Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

A nuclear reactor was airlifted from March Air Force Base (AFB), Calif. to Hill AFB, Utah, on Sunday, according to a release on the Pentagon’s website. This is the first time a nuclear reactor has been airlifted as a form of transport. Three C-17 transport planes flew individual components of a Valar Atomics 250 nuclear […]

Navy Secretary John Phelan on Thursday hinted the Navy’s fiscal year 2027 budget request will more than double the 17 ships funded in the fiscal 2026 defense appropriations law, with a specific focus on auxiliary and support vessels. “So I can’t talk a lot about the ‘27 budget. What I’ll say is if you look […]

The Air Force is to start construction this month of a prototype silo for the Sentinel LGM-35A future intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by Northrop Grumman, the service said this week. The construction is in advance of a planned Pentagon engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) recertification decision on the ballistic missile this year and a first […]

The path to achieve the White House’s call for a $1.5 trillion defense topline in 2027 appears murkier now after President Donald Trump has cast doubt on the prospects of a second reconciliation bill. After Republicans included $150 billion for defense in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signs pointed to a push […]

Earnings fell at Fluor, Irving, Texas, during the fourth quarter of 2025, which the engineering and construction company partly attributes to a share buyback program and losing an overseas court ruling. Net earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were a net loss of $1.6 billion or a loss of $9.87 a share, down from […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. is in the midst of a winter outage that could last through mid-March, according to a site spokesperson. During the outage, receipt of transuranic (TRU) waste from various sites across the DOE complex is on hold. The spokesperson could not immediately provide Exchange […]

The Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the tech powerhouse Nvidia have partnered to employ artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate nuclear reactor development. The partnership stems from President Donald Trump administration’s Genesis Mission, according to INL’s Tuesday press release. The Genesis Mission comes from a Trump executive order in November that calls for […]

Triad National Security is looking to buy a better instrument for taking gamma measurements of transuranic (TRU) waste drums ultimately expected to end up at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. Triad, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) prime contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory, is seeking something […]

William (Ike) White who led the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management for five years has been appointed to the advisory board for the Department of Energy alumni network. White’s appointment, along with two other advisory board members, was announced in a Friday LinkedIn post by the DOE alumni network, an organization formed in […]

The Department of Energy said this week it launched a consortium, or public-private partnership, to support the Donald Trump administration’s Genesis Mission in using artificial intelligence (AI) to expedite research and strengthen national security. According to DOE’s press release, the consortium will feature capabilities from DOE, the national laboratories, the private sector and academic institutions. […]

PanTeXas Deterrence, the BWX Technologies-led joint venture in charge of management and operations at Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, is seeking sources to build Pantex’s High Explosive, Synthesis, Formulation and Production (HESFP) facility.  The prime contractor posted a notice on sam.gov Jan. 27 citing the need for a subcontractor with experience in process engineering, process […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright will accompany Valar Atomics’ Ward250 advanced reactor from California to Utah Feb. 15, the Department of Energy said in an email Tuesday. The Ward250 reactor will be transported from March Air Force Base (AFB) in California to Hill AFB in Utah. DOE said the reactor would not be fueled and […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) last week posted strong fourth quarter and full-year results on strength across its shipbuilding and mission systems businesses. Huntington Ingalls Industries subsidiaries are part of major joint ventures doing business in the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex, including the legacy cleanup contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New […]

A proposed University of Michigan computing center will support research related to nuclear weapons and plutonium pit development for Los Alamos National Laboratory, a lab spokesperson told the Exchange Monitor in an email. “Los Alamos is partnering with the University of Michigan on a high-performance computing center,” the spokesperson said, adding it would not be […]

Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee have raised “significant concern” with the Pentagon’s move to classify reconciliation spending plans, urging the department to provide more public details on how the $150 billion is being allocated. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, led by Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the lawmakers say […]

Centrus Energy has agreed to a strategic partnership with Fluor, which will serve as  engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the planned expansion of an Ohio uranium enrichment plant. The Bethesda, Md.-based Centrus will collaborate with Fluor through subsidiary American Centrifuge Operating, according to its Wednesday press release. The subsidiary operates the American Centrifuge Plant […]

Kurt Bender was appointed BWX Technologies senior vice president and chief digital officer, effective Feb. 5, the company said last week.  In the role, Bender will be responsible for BWXT’s digital strategy supporting operations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. BWXT president and CEO Rex Geveden said the promotion comes as the […]

A January report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Congress’s policy research division, said alternatives were not explored to the trilateral agreement between Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. The trilateral agreement, called AUKUS, includes the future sale of Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) to Australia, and AUKUS Pillar 1 refers to delivering submarines while […]

Earnings fell at Centrus Energy, Bethesda, Md., in the fourth quarter, which the uranium broker attributed to the decreased revenue from its uranium sector. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 were $17.8 million, or $0.79 a share, down from $53.7 million, or $3.20 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was […]

BWX Technologies said it has made “significant progress” in the production of tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) for Antares Nuclear and is on track to have it completed by the July 4 deadline. Antares is one of 10 companies that were selected for DOE’s advanced reactor pilot program. The program seeks to have at least three reactors […]

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is taking enforcement action against the Department of Energy, saying DOE has failed to prioritize legacy nuclear cleanup at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In a Wednesday press release, NMED said it was issuing orders to hold DOE “accountable” for footdragging in moving old defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste from […]

Earnings results were mixed at Parsons, Chantilly, Va., in the fourth quarter and full 2025 calendar year, which the technology provider attributed to turbulence in the federal government. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 were a record $56 million, or $0.51 a share, up 3% from $54 million, or $0.49 a share, […]

The Department of Energy said Wednesday it will resume uranium recovery operations at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, utilizing the H-Canyon facility. The uranium recovery work will help recover key isotopes that are currently hard to obtain in the United States and support scientific research as well as medical applications and commercial uses, […]

President Trump Tuesday signed a spending package ending the partial government shutdown that temporarily affected the Pentagon, with the legislation that included the final $839 billion fiscal year 2026 Defense Appropriations Bill with an $8.4 billion increase after the Senate passed it 71-29 last week and the House narrowly passed it 217-214 Tuesday. The spending […]

Led by its shipbuilding segment, General Dynamics (GD) last week posted solid fourth quarter results to cap off a strong fiscal year. Net income in the quarter was flat at $1.1 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $4.17 were two cents higher than a year ago due to a lower outstanding share count, according […]

Northrop Grumman remains in negotiations with the Defense Department on accelerating production of the Air Force’s B-21 stealth bomber and an agreement to do so is expected this quarter, the company’s chief executive said last week. The B-21 talks are down to the “finer points” and what the “financial implications” are for Northrop Grumman, Kathy […]

ARLINGTON, VA. – The current administration is taking “meaningful action on regulatory reform” on a “breathtaking” timeline at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), according to Kim Budil, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. “So I think the biggest thing for us has been the meaningful action on regulatory reform,” Budil said on a panel […]

BAE Systems said Jan. 30 it has opened a new office in Utah north of Salt Lake City to serve as a company hub for intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) sustainment and modernization.  Early last year, the company received a $1.2 billion award from the U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center’s ICBM directorate at Hill Air […]