Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

In a series of executive orders released Wednesday, President Donald Trump said any major defense acquisition program 15% over cost could be cancelled. “[A]ny program more than 15 percent behind schedule based on the current Acquisition Program Baseline (APB), 15 percent over cost based on the current APB, unable to meet any key performance parameters, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration hosted Cobalt Magnet 25, an emergency response exercise, with local, federal and international partners from the U.S. and Canada from March 14 to 21. The exercise provided a scenario of a notional nuclear power plant accident to allow response personnel to practice scanning for radiological materials, protecting affected populations and […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said rebooting plutonium pit production is key to bringing nuclear power forward for energy and defense during the Donald Trump administration, according to Fox News Sunday. Plutonium pits, the bowling-ball shaped fissile core placed inside a thermonuclear weapon to trigger its explosion, were produced at the highest rate during the […]

Amid saber rattling between President Donald Trump and Iran, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Congressional panel recently  Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon. Gabbard’s remarks came while testifying at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing March 25. Gabbard said the U.S. Intelligence Community assesses that “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and […]

While Wall Street focuses on the S&P 500’s worst quarter in three years due to trade-war threats, the nuclear enterprise could also face market slowdown as uranium stocks fall even further, according to published reports. President Donald Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on energy resources from Canada since early March. He paused the tariffs […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has strengthened its infrastructure project review process, but should require more details on safety, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said recently. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) staff attended three project reviews and had other interactions with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Project Analysis, Oversight […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said Pantex management and operating contractor PanTeXas Deterrence reported a loss of power in nuclear explosive bays the week of March 7. The Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, is a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) site that services all U.S. nuclear weapons in assembly and disassembly, and also houses […]

To build the equivalent of an annual 500% increase in submarine tonnage from 2004 to now, Adm. William Houston said the Navy is trying to leverage new technology like automated robot inspectors and drone-based monitors. “We now have automated robots to do inspections for us in tanks – that goes ahead and takes tank inspections […]

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States. would receive a “strong reciprocal blow” if it commits any military “mischief,” according to a statement Monday. Khamenei’s comments come after President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran if the Islamic Republic did not comply with a nuclear deal, as part of his “maximum pressure” […]

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said Tuesday the U.S. Air Force might be able to re-use some Minuteman III silos to house the future Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel. Cramer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces panel, also said the Air Force is increasingly discussing possible concurrent upgrades to house Sentinel at the […]

Secretary of the Air Force-nominee Troy Meink says that the future LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile by Northrop Grumman is needed for deterrence.  “The ground leg of the nuclear triad–Minuteman III and, over time, Sentinel–are foundational to strategic deterrence and defense of the homeland,” he wrote in written answers to the Senate Armed Services Committee […]

The chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Energy and Water wants to see the Department of Energy’s nuclear-related programs receive as much money as realistically possible during a period of government cutbacks. “I want to see the most robust budgets that we can — understanding that we are in tight fiscal times,” Rep. Chuck […]

The Department of Energy has circulated its own Deferred Resignation Plan, akin to the Office of Personnel Management’s earlier “Fork in the Road” initiative, and responses are due Tuesday April 8, according to a Monday memo from Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. The new DOE buyout is spawned by President Donald Trump’s Feb. 11 executive […]

Russia’s top commander in Ukraine Gen. Sergei Surovikin discussed using nuclear weapons to prevent Ukraine from advancing into Crimea in the fall of 2022, the New York Times said March 29. The Times cited U.S. intelligence reports, which also reportedly said that U.S. intelligence agencies put the chances of Moscow using nuclear weapons between 5-10%, […]

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia are appealing a U.S. District judge decision limiting temporary reinstatement of probationary staff at the Department of Energy and many other federal agencies to just states that sued the Donald Trump Administration over mass firings. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of DOE, the Department of […]

While Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) are pulling for President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense against nuclear adversaries, others are saying it is not cost effective. “We need to protect the homeland from as many dangers as are out there,” Wicker told the Exchange Monitor in the halls of the Capitol […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a solicitation that makes $900 million available through federal funds to support the deployment of small modular reactors (SMR). Originally issued in October 2024, the DOE announced the reissue of the solicitation on Monday as the agency works to better align with the Donald Trump administration’s agenda to […]

Oklo Inc. has lined up a key agreement with the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory to assist the company’s plans to build its first advanced nuclear plant at the site. The agreement ensures that Oklo, an advanced nuclear technology company based in California, will commit to follow the “strict environmental guidelines”  throughout the various […]

President Donald Trump has his eyes on the coveted Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant as part of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an Oslo press conference Thursday, March 20. The two leaders have been discussing a limited ceasefire for the past couple weeks focused on energy infrastructure, and as […]

The Senate easily confirmed financier and Donald Trump campaign donor John Phelan 62-30 to be the next Secretary of the Navy on Monday evening. All Republicans present voted for Phalen. The 11 Democrats in favor included the Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Jack Reed (R.I.) and other committee members Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Tim Kaine […]

Ian Bennitt, a special assistant to President Donald Trump and senior director for White House shipbuilding and maritime initiatives, is leading the administration’s new Office of Shipbuilding, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) said this week.  Wittman, vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters, including Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily, following remarks at last […]

WASHINGTON — Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, told Naval witnesses at a hearing Tuesday that the U.S. needs to “reciprocate” the commitment Australia made to the shipbuilding workforce. “I’m very pro-AUKUS,” Kaine said at the hearing on the state of conventional surface shipbuilding at the Capitol, […]

A bipartisan group of Congressional representatives want to expand the National Nuclear Security Administration’s authority to develop counter drone technology, according to a press release by Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.).  The Nuclear Ecosystem Drone Defense Act (NEDD) was introduced by: Reps. Lee and Mark Amodei (R) from Nevada, Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), […]

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) Wednesday told the commander of the Strategic Command Gen. Anthony Cotton that he thinks adding a nuclear warhead to the nation’s submarines could be “disruptive” to the maritime program. A planned nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) would be deployed on the Virginia-class submarines and would include a variant of the W80-4 […]

A Maryland-based federal district judge on Wednesday called for additional legal briefs from the U.S. Department of Justice and 20 state attorneys general challenging mass layoffs of probationary workers  at the Department of Energy and other federal agencies.  U.S. District Judge James Bredar issued a temporary restraining order against the mass layoffs earlier this month. […]

President Donald Trump has nominated a trio of officials to lead key Department of Energy branches serving the weapons complex, although as of mid-week Senate committees had not scheduled confirmation hearings on any of them. All three would report to the already confirmed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Exchange Monitor will update the nominees’ progress […]

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent letters to directors of Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and Argonne National Laboratories on reports of researchers leveraging supercomputers from the Chinese military. Lee, a proponent for examining vulnerabilities at national labs particularly concerning foreign nationals, published the letters Wednesday on the […]

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced orders Thursday to “ease burdensome permitting rules” for construction on the nation’s nuclear weapons facilities and national labs. Wright immediately directed that the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) “OSHA-plus” framework for subcontracted construction projects at the labs be expanded with aims to increase competition and reduce costs while maintaining […]