Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The National Nuclear Security Administration highlighted the Laboratory for Laser Energetics’ (LLE) role in U.S. nuclear weapons research as the University of Rochester facility marked its 50th anniversary, according to a press release this week.  LLE pioneered chirped-pulse amplification, a laser technology that helped advance inertial confinement fusion and high-energy-density physics.  NNSA said LLE’s Omega […]

Centrus Energy and Antares Nuclear signed a multi-year agreement Thursday where Centrus will provide high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to Torrance, Calif.-based microreactor developer. In the span of two months, Centrus signed its third HALEU supply contract with an advanced reactor company with Radiant Nuclear last week and X-energy in August. Centrus said in a press […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – Savannah River Site is moving beyond its traditional environmental cleanup mission as the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration prepare to expand nuclear-fuel, plutonium and other national-security activities at the South Carolina site. The NNSA took over landlord responsibilities from DOE’s Environmental Management in October 2024. Edwin Deshong, manager of […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) told the National Cleanup Workshop here on Wednesday he expects the Energy & Water Development bill for fiscal 2027 to pass during the so-called “lame duck” session after Congress returns following the November election. Fleischmann, a member of the House Appropriation Committee, chairs the Energy & Water subcommittee […]

Senate and House Democratic appropriators are seeking answers from Secretary of Energy Chris Wright over Project Velocity, a DOE effort to revise operating directives at national laboratories and nuclear security sites. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), ranking members of the Senate and House Energy and Water Development Appropriations subcommittees, said in […]

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The ground support segment for the future LGM-35A intercontinental ballistic missile by Northrop Grumman “has really turned the corner,” U.S. Air Force Gen. Dale White, direct reporting portfolio manager for critical major weapon systems, told reporters here Monday. The Pentagon may undertake a re-certification of Sentinel for engineering and manufacturing development […]

The Navy awarded General Dynamics Mission Systems a $194.1 million contract modification to support development of the fire control subsystem for its nuclear-armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM-N) program. The Sept. 3 award provides $194.1 million in engineering and technical support for the SLCM-N Fire Control Subsystem, according to the Pentagon’s contract announcement. Work is expected […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The anticipated expansion of missions and private-sector projects around Savannah River Site could require the surrounding region to build as many as 17,000 homes over the next five years, according to a local official here Tuesday. Chuck Smith, a former city councilman in Aiken, S.C. where Savannah River Site (SRS) is located, […]

The Air Force and Northrop Grumman Monday said they have completed a full assembly of the LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in its “operational orientation,” setting the stage for initial flight testing in 2027. The “vertical stacking” demonstration at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB), Calif. was completed in parallel with a critical design […]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The biggest challenge for the National Nuclear Security Administration is receiving “stable, predictable, sufficient, timely funding” from Congress, Thomas Ashlock, the agency’s associate administrator for congressional and intergovernmental affairs, said Tuesday. “Everyone would agree that a CR [continuing resolution] is not good,” Ashlock said, referring to a short-term stopgap spending bill that […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency has resolved outstanding safeguards questions concerning Syria’s past nuclear activities after Damascus provided the agency with access and information, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Sept. 14. Grossi told the IAEA’s General Conference in Vienna that the development resolves a safeguards matter that had remained open for nearly two decades […]

The United States would be willing to provide nuclear fuel to Iran if Tehran resolves concerns surrounding its nuclear program, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, potentially offering a path for civilian nuclear cooperation. Wright reportedly told Bloomberg that the U.S. could provide Iran with nuclear fuel from outside the country. He tied the proposal to […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recovered about $1.4 billion in indirect costs in fiscal 2024 from work it performed for outside partners, helping offset the costs of maintaining facilities and infrastructure, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). NNSA’s eight contractor-operated laboratories, plants and sites conducted nearly $15 billion in Strategic Partnership Projects (SPP) […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has removed all high-risk cesium-137 from Vermont, making it the 15th U.S. state or territory declared free of high-risk quantities of the radioactive material. This follows a July operation in which a team from Idaho National Laboratory removed a self-shielded cesium irradiator from the University of Vermont in Burlington […]

James Biggins, a longtime senior manager at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has started a new position as chief of staff and chief counsel at the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Biggins joined the Government Ethics office this month, he announced in a LinkedIn post. Biggins has held various key DNFSB posts, including […]

The Department of Energy has sent its first shipment of remote-handled transuranic waste since 2009 from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) using a new shipping container. Remote-handled waste is more radioactive than contact-handled transuranic (TRU) waste, which accounts for the vast majority of TRU waste disposed […]

Centrus Energy and Radiant Nuclear agreed to a long-term deal where Centrus will provide high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for Radiant’s incoming fuel needs following its Janus program selection. The Army’s Janus program awarded Radiant with $750 million to construct its Kaleidos microreactor at Fort Benning in Georgia and develop 15 microreactors across several military installations. […]

The U.S. Navy unveiled plans this week for a nuclear microreactor at the Naval Weapons Station Crane in Indiana, which will be the first base to use the technology. The microreactor installed at the naval base will be owned and operated by a private company and provide electricity inside the fence even through power outages, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has approved the next major phase for modernizing the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), allowing the project to advance into design for replacing aging accelerator systems. NNSA said in a Wednesday press release it approved Critical Decision 1 (CD-1) – meaning it gave the green light to proceed […]

North Korea has built a new uranium enrichment facility at its Yongbyon nuclear complex capable of housing up to 28 centrifuge cascades, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in an Aug. 28 report. The IAEA identified a new two-story building at Yongbyon as the site’s second uranium enrichment facility by comparing satellite imagery with […]

The South Carolina Environmental Law Project (SCELP) is demanding the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) conduct a public environmental review of plans to provide 19.7 metric tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium to private nuclear companies. SCELP published the letter of demand Sept. 8 on behalf of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, […]

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp.-Marine Systems has been awarded a $111.4 million contract to maintain, overhaul and repair ship service turbine generators aboard the Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine fleet. The firm-fixed-price and cost-only, indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity contract was posted Sept. 4 by the Defense Department. The deal has a total potential value of $253.3 million if […]

Lockheed Martin Space has received a $90.2 million contract modification for “advanced design and development” work supporting the Navy’s Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile life extension program, the Pentagon said. The $90,229,306 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification, posted by the Defense Department Sept. 4, supports the Trident II Life Extension 2 Strategic Systems Programs Alteration Advanced Design […]

BWX Technologies has received a contract from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to develop a conceptual design for the first module of a new Lithium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.  The first phase of the award is a four-month, $4 million contract that covers the conceptual design […]

The United States and European allies are seeking an International Atomic Energy Agency resolution that would report Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear safeguards obligations, news outlets said Friday Sept. 4.  The U.S., Britain, France and Germany are lobbying members of the IAEA Board of Governors ahead of its upcoming meeting, seeking […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Thursday its Y-12 National Security Complex has completed production and acceptance testing of the B61-13’s canned subassemblies, finishing the work roughly seven months ahead of schedule. The milestone fulfills a timeline NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams projected in an August interview with Exchange Monitor, when he said the remaining […]

Nearly a year into his tenure leading the National Nuclear Security Administration, Brandon Williams says some of his most difficult decisions have involved challenging the way the agency has traditionally done business. “The hardest decisions are that we’re not going to do business as usual,” Williams told Exchange Monitor in an exclusive interview in August. […]