Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) biggest budget request yet for fiscal 2027 would include $27.4 billion for weapons activities, according to the Department of Energy’s budget justification document released over the weekend. That would be an increase of $7 billion, or 35%, from the fiscal 2026 enacted levels of $20.4 billion, which included the […]

Crews at the Y-12 National Security Complex have completed final concrete placement for a tunnel that will connect major sections of the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF’s) enriched uranium mission. The project—known as the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility Connector (HCON)— is “in the dry,” signifying completion of the tunnel roof, allowing installation of internal systems […]

Lynchburg, Va.-based BWX Technologies (BWXT) said Tuesday it plans to apply for a uranium enrichment license to build a new defense nuclear facility in Erwin, Tenn.  The nuclear fuel company notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) so the agency can prepare to review the application, which BWXT will submit during the first quarter of calendar […]

The Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) said Wednesday it picked Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado and Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana as potential locations for nuclear microreactors. The decision comes under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program (ANPI), a partnership between the Air Force and DIU to deploy “advanced, […]

The Los Alamos Study Group and Nuclear Watch New Mexico published separate statements this week criticizing the Donald Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 request for an increase in funding plutonium pit production and decrease to nonproliferation and non-weapons science programs. “Throughout this budget it is global dominance, not global cooperation, that is the stated theme. U.S. […]

Most Department of Energy nuclear cleanup sites would receive modest reductions in their fiscal 2027 funding, under the budget justification document released over the weekend by the White House. The request for the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., is $483 million, an increase of 12% from […]

The House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development and related agencies scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, April 15 to review the Department of Energy’s budget request for fiscal 2027. This hearing comes after the White House issued a budget request for fiscal 2027 that would give $32.8 billion to the DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear […]

Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) have called on Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) to immediately convene a public hearing with Pentagon officials on the Trump administration’s ongoing military campaign against Iran.  “We are deeply troubled by the lack of transparency from the Trump Administration and the Department of Defense and its failure to […]

Air Force Gen. Dale White, the direct reporting portfolio manager for critical major weapon systems, visited the 91st Missile Wing at Minot AFB, N.D., on March 19-20 to gain insights on requirements and modernization involved with the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile, the Air Force said.  “The Sentinel program is foundational to […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is adjusting key safety controls as it prepares for expanded plutonium operations, even as routine breakdowns persist, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s weekly report for March 6. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Field Office approved the safety basis for Los Alamos’s plutonium facility in New Mexico during […]

The head of U.S. Strategic Command told lawmakers last week that nuclear modernization remains the Pentagon’s top investment priority, while signaling openness to expanding the Navy’s next-generation ballistic missile submarine fleet beyond current plans. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Adm. Richard Correll said recapitalizing all three legs of the nuclear triad is essential […]

A senior State Department official told lawmakers the AUKUS security partnership is being hindered by a complex web of regulatory barriers, describing the challenge as a “fishing knot” that requires both regulatory and legislative fixes. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, Thomas Dinanno, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, […]

The Donald Trump administration rolled out its very high-level budget proposal for fiscal 2027 this Friday, April 3, which included $32.8 billion for the Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The fiscal 2027 request for NNSA is $3.6 billion, or 12%, more than what the agency in charge of maintaining the nation’s […]

Testing of Northrop Grumman’s and Bechtel’s prototype missile silo for the Sentinel should demonstrate a modular design the service and industry can repeat for all of the 450 planned, new silos, a Northrop Grumman official said last week. “Proving out the launch silo concept is critical to creating a repeatable approach that will accelerate deployment […]

A New Mexico watchdog group says recent federal analyses point to growing pressure to expand plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), potentially beyond currently scoped capacity. The group refers to the lab’s most recently released record of decision and site-wide environmental impact statement (SWEIS), an analysis required by the National Environmental Policy […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plans to move forward with a sole-source award for a mobile counter-drone capability, according to a recently posted notice on a procurement website.  The notice, called a Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition, NNSA said NOMAD Global Communication Solution, an engineering and manufacturing company is the only […]

The first phase of relocating Department of Energy’s headquarters staff to a new location in Washington, D.C., could get started by the end of 2026, although it might not be finished until early 2028, a source said this week. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told a staff town hall-style meeting Wednesday April 1 the department […]

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) is urging the Donald Trump administration to pursue near-term arms control steps with Russia while opening parallel, if incremental, discussions with China – warning a treaty lapse risks accelerating a destabilizing nuclear competition. Signed in 2010 by then U.S. and Russian Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, the New Strategic Arms […]

While President Donald Trump has not officially signed a civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, the announcement by a State Department official that one is in the works got pushback in Congress. Thomas Dinanno, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told both the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees that […]

Thomas Dinanno, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said he has “not been in any discussions” where U.S. testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere has been under consideration. “We’re still assessing,” Dinanno said in testimony Tuesday to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We’ve made no decision specifically on how or what […]

The head of arms control for the State Department told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday that continued modernization, including 150 B-21s, will prod China to engage in arms control talks with the United States. “I think the president’s broad view, and he’s been extremely forward leaning on this, is he wants to see fewer […]

Over half of thefts involving nuclear and other radioactive material reported to the Incident and Trafficking Database (ITDB) since 1993 occurred during authorized transport, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) database showed this week. More often than not, stolen radioactive material is not recovered, IAEA also said.  The ITDB is IAEA’s collection of illicit trafficking […]

Uranium production is ramping up at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS), with plans to produce nearly 23 metric tons of high-level uranium for fuel production and other purposes for the DOE nuclear complex. That was the message that the SRS Citizens Advisory Board heard Tuesday during the panel’s regular bimonthly meeting at […]

Hadrian Automation on March 20 announced a $2.4 billion public-private partnership with the Navy that will result in three artificial intelligence (AI)-powered factories, with its first facility focused on producing submarine parts within a year. The facilities are aimed at helping produce parts for the Navy’s maritime industrial base, according to a statement by Hadrian. […]

After a joint U.S.-Israel strike on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility early Friday March 20, Iran retaliated with a strike on a town near Israel’s secret nuclear facility, Negev, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency and major news outlets. Afterward, an international nuclear monitor said it has not identified any increase in offsite radiation following […]

The Navy last week awarded General Dynamics’ (GD) Electric Boat Corp. a $15.38 billion modification in more Columbia-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) work related to industrial base development support. This award covers additional Columbia-class submarine design, lead yard support and sustainment, “integrated enterprise plan initiatives for the class, and submarine industrial base supplier development […]

The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Wednesday released its final site-wide environmental impact statement and its record of decision to implement an “expanded operations alternative” at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. “Expanded operations” means exactly what it sounds like: all activities at Los Alamos will continue as they […]

Adm. Richard Correll, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), said Thursday the Navy has a plan to extend the lifespan of the Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarines to “bridge” the gap as its replacement Columbia-class endures delays. Correll, in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on STRATCOM’s posture for fiscal 2027, was responding to a […]