Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

While sad to see what is designed as a five-person panel of experts fall to a lone member, the departing acting chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) feels cautiously optimistic about its future during a time of government cutbacks. During an interview Thursday with Exchange Monitor, DNFSB Acting Chair Thomas Summers said […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 61 shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste during September, marking its highest monthly total for the 2025 fiscal year and the calendar year thus far. Last month’s total is six more than the 55 shipments of TRU waste sent in August, and the […]

The United States nuclear sector’s domestic uranium purchasing was up sharply in 2024, according to a recent annual report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In EIA’s Uranium Marketing Annual Report, released Sept. 30, U.S. owners and operators of commercial nuclear power reactors purchased a total of 55.9 million pounds of U3O8e deliveries from U.S. […]

A federal district judge in California has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from laying off thousands of additional federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown, various news organizations reported Wednesday. Following a hearing, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco agreed to a request from unions, such as the American Federation of Government […]

The Department of Energy is holding a virtual industry day Wednesday on the potential for data center development at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The session, scheduled between 1 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time, will include details about a request for proposal (RFP) process for artificial intelligence-related data centers at the federal complex. […]

The Senate last Thursday evening voted 77 to 20 to pass its version of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes a $32.1 billion boost to the defense topline.  Lawmakers struck a deal earlier in the day on amendments after progress on the bill had stalled, with the upper chamber agreeing to […]

Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), warned House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last week that a prolonged shutdown would force temporary suspension of nuclear security programs. Williams told Johnson this in a private meeting, Politico reported. Williams, who oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile and nonproliferation programs, said such programs and […]

“House of Dynamite,” a major motion picture about a potential nuclear strike on a major U.S. city, has opened in theatres and streams on Netflix Oct. 24. The thriller film, directed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow, known for movies “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” centers around the U.S. Strategic Command, the White House Situation […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll announced a new nuclear reactor program Tuesday to deploy microreactors in the military. Called the Janus program, Wright and Driscoll announced the effort at the 2025 Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington.  The announcement heavily referred […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced Oct. 7 that its Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division completed initial sea trials for the Virginia-class attack submarine Massachusetts (SSN 798). The tests, done by the Navy and NNS, included submerging the submarine for its first time and conducting high-speed maneuvers, both submerged underwater and on the surface. The tests […]

Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a bill at the end of September with the goal to reduce spending on nuclear weapons, a release on Markey’s website said. According to Markey’s website, the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures Act (SANE) would reduce the number of Columbia-class submarines purchased from 12 to eight, […]

Thomas Summers, the acting chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), is scheduled to see his tenure on the safety watchdog for Department of Energy defense nuclear sites come to an end later this month. Summers, a retired Air Force colonel who has also served as a senior adviser in the Office of […]

WASHINGTON – For technical reasons there is no current need for the United States to conduct above-ground or underground nuclear weapons’ tests, David Beck, President Donald Trump’s nominee for deputy administrator of defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), told a Senate hearing Tuesday.  Beck was responding to Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), whose […]

U.S. Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command, is to retire after the White House recently withdrew his nomination as service vice chief of staff. In a LinkedIn post last Wednesday, Bussiere said he and his wife “made the difficult decision to request retirement from the United States Air […]

Matthew Napoli, President Donald Trump’s pick for Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), was sworn in Oct. 3 by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Napoli announced the swearing in on his LinkedIn page Sunday.  “A special thank you to the incredible NNSA leadership team of Brandon Williams […]

Last week, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) introduced the Emergency Relief for Federal Contractors Act to allow federal contractors working without pay to withdraw pay from their retirement savings without penalty. Cortez Masto’s district includes the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Nevada National Security Site, the largest NNSA site that conducts underground, subcritical experiments to […]

There are things the U.S. and Australia can do to make the AUKUS security agreement stronger and more sustainable, a Defense Department official said Tuesday. During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), John Noh, nominated to be assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, also confirmed a review of the […]

As the Air Force restructures the program for the future intercontinental ballistic missile, it wants to solidify requirements for the missile silos and launch centers before possibly recertifying the program for engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) in 2027. In an interview, run by Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily in September at the Air and Space […]

Management for a Y-12 building found its emergency notification system in “degrading condition” due to its volume levels lowering, according to a September nuclear watchdog report. The buildings in question are Building 9204-2E and Building 9204-2, which are conjoined by a section of a wall. While work orders have been placed to repair the emergency […]

Russia withdrew Thursday from a 25-year-old agreement with the United States that had both parties cut back on leftover plutonium from weapons from the Cold War, Russia’s State Duma website said. The Duma voted on the bill Thursday, and State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the agreement “should have been terminated long ago.” The bill […]

The Senate, amid an ongoing government shutdown, passed its mammoth annual authorization bill, the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), 70-20 Thursday with an en bloc amendment that includes a provision on an explosives facility in Amarillo, Texas. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, had a 71-page en bloc amendment […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration will move into “emergency shutdown procedures” Friday if the government does not reopen, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said last week on Fox News. “We have about eight more days of funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration [NNSA],” Wright said in an Oct. 2 interview with Fox News’s Laura […]

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) cited the potential impact on in-state military installations as well as the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site as her reason for supporting a Republican-led continuing resolution Tuesday night. “A government shutdown would force tens of thousands of Nevada military personnel, union members, law enforcement agents and military nurses […]

The Navy’s Strategic Systems Program conducted four missile test flights of unarmed Trident II D5LE missiles from an Ohio-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) off Florida’s east coast  from Sept. 17 to 21.  The tests were launched from a submerged SSBN and landed in a “broad ocean area of the Atlantic Ocean,” the Navy said.  […]