Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The Y-12 National Security Complex said in a press release it exceeded its fiscal 2026 lithium metal production goal by a wide margin, achieving 177% of its target. The enriched lithium — used in nuclear weapons applications rather than commercial batteries — will be used in nuclear weapons components in the nation’s stockpile, managed by […]

National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator Brandon Williams said the agency plans to hire about 100 federal employees as it works to rebuild its workforce following prior staffing losses, telling lawmakers the effort will focus on targeted, high-quality hires. “We are looking to hire about 100 new personnel…across our enterprise,” Williams said during a Senate […]

The Navy last Thursday awarded General Dynamics’ Electric Boat division an initial $197 million contract to support the AUKUS program as it helps Australia set up the capability to build and maintain nuclear-powered attack submarines.  AUKUS is the trilateral framework between the U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom to supply nuclear-powered submarines and other nuclear […]

Northrop Grumman sold the U.S. Air Force one of the company’s test B-21 Raiders as part of an effort to accelerate production of the 6th generation stealth bomber. “To support the acceleration of aircraft deliveries, we agreed to sell an aircraft to the Air Force that was previously planned to be utilized as a company-owned […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) posted a video April 26 remarking on the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster, known to many as the “worst nuclear accident ever.” “We are marking a somber anniversary,” Rafael Grossi, the director general of the international nuclear watchdog, said in the video on the agency’s […]

The Navy plans to buy the first new Trump-class battleship, designated BBG(X), in 2028 and wants to spend upwards of $43.5 billion over the next five years to procure three battleships, according to budget request documents released Tuesday. The Navy’s fiscal year 2027 shipbuilding procurement budget book specifically outlines plans to spend $1 billion in […]

The Pentagon is looking at competition in the software and support construction realms for the Northrop Grumman future LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a top official said last week. The Air Force has been restructuring the program since July 2024 and expects Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Duffey to re-certify Sentinel for engineering and manufacturing […]

A group of environmentalists, fresh off touring the Savannah River Site as part of an environmental review, told a press briefing that “the most expensive building ever in U.S. history” is the path to an arms race. The environmental review is a result of a court case settlement between these environmental groups and the federal […]

The Air Force’s two most expensive nuclear modernization programs are seeing notable year-over-year declines in their budget lines, driven less by program slowdowns than by the absence of one-time congressional funding infusions and a broader restructuring of acquisition timelines. Northrop Grumman’s LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile’s engineering and manufacturing development budget in particular would receive […]

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee, said she has “faith” the models used at the national labs are good, but it’s “always good to be ready” to test weapons regardless. “I think we should listen to the scientists,” Fischer said in a panel with the Center for Strategic […]

David Beck, deputy administrator for defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), told Congress this week he would give them a plan for spending fiscal 2026 reconciliation funds “within the next 30 days.” Beck was responding to a question by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) while testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services […]

In a letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, lawmakers wrote this week that Congress is investigating “recent unconfirmed public reporting on the disappearance and death of individuals with access to sensitive U.S. scientific information.” As of April 17, 10 scientists were recently reported either dead or missing. All 10 were involved in researching and […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told the Senate Energy and Environmental Resources Committee Tuesday Department of Energy nuclear experts are involved in negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran, including himself. “Look, I’m the primary energy advisor to the president and have been discussing the Iran situation, and potential solutions to the Iran situation since the […]

Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) April 15 pressed Energy Secretary Chris Wright over funding instability affecting key projects at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), warning that continued uncertainty could delay work central to the nation’s nuclear stockpile stewardship mission. Lee, speaking at the House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee’s hearing on the White House’s Department […]

Gen. Dale White, the director of critical major weapons systems at the Pentagon, said the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program will have an official cost estimate by this summer as a result of the program restructuring. “Cost Estimation will be completed in the summer,” White said while testifying Monday at a Senate Armed Services […]

While the nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) was not in the White House fiscal 2027 budget request, Brandon Williams, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), said it has administration support. “The funding from the reconciliation process is carrying the project forward at pace,” Williams said. “We’re ahead of schedule, and we’re going to […]

Sen. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee, said it was “hard to see” a reason for the large spike in potential funding for the agency maintaining the nuclear weapons stockpile. “There’s a lot I can buy for $7 billion,” Moulton said, directing his question to Brandon Williams, head […]

Department of Energy contractor BWX Technologies (BWXT) is expanding its heavy-manufacturing footprint by signing a deal to acquire Precision Components Group (PCG) and two of its subsidiaries. The privately-held PCG had $125 million for 2025 revenue and a workforce of roughly 400 people, Lynchburg, Va.-based BWXT said in a Monday press release. BWXT did not […]

Centrus Energy said Monday it has selected Geiger Brothers as its construction contractor for the multi-billion expansion project for the Centrus uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio, a deal potentially worth $900 million. According to a Centrus Securities and Exchange Commission Monday filing, the time-and-materials contract signed by the two companies runs through Jan. 30, […]

Andrew Hugg, the chief of nuclear safety for the Army, was seen in videos on X Thursday divulging sensitive information about the U.S.’s presence in Iran and is now on administrative leave from the Army. The videos were posted by James O’Keefe, a conservative journalist known for founding Project Veritas and the O’Keefe Media Group. […]

Lockheed Martin Space has secured an $850.4 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy to continue work on the Trident II (D5) Life Extension 2 program, according to a Defense Department announcement. The cost-plus-incentive-fee modification supports advanced design and development efforts tied to the Strategic Systems Programs’ Shipboard Systems Program (SSP) Alteration initiative, the Pentagon […]

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), whose district abuts Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said this week he plans to resign from Congress and withdraw from the California governor’s race following a series of sexual misconduct allegations. At this point at least four women, including a former staffer, accused Swalwell, with one saying he drugged her before assaulting […]

The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said last week it is preparing a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for producing the fissile cores of the nation’s nuclear weapons, or plutonium pit production. As part of the environmental review, required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NNSA must open the review […]

President Donald Trump said Thursday on Truth Social Tehran agreed to give up the uranium buried after the Midnight Hammer airstrikes in June 2025, which would greatly reduce Iran’s ability to construct a nuclear weapon if true. Tehran has not yet confirmed the agreement, according to the Washington Post. Earlier this week, U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations […]

A wargame conducted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies suggested that a stand-in, penetrating force of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber for strategic attack were key to blunting a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, is advising the Air Force to buy […]

Solid rocket motors for the first five Air Force flight tests of the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) are in construction, the company said on Monday. “Every propulsive element of the Sentinel missile has been prototyped and tested,” according to the company press release. “Northrop Grumman has assembled the first three-stage […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright confirmed Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has “just begun” pit production in testimony Wednesday to the House Appropriations Energy and Water subcommittee on the fiscal 2027 budget request for the Department of Energy. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), ranking member of the subcommittee, asked Wright about reforms to project […]

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Wednesday North Korea has made a “very serious increase” to progress on its Yongbyon nuclear weapons complex, with expansions possibly including a new uranium enrichment facility. Grossi made his comments at a filmed press conference in Seoul, South Korea, where he met with South […]