Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Iran met with France, Germany and the United Kingdom, or the E3 nations, on Friday in Istanbul to discuss nuclear matters, a spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry said in state media. This is Iran’s second meeting concerning nuclear matters this week, as Iran met with China and Russia Tuesday to discuss its nuclear program […]

BWX Technologies has begun manufacturing the reactor core of Project Pele’s microreactor at its Innovation Campus  in Lynchburg, Va., the company announced Thursday, in a press release. Pele is a mobile gas-cooled demonstration microreactor with the ability to produce 1.5 megawatts. The microreactor, which will be used by the Department of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office, […]

The House late last week voted 221-209 to pass its $831.5 billion fiscal 2026 defense appropriations bill. The legislation was crafted by House appropriators before receiving full budget details from the Donald Trump administration and represents a flat spending level with fiscal 2025, although it aligns with the White House’s plan to factor in reconciliation […]

Jill Hruby, the most recent administrator of the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, recently joined the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board, the organization announced last week. “I’m honored to join the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board at such a pivotal moment for nuclear affairs worldwide,” Hruby said in the […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report this week the National Nuclear Security Administration “made progress” on 11 out of 19 prior recommendations by the congressional oversight agency for accurate cost reporting. The GAO has issued four reports on financial reporting since fiscal 2019 for the DOE’s semi-autonomous agency in charge of the […]

The Senate wants the U.S. Air Force to consider simultaneous construction of silos for the Sentinel for the three missile wings, according to the Senate’s fiscal 2026 military construction, veterans affairs, and related agencies appropriations bill. The three missile wings for the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile are the 90th at F.E. Warren […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee released bill language for its version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would set the spending cap for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at $26.87 billion. That is over $400 million more than the House Armed Services Committee authorized in its version of the NDAA that […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, recently concluded a 12-day mission to China where it conducted a full-scope review of all of China’s nuclear facilities, activities and safety framework. This review is the first of its kind in almost a decade, according to the Nuclear Engineering International (NEI) publication. The […]

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) used a House Armed Services Committee hearing on a must-pass national defense policy bill Tuesday to bemoan proposed cuts to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) budget. The House Appropriations Committee last month advanced a fiscal 2026 funding bill that could cut GAO’s appropriation by nearly half. This is bad news for […]

U.S. Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the seventh head of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) since its founding in 2009, would become the second AFGSC commander to ascend to Air Force Vice Chief of Staff if approved by the Senate. President Donald Trump nominated Bussiere on July 15, according to a Congressional notice. Founded […]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and foreign ministers from France, Germany and the United Kingdom have agreed that Iran will face greater sanctions if it does not reach a nuclear deal with the United States by August, Axios reported. If a deal is not reached, the European powers would reimpose all of the United Nations […]

The House Armed Services Committee Tuesday approved fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) provisions to, among other things, create a new Rapid Capabilities Program within the National Nuclear Security Administration. The NDAA passed late Tuesday 55-2 and now advances to a full House markup. The provision within the committee’s Strategic Forces subcommittee segment of […]

Congressional defense authorizers would prohibit a reduction in U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles below 400, and the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) wants initial operational capability (IOC) for the LGM-35A Sentinel future ICBM by fiscal 2033. The IOC for the LGM-35A Sentinel future ICBM by Northrop Grumman is more than four years past what the U.S. […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s fiscal 2026 bill would provide nearly $756 million for the U.S. Air Force AGM-181 Long Range Standoff (LRSO) nuclear-tipped cruise missile. The figure proposed for the LRSO by RTX–$149 million in the National Defense Authorization Act is more than requested by the Air Force. This number would include $141 million […]

The House appropriations committee voted to advance a fiscal 2026 appropriations bill Thursday that would give $25.317 billion to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). That’s around $1.182 billion above the fiscal 2025 levels, although the funding for the Department of Energy as a whole is $1.396 billion below 2025 levels at $48.774 billion.  The […]

BWX Technologies, based in Lynchburg, Va., announced Thursday the award of $2.6 billion in contracts, including future year options, to manufacture naval nuclear reactor components. The contracts, which build on the $2.1 billion in awards BWXT announced in February, would support Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines, and any production from these awards would come in the […]

The final version of the budget reconciliation package signed into law July 4 by President Donald Trump includes a long-sought bipartisan proposal to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). “After nearly two years of negotiations—and two separate passages of RECA packages by the Senate in 2023 and 2024,” the RECA expansion was included in […]

Europe’s two nuclear-armed powers France and the United Kingdom agreed to coordinate their nuclear arsenals, both countries’ leaders announced in a press release Thursday. The decision comes as French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K.’s prime minister Keir Starmer signed a series of defense agreements. “From war in Europe, to new nuclear risks and daily cyber-attacks […]

President Donald Trump signed into law last week the massive reconciliation bill that would appropriate millions in extra funds to the National Nuclear Security Administration. The funds, part of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that includes $150 billion for defense purposes, would be available in fiscal 2025 through the end of fiscal 2029. The National […]

U.S. Navy shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and enterprise AI application software company C3.ai, Inc. have expanded their partnership aimed at accelerating shipbuilding throughput. In a June 30 announcement, the companies said the new agreement expands their preexisting partnership to now integrate artificial intelligence (AI) solutions across shipbuilding operations like planning, operations, supply chain, labor […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has asked the Department of Energy for a briefing on plans to refurbish an old shaft and hoist relied upon for emergency evacuation of underground workers at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). “Despite long-standing recognition of underlying problems, age-related degradation and technical obsolescence issues with the shafts […]

Several publicly-traded companies doing business within the Department of Energy weapons complex are scheduled to report earnings in the coming weeks. Here is a rundown of currently scheduled earnings releases and conference calls.  July 31: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News, Va., will report its second quarter earnings results, the company said in a press release. […]

The Department of Energy’s underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste is still well behind its shipment rate from before a major accident in 2014, but things are gradually rebounding, according to the Government Accountability Office. “According to DOE officials, WIPP [the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.] had been receiving as many as […]

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday said the White House can go ahead with plans for major layoffs and restructuring of the federal government while legal challenges play out, according to media reports. The Washington Post  and other media outlets reported Tuesday afternoon that the high court elected not to block planning for mass layoffs at […]

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency departed from Iran on July 4 to return to headquarters in Vienna, the agency said on the X social media platform that day. The inspectors had been in Tehran “throughout the recent military conflict,” the post said. The agency’s director general Rafael Grossi also “reiterated the crucial importance […]

The House last Thursday voted 218-214 to pass the massive reconciliation bill with $150 billion for defense that the Pentagon has built into its fiscal year 2026 spending plans. After consideration of the tax and spending bill went through the night in the lower chamber, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed by President Trump […]

The Columbia-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) is now projected to be ready by early 2029, Navy officials told lawmakers last week. The Navy says its highest priority program is the Columbia-class, starting with the future USS District of Columbia (SSBN-826), which it intends to gradually replace the aging Ohio-class SSBNs. Acting Chief of Naval […]