Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed another stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government running nearly three months into the 2020 budget year. Major news organizations reported the president signed the agreement after the Senate earlier in the day voted 74-20 to pass a House amendment that extends the current continuing resolution to […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Tuesday it has reached a contract closeout settlement with the company that was hired to build and operate a now-terminated plutonium recycling plant at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. The settlement covers all “contract closeout matters” with MOX Services, according to a press release from […]

The U.S. Department of Energy should be required to “show cause” why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should not dismiss its license application for shipment of weapon-grade uranium to Europe, according to a company that opposes the request. Failing that, Curium and other parties should be authorized to intervene in the NRC proceeding, according to a […]

Parsons this week posted higher third-quarter earnings due to a tax benefit, sales up on acquisitions in its Federal Solutions Segment, and to a lesser degree on an increase in organic revenue. Net income climbed 38% to $56.8 million, $0.57 earnings per share (EPS), from $41.2 million ($0.52 EPS), the company reported Tuesday. Adjusted earnings […]

International Isotopes said Thursday it incurred over $2.1 million in expenses through the end of September in connection with a radiological contamination incident last spring that occurred as its workers were removing a blood irradiator from a hospital research facility in Seattle. However, the Idaho Falls, Idaho, nuclear medicine company said it also received $964,958 […]

AECOM, the international infrastructure company that is preparing its exit from contracting for the U.S. Energy Department, on Tuesday reported record annual revenue but a net loss for its fiscal 2019. Company-wide revenue of almost $20.2 billion was up 2% from $20.15 billion in fiscal 2018, according to AECOM’s latest earnings report. But the net […]

Senior members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee this week requested communications between the Department of Energy and Centrus Energy Corp. as part of a bipartisan probe into the award of a sole-source $115 million uranium-enrichment contract. In a nine-page Nov. 13 letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Deputy Energy Secretary Dan […]

U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten is scheduled to officially turn over command of U.S. Strategic Command to Navy Vice Adm. Charles Richard next week. The change of command ceremony is to take place Nov. 18, following a dedication ceremony for STRATCOM’s new command and control facility at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., according to […]

Dan Leone and Vivienne Machi WASHINGTON — Questionable “competence” within U.S. Air Force procurement ranks helped turn a competition to build a fleet of next-generation nuclear ballistic missiles into a one-horse race, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said here Wednesday. Proposals to build and deploy the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), silo-based missiles […]

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) dinged the National Nuclear Security Administration recently for not providing 10 years’ worth of cost forecasts in an annual report to Congress on defense nuclear spending. The semiautonomous Department of Energy agency by law must write a joint report each year with the Defense Department profiling the expected costs […]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons programs would be funded at prior-year levels almost through the end of December, under a second stopgap spending plan announced Thursday to keep the federal government operating while Congress tries to finalize its fiscal 2020 budget. Meanwhile, the top Democrat and Republican members of the House and Senate […]

WASHINGTON — Dan Brouillette, who a few years ago was lobbying for the insurance industry and now is on track to join President Donald Trump’s Cabinet as secretary of energy, cruised Thursday morning through a Senate nomination hearing that briefly crossed wires with presidential impeachment proceedings in the House. With approval from the Senate, Brouillette […]

BWX Technologies, trumpeting strong third-quarters earnings results Tuesday, said it is not under contract to build any more common missile compartment tubes for U.S. naval submarines, beyond those already contracted for production by 2021. After announcing in 2018 it had botched welds on 12 of the tubes, which were destined for both Columbia- and Virginia-class […]

Even a temporary pause on construction of the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee could cost the federal government nearly $1 billion, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said this week in asking a federal judge to refuse a request from a group of environmental organizations for a stop-work […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — The head of the U.S. Navy’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program had reassuring words for the nuclear shipbuilding industry and its suppliers here Thursday. “I … want you to know that contrary to what you might read or hear … submarine force leadership values our close, enduring relationships with our industry partners,” Adm. […]

President Donald Trump on Thursday officially nominated Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette to replace Rick Perry, who will resign as secretary of energy on Dec. 1. Brouillette, a former auto-insurance lobbyist with some turn-of-the-millennium Washington experience on his rapidly expanding resume, must be confirmed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee before he […]

By Calvin Biesecker Huntington Ingalls Industries on Thursday reported mixed results in its third quarter, with sales up on acquisitions and work in its nuclear shipyard while earnings fell due to lower operating income from its shipbuilding and a less favorable adjustment in pension income versus a year ago. Net income sank 33 percent to […]

A radiation detection system developed at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory went into service at the Port of New York and New Jersey this year, lab management contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) announced. The On-Dock Rail Straddle Carrier Portal Monitoring System is designed to detect radiation inside intermodal shipping containers: ubiquitous […]

The U.S. Department of Energy has finalized a deal for Centrus Energy Corp. to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel for nuclear reactors by building a new all-domestic enrichment cascade — technology that could one day contribute to national defense. The Bethesda, Md.-based company, the former U.S. Enrichment Corp., announced the news this week. The company […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) said this week it has commissioned a second furnace to prepare for four planned tritium extractions next year at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. The Fluor-led site management and operations contractor said in a press release Tuesday that it fired up a “previously unused” second […]

The U.S. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) still suffers from flagging morale and could stand to improve communication between its staff and its politically appointed leadership, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s inspector general wrote in an annual report on the board’s biggest challenges. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s inspector general, which also serves that role for […]

With members of the House out of town this week, Congress made little progress on authorizing and appropriating government funding, including for Department of Energy defense-nuclear programs. However, Armed Services Committee staffers worked behind the scenes this week to hash out differences in the House and Senate versions of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act: […]

WASHINGTON — Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, head of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, said Thursday she would give serious thought to remaining at her post if President Donald Trump wins a second term in office and wants her on the job. “If the president so chooses to seek my advice and counsel, I would consider that […]

By Richard Abott A top U.S. Navy official said the service is unlikely to reach above 310 ships at current funding levels, let alone the congressionally-mandated goal of 355 ships. “Will we get to 355 ships? I think with today’s fiscal situation and where the Navy’s topline is right now – we can keep around […]

By Calvin Biesecker Raytheon on Thursday reported strong third quarter financial results driven by higher sales across its defense segments and improved operating performance and the company increased its outlook for the top and bottom lines this year. Net income soared 34% to $860 million, $3.08 earnings per share (EPS), from $644 million ($2.25 EPS) a […]

Engineering, construction, and procurement giant Fluor continues to experience rough waters a month after announcing plans to sell its government services branch, which includes its Department of Energy contracts. For its third quarter ended Sept. 30, Fluor reported a net loss from continuing operations of $782 million, or $5.57 per diluted share, compared to net […]

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said Tuesday the Department of Energy should provide better documentation of how it manages the payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) program for communities around nuclear facilities. The Energy Department handed out $23 million in PILT revenue to communities near a dozen nuclear laboratory and cleanup sites in fiscal 2017. […]