Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — James Peery, director of the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories, told the Exchange Monitor Monday that the W80-4 had its first flight test on the Long Range Standoff Missile last week. Peery spoke with the Monitor after speaking at a panel at the Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit with Kim […]

The Senate overwhelmingly voted Thursday evening to confirm former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to be secretary of interior, and also took a step closer to a confirmation vote on Secretary of Energy nominee Chris Wright.  Burgum, who would also lead President Donald Trump’s National Energy Council, easily won confirmation to head the Interior […]

The Senate last week narrowly confirmed Pete Hegseth as the new secretary of defense with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie breaking vote on a Friday evening. Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Pentagon was approved largely along party lines while three Republicans, Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), joined […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Fluor-led prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina is drawing up a “master campus plan” for the 310-square-mile site to present to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The plan, required for NNSA sites, is a major undertaking, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) President and […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and environmental plaintiffs settled a lawsuit that could put a pause on plutonium pit production efforts at Savannah River Site if approved. The agreement, made public Jan. 16, would leave Los Alamos National Laboratory as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) sole pit factory until an environmental impact statement is […]

The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic device the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists uses to signify closeness to “global catastrophe,” as of Tuesday is set at the closest it’s ever been to midnight in its 78-year history. “In setting the Clock one second closer to midnight, we send a stark signal,” the Manhattan-era science and global security […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — The scheduled rebaselining process is done at the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., an agency official told the Exchange Monitor here Monday. The Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) next-generation factory for nuclear-weapons secondary stages. Audrey Beldio, principal assistant deputy […]

As the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration awaits its marching orders from the President Donald Trump (R) administration, the Los Alamos National Laboratory is now saying it will get to an annual plutonium pit production goal of 30 “ASAP.” Such pits are the triggers for thermonuclear weapons. David Dooley, the associate laboratory director […]

ARLINGTON, VA — The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration is “clear-eyed about the work ahead” with its two-site strategy for plutonium pit production, NNSA’s acting administrator Terea Robbins told the opening of the 17th annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit Monday. Much work remains over the next decade for NNSA to achieve its goal of […]

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators are reintroducing a bill to reauthorize and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation (RECA) Act (RECA). A similar bill passed the Senate last session but never made it to a vote in the House of Representatives. On Thursday, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced he and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) […]

President Trump has signed an executive order for the Pentagon to move forward with developing an “Iron Dome for America,” a massive, likely multi-billion dollar project that will utilize space-based interceptors.  New Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has 60 days to submit a plan for building out the “next-generation missile defense shield,” with the White […]

Huntington Ingalls Industries said Monday it closed its acquisition of the assets of W International, bringing in-house a supplier of submarine structures, modules, and assemblies that struggled to meet the Navy’s needs. Terms of the deal, first announced in early December, were not disclosed. Huntington Ingalls Industries’s (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding-Charleston Operations site in Goose […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — There will likely be a 15-year minimum overlap in silos between the Sentinel and the last Minuteman III, an Air Force Global Strike Command leader said here Monday. “I think 15 years is probably an ambitious estimate,” Maj. Gen. Stacy Jo Huser, commander of the 20th Air Force in the Air Force […]

The White House this week invited employees of the federal government, including those connected with nuclear energy, weapons and cleanup, to take something akin to a buyout, by submitting a “deferred resignation.” . In a memo dubbed “fork in the road” the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said federal employees can submit deferred resignations by […]

Joel Spangenberg, a career fed who logged several years as a manager around the Department of Energy’s weapons complex, has retired from the federal government and accepted a post with the U.S. branch of a nuclear company based in the United Kingdom. “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Vice President […]

Joyce Connery, who is departing as a nuclear safety watchdog after nearly a decade, would not be shocked to see the President Donald Trump (R) administration revive then-President Joe Biden’s (D) nomination of a former Department of Energy cleanup boss to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board —only this time paired with one or more […]

The Australian defense minister on Tuesday announced another $164 million investment in domestic industry to support the supply chain for the future AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarine. The Albanese government, the federal executive branch of Australia, specified this covers funding various initiatives focused on about 125 businesses across Australia that will help build and sustain AUKUS […]

WASHINGTON — Jill Hruby, ex-administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said last week the B61-12 gravity bombs have been “fully forward deployed,” meaning stationed by a potential conflict area to respond to threats. “The new B61-12 gravity bombs are fully forward deployed, and we have increased NATO’s visibility to our nuclear capabilities through visits […]