Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

The U.S. Air Force is prepared to put multiple nuclear warheads atop its new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles if called to do so, according to the officer in charge of fielding the new missile.  Brig. Gen. Colin Connor, the Air Force’s director of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) modernization, said on Wednesday that the new LGM-35 […]

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant lost its main power connection on Sunday, forcing it to rely on backup electricity for reactor cooling, the U.N.’s nuclear power agency said Sunday. There was no reported timeline for repairing the line. It is the latest in a string of power disruptions to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which […]

Henry Kissinger, a Cold War diplomat and presidential adviser called one of the more consequential and controversial figures of the 20th century, died Thursday at age 100, national media reported. Kissinger, who spoke with a European accent, became “an unlikely media star” during his time as secretary of state for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald […]

Substandard contractor performance delayed the launch of a new Uranium Processing Facility at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee until 2029, according to the agency’s latest annual progress report.  The start of operations at the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), a milestone known as CD-4, has now slid four years out […]

Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and several of his Republican colleagues are raising concerns over a “troubling report on the state of the counterintelligence enterprise” at the Department of Energy and of the subsequent reassignment of Director Steven Black, who led the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence for eleven years. In a Nov. 21 statement, the […]

One of the six reactors at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant lost power for about an hour and a half last week, causing an emergency diesel generator to kick in to provide electricity for cooling and other functions, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.  Plant personnel continue to investigate what caused the 90-minute power outage […]

The comment period for the Los Alamos National Laboratory Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project Draft Environmental Assessment opens Dec. 19 and runs through Jan. 17.    The draft assessment analyzes the construction and operation of a new 115-kilovolt power transmission line and upgrades to the lab’s existing electrical infrastructure.  “Los Alamos requires a reliable and redundant […]

Centrus Energy on Monday announced that Chief Executive Daniel Poneman will step down from leadership of the uranium broker and enrichment technology developer at the first of the year.  He will be succeeded by Orano USA President and Chief Executive Amir Vexler on January 1.   Poneman joined Centrus in March 2015 and over eight […]

France successfully test-fired an M51.3 long-range submarine-launched ballistic missile, without a nuclear warhead aboard, over the Atlantic Ocean on Nov. 18. The test firing was conducted by the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) from the Ballistic Launch Site (BLB) in Biscarrosse in southwest France. The flight comes just seven months after the successful acceptance test […]

Based on a survey taken mid-year, 72% of the staff at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board have a “high level of respect” for senior leaders, which is the best score on this question in about four years at the independent federal watchdog for Department of Energy nuclear weapon sites.  The figure reached 69% of […]

Amentum’s recently announced merger with Jacobs winnows the field of candidates vying to take over management of the Pantex Plant in Texas for the National Nuclear Security Administration.  After oral in-person interviews began last week, the consolidation of the two giant Department of Energy contractors shrinks the number of potential players for the $30 billion […]

In observance of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor will publish on Wednesday, Nov. 22. The next issue will be published on Friday, Dec. 1.

Naval nuclear reactor manufacturer BWX Technologies appointed Mike Boorstein as the new general manager for its Nuclear Operations Group-Euclid manufacturing facility. In this role, Boorstein will be responsible for BWX’s daily operations at the site, which employs more than 350 workers and manufactures electro-mechanical components for naval nuclear reactors used in submarines and aircraft carriers. […]

The Senate on Wednesday voted 90-8 in favor of formally beginning final negotiations with the House to produce a unified version of an annual defense policy bill. Conferees from the two bodies must now hammer out a compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), both of which would set spending limits for the […]

There is no evidence that classified information was disclosed during an open, unclassified National Nuclear Security Administration at Department of Energy Headquarters’ Forrestal Building in September of last year, an agency watchdog report found. However, the suspected incident was not properly reported, according to a DOE Inspector General (IG) report published Nov. 2.  In September […]

U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall says he is concerned about Northrop Grumman’s ability to develop the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile on time and that the program to replace the current Minuteman III fleet is “struggling.” Northrop’s B-21 Raider strategic stealth bomber, however, is doing “fine,” he said in a Nov. 13 forum in […]

Russia’s recent de-ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty goes against the global tide of embracing the pact that seeks to formally outlaw nuclear explosive testing, the head of the treaty’s governing body said this week. There is significant international momentum in support of the treaty, which has nearly 200 signatories but has not yet […]

Staffing at the Kansas City National Security Campus can’t match its current workload and may not meet the demands of the next series of nuclear weapons life extensions, according to a recent report.  The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Kansas City site, managed for the agency by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, makes the non-nuclear […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration started its oral interviews with four joint ventures vying for a contract to operate the Pantex plant in Texas, a source said Monday. A second source familiar with the ongoing search for a Pantex maintenance and operations contractor for the U.S. nuclear weapons clearing house confirmed to Exchange Monitor that […]

The Department of Energy’s 2023 budget was extended through Jan. 19 by another short-term spending bill, which Congress passed this week before leaving Washington for their Thanksgiving recess. President Joe Biden (D) signed the House-authored bill on Thursday, the same day the Senate passed it 87-11. The House passed the bill Tuesday 336-95. This is […]

Lawmakers who created an independent commission to study U.S. nuclear modernization efforts without estimating the cost, now want to see what replacing all three legs of the triad and rehabbing the National Nuclear Security Administration will cost.  During a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, several representatives — all Democrats — dinged […]

Staffing at the Kansas City National Security Campus can’t match its current workload and may not meet the demands of the next series of nuclear weapons life extensions, according to a recent report.  The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Kansas City site, managed for the agency by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, makes the non-nuclear […]

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a centrist who often rankled his party by refusing to go along with President Joe Biden’s (D) signature stimulus legislation, announced Thursday he would not seek a third full term in the U.S. Senate.  A former West Virginia governor, Manchin was elected to the Senate in 2010 in a special election. […]

A new team of International Atomic Energy Agency personnel crossed the frontlines in Ukraine this week to perform nuclear safety and security missions at the besieged Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. It is the thirteenth such mission since the IAEA last year established a permanent presence at the site to help prevent a nuclear accident during […]

The federal agency that provides outside safety advice to the Department of Energy still struggles with a “sustainable organizational culture and climate,” the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of Inspector General said last week. Organizational culture leads the list of the most serious challenges facing the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) in fiscal 2024, the […]

Earnings were up year-over-year for Centrus Energy in the third quarter of 2023, when the uranium broker and enrichment technology developer was working on its first batch of high-assay low-enriched uranium for the U.S. government.  The Bethesda, Md., company reported total revenue of $51.3 million and $33.2 million for the three months ended September 30, […]

The Navy’s top submarine officer this week said the tripartite AUKUS agreement’s optimal pathway would have the U.S. sell at least three attack submarines to Australia in the 2030s. Following his remarks at the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium on Nov. 7, Commander of Submarine Forces Vice Adm. Bill Houston told reporters the current plan […]