Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The Air Force faces software design challenges for Northrop Grumman’s future LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). “Sentinel is software-intensive, and development progress remains slower than anticipated,” the new GAO two-page ‘national security snapshot‘ on Sentinel said. “These delays have raised concerns from program officials about the prime […]

The Australian government is heralding an investment of $2.75 billion to start building a new submarine construction yard in Osborne, South Australia. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government expects the overall submarine program will create almost 10,000 jobs in the region and project investments reaching upwards of $21 billion total over the next decades to build […]

The Pentagon will now look to spend over $150 billion in reconciliation funds this fiscal year, submitting a plan to Congress outlining efforts to advance the Golden Dome missile defense project and other nuclear activities. The plan represents a large increase from the $113 billion in reconciliation funds the Donald Trump administration had originally projected […]

The Pentagon’s $150.5 billion in fiscal 2026 reconciliation funding has $4.5 billion to accelerate production of the Air Force B-21 Raider stealth bomber, Northrop Grumman said Monday at the Air & Space Forces Association annual warfare symposium. The Air Force’s plans have called for 100 B-21s, yet that number might increase to 145 or more, […]

Rolls-Royce said Tuesday that it has completed altitude and operability testing for the company’s F130 engine as part of the U.S. Air Force’s Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP) modernization for the B-52. The announcement comes as the Air & Space Forces Association holds its annual symposium in Aurora, Colo. Under CERP, the more powerful F130s […]

In the 2026 State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Donald Trump mentioned 2025’s Operation Midnight Hammer attacks against Iran and vaguely alluded to negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy,” Trump said while addressing Congress. “But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s […]

A long-running lawsuit brought by an employee over implementation of a federal contractor’s COVID-19 vaccination policy at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee has ended just months before a planned jury trial. A Jan. 30 filing with the federal district court in Knoxville, Tenn., indicate plaintiff Jeff Bilyeu and employer UT-Battelle, which runs Oak […]

President Donald Trump, while recounting the strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, reportedly contemplated the possibility of another military strike on Tehran at his Board of Peace meeting in Washington this week. “[The U.S.] may have to take it a step further or we may not. You will be finding out over the next […]

The Defense Department and Leidos are negotiating framework agreements for co-investments in key acquisition programs for the company, Leidos CEO Tom Bell said on Tuesday. The forthcoming co-investment opportunities are in areas where Leidos has already increased capital expenditures, and internal research and development spending over the past three years, Bell said during the company’s […]

The Navy’s first Columbia-class submarine is back on schedule to deliver by 2028, nine months ahead of schedule, the program executive officer (PEO) for Strategic Submarines said Feb. 11. This program update comes after the Navy and industry implemented an acceleration plan that put all the modules to the final assembly shipyard by the end […]

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 […]