Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

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 […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration will by March issue a final request for proposals for managing the Savannah River Site, according to a Dec. 31 notice. The presolicitation synopsis was posted on the government contracting databases sam.gov and FedConnect just before the New Year.  Jill Hruby, outgoing administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, told […]

BWX Technologies last week completed its $100 million acquisition of a specialty materials business of L3Harris Technologies that is the sole provider of depleted uranium to the U.S. government, the companies said on Monday. The deal for the L3Harris Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee (AOT) business was announced November. The AOT business also provides tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, […]

A partial government shutdown loomed after President-elect Donald Trump this week told congressional Republicans to oppose a three-month continuing resolution.  With about 12 hours to go until a shutdown at deadline for Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, lawmakers were still scrambling to find a bill that could pass the House.  A backstop continuing resolution favored […]

The El Capitan supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will enter the classified network mid-March 2025, senior Livermore officials told the Exchange Monitor Tuesday at a press tour of the site. Sierra, the current Livermore supercomputer on the classified network, will retire when El Capitan takes over, Terri Quinn, the deputy associate director for high […]

Marvin Adams, deputy administrator for defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, told the Exchange Monitor Friday that the U.S. does not need to critically test, even in a new administration. “If it’s based on purely technical considerations, we are confident that we can get the information we need staying subcritical,” Adams said. “We […]

Centrus Energy Corp. said its domestic supply chain is in place to produce uranium usable in defense programs.  A spokesperson for Centrus told the Exchange Monitor in an email last week that Centrus’ manufacturing supply chain spans 13 states and 14 major suppliers, all of which are American companies.  “That gives us the ability to […]

Roger Rocha was appointed president of the prime contractor at Nevada National Security Site effective Monday, the site announced in a press release Monday. Rocha, the interim president since September when his predecessor resigned, now will take responsibility for all activities overseen by the Honeywell-led Mission Support and Test Services (MSTS) at the Nevada National […]

Federal and state agencies on Tuesday said they did not look for a radiation source, since recovered, that went missing in New Jersey earlier this month. Spokespersons for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection all said in emails Tuesday that they did […]

LIVERMORE, Ca. — The W80-4 warhead’s final design reviews are complete and its first production unit is still on track for fiscal year 2027, a senior official at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory official told the Exchange Monitor here Tuesday. “We’re in a phase called production engineering,” Brad Wallin, Livermore’s deputy director for strategic deterrence, […]

An executive with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, Johney Green, will be the new head of the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina, Battelle said last week. Battelle Savannah River Alliance said in a Dec. 13 press release it chose Green, the associate laboratory director for mechanical and thermal […]