Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has formally told Secretary of Energy Chris Wright that the board plans to remain active on safety despite being down to a single member. The DNFSB’s acting chair, Thomas Summers, left the small agency when his term ended Oct. 18. The Summers’ exit leaves Patricia Lee as the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite some signs of hope, as of Exchange Monitor ‘s Friday deadline, there is not a vote scheduled in the Senate to reopen the government. That is despite a Republican senator’s confidence that would happen. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told a quorum of reporters […]

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) introduced a bill last week to prohibit the United States from conducting explosive nuclear tests, a move aimed at countering recently-announced plans of President Donald Trump. The bill was proposed shortly after Trump announced he has directed the Pentagon to resume nuclear testing on pace with other countries. “Donald Trump has […]

Next month, Air Force personnel from the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB), Ariz. in the Sonoran Desert plan to show industry representatives examples of B-52H carriage equipment. This will be equipment that the service is looking to modify for the future AGM-181 Long Range Standoff (LRSO) nuclear […]

General Dynamics (GD) last Friday reported strong third quarter financial results largely due to its Marine Systems segment, continuing a sturdy run of top and bottom-line gains all year. The shipbuilding segment, up 14%  and 13% respectively on the top and bottom-lines, benefited from construction of the Navy’s Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine and Virginia-class attack […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Tuesday its Los Alamos National Laboratory selected tech companies Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and NVIDIA to develop and deploy two new supercomputers. The two computers, named “Mission” and “Vision,” will be used for modeling and simulations at the lab.  “Mission” will be used to assist NNSA research without […]

The Professional Services Council (PSC), a trade association representing 400 federal contractors, wrote a letter Oct. 28 to Congressional leaders mourning the federal government shutdown, citing its effect on the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) among other agencies. The letter, obtained by the Exchange Monitor, was addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Senate […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) hopes Brandon Williams, the newly confirmed administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, will prioritize a list of safety challenges that the board wrote him about last month. “Congratulations on your confirmation as Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)!” the nation’s nuclear safety watchdog started its […]

A federal judge in Northern California has extended her earlier order that temporarily blocked the White House Office of Management and Budget from furloughing thousands of government employees, including many from the Department of Energy, during the shutdown, according to published reports. News outlets, including CNBC reported U.S. District Judge Susan Illston was issuing a […]

Christine Wormuth, most recently the Secretary of the Army, will be the Washington-based nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative’s (NTI) newest president and third chief executive officer effective Nov. 17, the organization announced last week. “NTI’s mission to reduce global nuclear, biological, and emerging technology threats is more vital than ever,” Wormuth said in NTI’s release, adding […]

House lawmakers condemned the furloughs of 1,400 of DOE’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) workers in a letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and NNSA administrator Brandon Williams. “As Secretary Wright noted in his press availability in Las Vegas, furloughing NNSA employees has never happened before. Government shutdowns, however, have occurred throughout the […]

BWX Technologies (BWXT) announced Thursday it was awarded a $174 million contract in September to manufacture naval nuclear reactor fuel. The Lynchburg, Va.-based company’s subsidiary, Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin, Tenn. will manufacture and deliver fuel for the Naval Reactors program. Work on the project has already begun with a completion target of summer 2026. […]

Thom Mason, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said last week a County Council vote to raise the gross receipts tax to close a budget shortfall would hinder economic growth. The Los Alamos County Council voted 6-1 Tuesday night to increase the gross receipts tax (GRT) in Los Alamos by 0.625%, effective July 1, 2026, […]

President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social account Wednesday he ordered the Pentagon to “immediately” begin the process of testing nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with Russia and China. Trump’s announcement came around an hour before he was set to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping. It also came the day before Vice […]

A Senate vote to move forward on fiscal year 2026 defense appropriations legislation failed last Thursday, as most Democrats opposed supporting the measure amid the ongoing government shutdown. “We want to appropriate beyond just defense. We want a broader package [of spending bills] and to have clarity from our president, the House and the Senate […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) should stay open to shippers of defense-related transuranic waste from across-the-country, the Energy Communities Alliance told New Mexico’s Environment Secretary James Kenney in a letter Friday. The Washington, D.C.-based Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) wrote to Kenney in reaction to statements that the head of the New […]

The Australian government announced it was doubling its investment in a submarine supplier qualification pilot program that is helping companies qualify to enter the supply chain of the U.S. submarine industrial base. The Australian Submarine Supplier Qualification Pilot is specifically meant to provide more ways for Australian small and medium enterprises to access the American […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) officially announced Saturday Oct. 18 that Acting Chair Thomas Summers has ended his service with the agency following the expiration of his five-year term. “Mr. Summers served the board with distinction, most recently as acting chairman, leading the agency during a period of significant transition and sustained operational […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) furloughed around 1,400 employees, 80% of its workforce, with only 375 exempted as critical personnel that will still come into work Monday. “Today, roughly 80% of the National Nuclear Security Administration is being furloughed,” Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Monday. […]

Northrop Grumman and the Air Force have completed a critical design review for the launch support system of the LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile, the defense contractor said Monday. The launch support system is a digital command and control infrastructure for Sentinel operations and launches. According to the press release, the review was executed […]

The ranking member of the House Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee on Tuesday reported the Australian officials are “buoyant and bullish” about AUKUS moving forward following a Monday meeting between President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) also thinks an ongoing Pentagon review of the submarine agreement is probably focused […]

President Donald Trump clearly approved of the trilateral AUKUS agreement Monday and even indicated the U.S. would expedite the sale and delivery of three to five nuclear-powered attack submarines. Trump’s remarks came as he appeared next to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to sign a bilateral agreement on critical mineral mining.  When Trump was asked […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, in a press conference Monday in Nevada., said all of the federal employees at Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) had been furloughed. Wright spoke in two press conferences in Nevada Monday, one being in Las Vegas and one being at the physical site of NNSS in Mercury, Nev. north of […]

Fueled by its Defense Systems and Mission Systems segments, Northrop Grumman, which is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, Tuesday reported strong third quarter results wherein earnings rose Net earnings for the third quarter, ended Sept. 30 and listed in the company’s 10-Q form, were $1.1 billion, up from $1.026 year-over-year. Net income rose 7% […]

Satellite imagery of Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath’s new construction sparks curiosity about whether there are new U.S. nuclear weapons in the U.K., the Federation of American Scientists said. According to the Federation, U.S. budget documents show that the upgrades to security at RAF Lakenheath are to “accomodate a nuclear mission,” which “introduce more questions […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) will lose some of its watchdog powers but will retain others, even while down to one member, the departed acting chair of the board Thomas Summers said last week. This is the second article resulting from Exchange Monitor’s interview last week with Summers prior to his last day […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi said Oct. 9 a process has commenced to help restore external electricity to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, lost access to the grid in September, and has not gotten it back yet. It needs off-site power to cool […]