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 […]