Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday endorsed the nomination of Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright to be secretary of energy by 15-5, with Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Wash.) being one of the five Democrats to vote against the executive. The nominations of both Wright and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) […]

WASHINGTON — Ahead of President Donald Trump’s (R) swearing-in, Jill Hruby, now former administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, advised the Trump administration to look at the agency’s enterprise blueprint. “I want to be clear that the blueprint is not a wish list,” Hruby said last week at a tell-all at Washington think tank […]

Among the flurry of executive orders President Donald Trump signed Monday after being sworn in are measures to implement a federal hiring freeze and telling government staff to return to in-person work. “Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate […]

The Department of Energy is putting the breaks on most contract solicitations, reports and personnel moves, Acting Secretary of Energy Ingrid Kolb said this week. In a Monday memo, viewed by Exchange Monitor, Kolb said most contract procurements of $100,000 or more were to be put on hold as were most loan guarantees, hiring, promotions […]

President Donald Trump (R) on Monday ordered federal agencies to pause distribution of funds appropriated by his predecessor’s signature stimulus bills, including funds intended to jumpstart a domestic uranium refining industry. “All agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) or the Infrastructure Investment […]

Thom Mason, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said Tuesday that the lab cannot rely on wind and solar power for its capabilities or to power its supercomputers. “That was part of a pretty extensive analysis on how to get more power on site,” Mason said in response to a question about the Electric Power […]

WASHINGTON — While unclear how President Donald Trump (R) will approach AUKUS, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) says there are ‘positive bits of evidence’ that it will be sustained in the new administration. “The president is very focused on shipbuilding, okay?” Kaine told the Monitor at the Capitol on Wednesday. “So that’s good. And I think […]

President Donald Trump’s (R) return-to-office mandate for federal workers did not affect Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel, who already work mainly on site, the lab’s director said on a virtual town hall Tuesday. “Nobody’s making pits in their garage,” Thom Mason, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said on the zoom call. “Everything has to […]

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Tuesday that President Donald Trump must return to the table and reach “an understanding” with Iran on its nuclear program. “There was an agreement that existed before President Trump decided that it was not the path he wanted to follow,” Grossi said, referring to […]

WASHINGTON — Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trump’s (R) pick for secretary of energy, said he would make it a priority to enrich uranium domestically Wednesday at his confirmation hearing. “We have lost our ability to enrich uranium in this country, to construct plutonium pits, and to do so many critical things that are key to […]

Representatives from Iran met in Geneva this week with officials from Germany, France and the U.K., the so-called E3 countries, to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program, media reported. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said on the website X that conversations with the E3 countries were “serious, frank, and constructive.” Iranian […]

WASHINGTON — Brandon Williams, a former one-term congressman from New York’s 22nd district, is President Donald Trump’s (R) pick to head the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration. Chris Wright, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Energy, told the Exchange Monitor here Wednesday after his confirmation hearing that he picked Williams personally for the […]

Leaders of the House Appropriations Committee announced their subcommittee rosters for the 119th Congress this week, showing more continuity than change in subcommittees affecting the Department of Energy. There are some additions and departures, but leaders for the appropriations subcommittees that write the first drafts of annual spending bills that affect DOE nuclear programs will […]

WASHINGTON — Jill Hruby, outgoing administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, told the next administration ‘don’t lose the momentum’ in a tell-all on the state of the nuclear enterprise Thursday. “I think, you know, there’s other people saying this as well,” Hruby told the Exchange Monitor after her comments at Washington think tank the […]

The CEO of shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries said the incoming Trump administration is likely more receptive to a plan developed by the Navy and industry to improve shipyard wages and quicken submarine production. Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) CEO Chris Kastner told reporters Jan. 9 during a roundtable ahead of the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium […]

The Congressional Budget Office review this month of the Navy’s latest 30-year shipbuilding plan highlighted how the planned submarine sales to Australia under the AUKUS agreement are likely to lower total U.S. submarine operational years. The Navy plans to sell an initial used Virginia-class submarine to Australia in 2032, a second used submarine in 2035 […]

Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.) this week called upon Congress to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include more people made sick by their work to process uranium and thorium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program. Budzinski and local officials gathered at a former Dow Chemical factory in Venice, Ill, Monday Jan. 13 to promote […]

Jennifer Granholm, the 16th U.S. secretary of energy, formally said goodbye to DOE staff Thursday and the Joe Biden White House announced Ingrid Kolb, the head of the agency’s management office, will become acting secretary effective at noon Monday. In addition, Teresa Robbins will step in as acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, […]

WASHINGTON — Peter Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s (R) intended nominee for Secretary of Defense, was questioned Tuesday by a Senate committee about his fitness for the role, including his knowledge of the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), whose state houses silos for land-based, nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles, asked whether Hegseth, a former […]

Leaders of the House Armed Services Committee announced their subcommittee rosters for the 119th Congress this week in a joint press release. Last week, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), returning as the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, announced the GOP subcommittee assignments. Friday, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), returning ranking member of the committee, released […]

President Joe Biden’s (D) national security advisor said president-elect Donald Trump will like the “burden sharing” of the AUKUS deal and maintain it in his presidency. Jake Sullivan, head of the National Security Council, sat down for an interview with Australian think tank the Lowy Institute in December. When Lowy mentioned “a bit of concern […]

Senate Democrats on Thursday announced their rosters for the Armed Services Committee with newly-elected Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) joining the panel. Slotkin, a former U.S. representative and Pentagon official, is taking the Armed Services spot held last Congress by Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), who did not run for reelection. The panel writes the annual National […]

A Tennessee congressman will lead the subcommittee with oversight of U.S. nuclear forces in the 119th Congress, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said on Tuesday. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) chair of the House Armed Services Committee in the new Congress, announced the new appointments in a press release. Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) […]

A high-ranking member of a Japanese Yakuza organized crime syndicate pleaded guilty in federal court to crimes including nuclear smuggling, the U.S. attorney’s office said Wednesday.   According to the press release, Takeshi Ebisawa admitted to “brazenly” trafficking nuclear material, including an unspecified quantity of weapons-grade plutonium. Justice unsealed an indictment against Ebisawa nearly a […]

Sen. Catherine Cotez Masto (D-Nev.) said on the website X Thursday that she met with Chris Wright, president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Energy. “I sat down yesterday with Chris Wright to discuss his nomination to the Department of Energy,” Cortez Masto, whose district abuts the Nevada National Security Site, said on the site. […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration completed the last production unit of the B61-12 life extension program in December, the agency said Tuesday. With production complete for the B61-12 life extension program, the press release said, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will now transition to producing the B61-13 gravity bomb, a new, higher-yield variant of […]

The 118th Congress ended Friday Jan. 3 without the Senate voting to confirm President Joe Biden’s nomination of William (Ike) White, to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. So the nomination of White, a longtime fed and former acting head of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch, was returned to the president that day under the standing […]

Responding to a 2024 article about the weapons potential of fuel used by some advanced reactors, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration last week said the agency aims to evaluate risks of high-assay low enriched uranium. “It is important that U.S. [advanced and small modular reactor (A/SMR)] designs compete favorably in the global […]