Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

WASHINGTON — The Donald Trump administration paused on firing hundreds of federal employees that worked on the nation’s nuclear weapons for the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, media outlets reported. Late last Thursday Feb 13, over 300 of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) 1,800 employees were fired, including all probationary employees, […]

On the same day a federal district judge in Massachusetts lifted his earlier restraining  order against the Donald Trump administration’s deferred retirement program for government workers, the Office of Personnel Management closed out the program. “The Deferred Resignation Program is now closed,” according to a notice Wednesday on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website. […]

Multiple media sites reported over the weekend that members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency started working at the Department of Energy without security clearances. Chris Wright, the newly-confirmed Secretary of Energy, told CNBC Feb. 7  that three members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) “have access to look around, talk to people […]

A representative from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Tuesday said government  urgency for plutonium pit production at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is “unnecessary” —and increases risk to workers. Dylan Spaulding, a senior scientist researching nuclear weapons production at the Union of Concerned Scientists, laid out his case […]

Israel might strike Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025, multiple media outlets reported that U.S. intelligence said. According to Washington Post-reported intelligence reports spanning from the end of the Joe Biden administration and the beginning of the Donald Trump administration, such an attack would set Iran’s nuclear program […]

The ranking member of the House Armed Services Seapower subcommittee criticized President Donald Trump for his announcement of new steel and aluminum tariffs days after Australia sent its first increment of hundreds of millions of dollars of AUKUS submarine industrial base funding. On his way to the Super Bowl on Sunday, Trump told reporters his […]

President Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin, on a phone call this week, talked negotiations for ending the nearly three-year war Russia waged in Ukraine, media reported. Trump said Thursday that Ukraine would have a seat at the table in peace negotiations, after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyiv’s allies warned against a “dirty […]

Certain segments for the intercontinental ballistic missile Sentinel are being put on hold while the program undergoes restructuring, the Air Force said in a statement Monday. “The Air Force has ordered the Northrop Grumman Corporation to suspend the design, testing, and construction related to the Command and Launch Segment,” a spokesperson said in the statement. […]

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said last Friday President Donald Trump would support the AUKUS agreement with Australia. The defense secretary made the remarks while meeting his Australian counterpart, Defense Minister Richard Marles, at the Pentagon. Hegseth said this after Australia made its first payment of $500 million last week toward the $3 billion investment […]

Kim Budil, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, said Wednesday the lab closed an office due to President Donald Trump’s executive order ending “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs in the federal government. “We did have an office that we closed,” Budil said at a hearing by the House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee […]

The Republican chair and ranking Democrat of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee Tuesday asked Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for quick action on Australia’s recent submarine industrial base investment payment. On Feb. 7 Australia sent the Defense Department a $500 million payment to invest in the U.S. domestic submarine industrial base […]

As the Donald Trump administration moves ahead with its agenda to shrink the federal workforce, roughly one-sixth of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s staff was terminated Thursday. According to NPR, who broke the story Thursday, 300 of the agency’s 1,800 staff were fired.  The Department of Energy, of which the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) […]

Staffers at the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other agencies now have the weekend to consider taking up the Donald Trump administration offer on buyouts, as a federal judge will hear arguments Monday on the deferred resignation program. The Thursday ruling from U.S. District judge George O’Toole, Jr. in Massachusetts held up the […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries Thursday reported a steep fourth-quarter decline in earnings driven by lower performance in construction of attack submarines and new aircraft carriers. Net income in the quarter tumbled 55% to $123 million, $3.15 earnings per share, from $274 million ($6.90 earnings per share) a year ago, short of consensus estimates by 13 cents […]

Earnings rose at Amentum, Chantilly, Va., in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, which the company that recently combined with the government contracting wing of Jacobs attributed to strong core businesses linked with national security. In response to questions from Wall Street analysts during a Wednesday morning conference call, CEO John Heller said Amentum management […]

Texas A&M University announced Tuesday it would offer land to four advanced nuclear reactor companies to build small modular reactors. According to a press release by the university, reactor manufacturers have been looking for a piece of land large enough to build clusters of reactors to generate a power supply “needed for artificial intelligence endeavors, […]

Representatives from eight non-governmental organizations signed a letter Wednesday asking for a 45-day extension to provide “informed public comments” about Los Alamos National Laboratory’s site-wide environmental impact statement. “This extension is necessary to ensure the public and Tribes may thoroughly review and analyze the extensive and complex information contained in the draft document, which exceeds […]

Lockheed Martin won a modification to a previously-awarded contract to work on advanced design and development for the Trident II Life Extension 2 Alteration, the Department of Defense said Jan. 31. The cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to the existing contract for the sea-based leg of the nuclear triad was awarded on a sole source basis, […]

The Government Accountability Office said Thursday the National Nuclear Security Administration is still not doing enough to monitor its $200-billion procurement program. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a news release for its report that the agency did not follow leading agency reform practices, including “establishing processes to collect data and monitor progress, as […]

The day after being sworn in as secretary of energy, self-described nerd Chris Wright said updating the U.S. nuclear arsenal, increasing civilian nuclear power and cleaning up Manhattan Project sites are among his priorities at the Department of Energy. It is vital to “modernize America’s nuclear stockpile,” Wright told DOE staffers during a Wednesday introductory […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration was to conduct low-altitude helicopter flights Sunday through Thursday, Feb. 2-6 this week over New Orleans, La. ahead of the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, the agency said in a press release last week. The agency’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team now uses a Leonardo AW-139 helicopter equipped with radiation technology […]

The U.S. Air Force is considering the replacement of flight control units for the engines on the three-stage Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile by Boeing. The 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base (AFB), Wyo., the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., and the 91st Missile Wing at Minot AFB, N.D. operate […]

Centrus Energy signed a long-term agreement to supply Korea’s nuclear reactor fleet with low-enriched uranium from the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, the company announced Wednesday. Amir Vexler, president and CEO of Centrus, met with Whang Jooho, president and CEO of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, to sign the contract, according to a LinkedIn […]

President Donald Trump has tapped Scott Pappano and Matthew Napoli to be the National Nuclear Security Administration’s principal deputy administrator and deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation, respectively. The nominations require Senate confirmation.  Both Pappano and Napoli were received by the Senate Armed Services Committee Monday. A date for a confirmation hearing for either has […]

Revenue rose at Centrus, Bethesda, Md., in the fourth quarter, which the uranium broker and enrichment technology developer attributed to the low-enriched uranium segment and higher uranium prices, even though net income was down. For the full year, Centrus experienced a rise in revenue at $442 million compared to $320.2 million in the prior year, […]

The Senate voted 59-to-38 Monday evening to confirm Chris Wright as the 17th secretary of energy. Wright is CEO and founder of Liberty Energy, a publicly-traded company that provides services and technology to the oil and natural gas industry. Wright’s confirmation was expected given he was not considered one of the more controversial picks so […]

Earnings rose at Honeywell, Charlotte, N.C., in the fourth quarter, even while the company reported a dip in Aerospace, the segment involved with management of several defense-nuclear sites. Honeywell also announced plans to split into three separate public companies, according to an earnings release.   Net earnings for the entire company for the fourth quarter, ended […]