Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

An Australian government agency signed a deal this month to store nuclear waste from AUKUS submarines on a naval base in the country, despite community concerns. The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) issued a license to the Australian Submarine Agency to prepare what the agency calls a “Controlled Industrial Facility” on naval […]

Iran must comply with International Atomic Energy Agency rules again to enter nuclear talks with the U.S., a State Department spokesperson said this week after the Islamic Republic swore in a new president. The spokesperson said July 29 that the state department has “no expectation” that the election of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, a self-styled […]

The secretary of energy discussed plans for modernizing the Cernavoda nuclear power plant and other U.S.-Romania civil nuclear and energy projects in Bucharest July 23-24, according to a Department of Energy press release. Jennifer Granholm, the U.S. secretary of energy, gave keynote remarks on Wednesday at the 5th annual ministerial meeting of the Partnership for […]

Vice President Kamala Harris’ (D) positions on nuclear weapons, when she’s taken any at all, hew closely to Democratic orthodoxies of support for the Iran nuclear deal and denuclearization of North Korea. Harris, fast becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for President following President Joe Biden’s (D) July withdrawal from the race, visited the Korean demilitarized […]

Roughly 25 miles up the road from the Savannah River Site, about equidistant between Aiken in South Carolina and Augusta in Georgia, sits Aiken Technical College. Founded in 1972, the public community college has about 1,800 students, many of whom focus on the coursework necessary for a career in health care. This year, school leaders […]

Workers at the Savannah River Site in June removed the last pieces of plutonium recycling equipment from a building that will house the site’s pit plant, the site’s management contract said Wednesday. Over 18 months, workers removed over 2,500 gross tons of material from the area, according to the press release from Savannah River Nuclear […]

After hours of debate on more than 60 amendments this week, the House of Representatives canceled a planned vote on several 2025 appropriations bills, including the one that funds the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration. Media reported Wednesday that a fractious, razor-thin Republican majority could not wrangle enough votes in their own […]

PanTeXas Deterrence announced four key personnel who will lead management of the Pantex Plant alongside Kelly Beierschmitt, president of the BWX Technologies-led venture, the parent announced Tuesday. The four other senior managers leading PanTeXas Deterrence are: Carl Beard, production operations director. Beard has five years of experience at the Pantex Plant and experience in pit […]

After Virginia-based Amentum merges with the Jacobs government contracting and cyber businesses this year, the company plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AMTM,”, according to a financial filing last week. Dallas-based Jacobs will still trade under the symbol “J,” according to a joint Securities and Exchange Commission filing by […]

A plaintiff who claims false statements by the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico led to the breakup of his marriage served legal papers on the government defendant, he told a federal court last week. After being warned by U.S. District Court Judge Steven Yarbrough that the case would be dismissed unless […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory is slowing its hiring and growth with aims to alleviate overcrowding in the community, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said in answer to a local’s question at a large and vocal town hall Monday. “We’re not going to continue to grow the lab,” Jill Hruby, head of the […]

A federal safety watchdog will hear testimony from government agencies next month on best practices for taking care of aging nuclear infrastructure, some of which is a half-century old. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has set a public hearing Aug.14 at its Washington, headquarters to hear testimony from representatives of the Government Accountability […]

The Sentinel modernization program is not only “absolutely necessary” but “might not be sufficient” for Europe’s defense, a Department of Defense official said last week at a virtual discussion after the NATO summit in Washington. “We cannot afford not to proceed with Sentinel,” Vipin Narang, Department of Defense acting assistant secretary of defense for space […]

Editor’s note: the election digest tracks lawmakers whose constituencies include Department of Energy nuclear sites. Most lawmakers with big nuclear constituencies look, as usual, safe to win reelection this November. However, a few are retiring and some are in tight races. The Exchange Monitor’s election digest is tracking them all. Among the expected Senate retirees […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration did not comply with an energy savings performance contract from 2018 to 2021 at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, an audit from the Office of Inspector General said. The DOE Inspector General’s audit reported that savings identified in an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) with renewable energy firm NORESCO […]

Two members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board on Monday praised Senate confirmation of a third, putting the board back at a quorum but two members short of a full roster. “We look forward to her arrival,” Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chair Joyce Connery and vice chair Thomas Summers said in a […]

Virginia-based Amentum recently hired Nathan Rutledge for its newly-created position of senior vice president and head of investor relations. Rutledge will lead investor relations activity connected with Amentum’s announced merger with Jacobs’ Critical Mission Solutions and Cyber and Intelligence businesses, according to a July 2  press release. The new blended company will be publicly traded. […]

PanTeXas Deterrence got the green light from the National Nuclear Security Administration to begin taking over as management and operations contractor for the Pantex Plant located near Amarillo, Texas. The transition to manage Pantex, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plant that services all U.S. nuclear weapons, will begin July 15 and end November 14, […]

Officials from the Department of Energy and the State Department met with officials from Kazakhstan this week to engage in dialogue on energy security and civil nuclear cooperation, according to a press release from the State Department. The 2024 U.S.-Kazakhstan Strategic Energy Dialogue took place in Kazakhstan’s capital city, Astana, on July 18. The delegation […]

Prime contractor Northrop Grumman will continue its work on the Air Force’s nuclear-tipped, silo-based LGM-35A Sentinel missile as the service and Pentagon acquisition chief William LaPlante consider how to restructure the program, an Air Force official said Monday. “Work can still continue under the contract that exists today,” Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara, the Air Force’s […]

The United States should get ready to again test nuclear weapons at the Nevada National Security Site if former President Donald Trump (R) wins reelection in November, according to conservative policy document released last week. In a list of “needed reforms,” Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership, a conservative policy blueprint written by former Trump administration […]

The U.S. and the Philippines entered into a civil nuclear cooperation agreement, or 123 agreement, on July 2, the State Department said in a press release. Vice President Kamala Harris announced in 2022 that the two countries had entered into negotiations, of which Philippine Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin said were in the “home stretch” in […]

An amendment that would prohibit defunding high explosive production at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, would be considered next week by the House Rules Committee as part of the 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), whose district includes the Pantex Plant that services all U.S. nuclear […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration announced this week it entered into a multi-year agreement in May to expand operations and office space at the Kansas City National Security Campus in Missouri. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) made the agreement with Promontory 150 LLC in May to purchase both land and what a spokesperson for […]

President Joe Biden (D) signed a bill into law this week to ease deployment domestically and internationally of U.S. nuclear reactors and technology. The Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act would reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s methods for issuing licenses and require the Department of Energy to study the global nuclear industry and tell […]

The Air Force’s next-generation nuclear-tipped, silo-based intercontinental ballistic missile will continue but will be drastically restructured amid further cost increases and schedule delays announced Monday by the Department of Defense. The new overall cost estimate for Sentinel is $140.9 billion: 81% higher than the September 2020 estimate when the program entered its manufacturing phase and […]

In Iran’s election run-off Friday, Iran’s citizens voted in a candidate that promised in his campaign to negotiate with the U.S. and Europe on nuclear activities again, media outlets reported. Masoud Pezeshkian, a lawmaker and heart surgeon, defeated conservative opponent Saeed Jalili narrowly — with only 50% voter turnout nationwide — on the campaign of […]