Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Years after an agreement apparently resolved a federal safety watchdog’s access to staff and records at Department of Energy nuclear sites, the dispute appears to be back. In an April 29 letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s (DNFSB) lone member said DOE is not complying with its Atomic […]

As part of its efforts to remove high-risk radioactive material from the world, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday it has taken the last cesium-137 blood irradiator from Lebanon. It is an important milestone, NNSA said in a Friday May 29 press release. That’s because the cesium inside these medical […]

The version of the fiscal 2027 Energy & Water Development bill recently voted out of the House Appropriations Committee endorses key Department of Energy projects getting underway at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash and the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. At Savannah River Site (SRS) DOE is directed to brief the House Appropriations […]

Fluor Marine Propulsion has been awarded a $1.03 billion contract modification to continue work supporting the Navy’s nuclear propulsion enterprise at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory, according to a Defense Department contract announcement Tuesday. The cost-plus-fixed-fee modification, awarded under an existing naval propulsion contract, provides funding for naval nuclear propulsion work performed through the Naval Nuclear […]

The Y-12 National Security Complex has completed its fiscal 2026 uranium casting production for the Naval Reactors program ahead of schedule and, according to a Wednesday announcement from the site. Y-12 produced 175 uranium castings during the fiscal year, which provided enriched uranium feedstock used in the fuel supply chain for the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered […]

The president of the 2026 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference says continued engagement among the five recognized nuclear-weapon states is critical to reducing risks and preserving prospects for future arms control progress amid growing geopolitical tensions. Speaking at the Arms Control Association’s annual meeting, Vietnam’s United Nations Ambassador Do Hung Viet said disagreements among […]

The Department of Energy is reviewing roughly 80 internal orders under an initiative called “Project Velocity” aimed at accelerating work across the nuclear weapons enterprise, Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said last month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the effort is intended to streamline operations […]

About 81 million pounds of rubble have been cleared away from the two-acre footprint of the former Alpha-2 building site at the Y-12 National Security Complex at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the Department of Energy said Tuesday. That amounts to about 3,500 truckloads of debris being hauled away from the former uranium enrichment […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise is entering a “fourth age of deterrence,” marking a shift from post-Cold War stewardship toward large-scale modernization and production. Speaking May 5 before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis described the current era as one driven […]

A key environmental document and Record of Decision (ROD) issued Thursday by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) clears the way for expanding operations for Sandia National Laboratories over the next 15 years. The “expanded operations alternative” endorsed the NNSA’s final Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement and ROD should allow Sandia to build […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory may require significant electrical infrastructure upgrades within several years as artificial intelligence programs, supercomputing systems and weapons modernization activities sharply increase power demand, the lab’s Deputy Director for Mission Operations Mark Davis said this month. Speaking before the Los Alamos County Council, Davis said the laboratory is pursuing plans for a […]

The Navy told lawmakers last week it found a dry dock at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding shipyard it thinks can be used for final assembly of the new Trump-class battleship. in between aircraft carrier sequencing. However, several armed services and appropriations committee members continue to express skepticism or outright opposition to the new […]

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) remains concerned that a prospective U.S.-Saudi Arabia 123 agreement may not include the “gold standard” nonproliferation provisions that bar uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing. “You know, I have raised this at every opportunity, and always the answer is opaque,” Merkley said in an interview. “But what my impression is, no […]

The United States should hold off on nuclear fuel reprocessing, until the proliferation concerns around the process are addressed, a former National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official said recently. In a May interview with Exchange Monitor, Scott Roecker, who formerly served as the director of the Office of Nuclear Material Removal at NNSA, told the […]

The United States nuclear weapons enterprise must be flexible, scalable and collaborative in coming years in a world where Russia and China are rapidly modernizing their nuclear triad, officials said during a Tuesday webinar held by the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance (ANWA) Deterrence Center. Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Eric […]

The White House Office of Personnel Management is seeking public comment on its proposal to implement non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, for future and current federal employees. According to a Wednesday Federal Register notice, the proposal is meant to ensure employees “comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained […]

The Navy’s top officer last week outlined updates in the service’s strategy to extend the service life of several nuclear-armed Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) that could result in quicker turnarounds for delays in the new Columbia-class boats. “We were looking at a number between four and five of these PIRAs, as we call them, […]

Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink could gain the authority to transfer funds appropriated for non-ICBM programs to the LGM-35A Sentinel future ICBM and the existing Minuteman III, under the fiscal 2027 House Armed Services Committee (HASC) proposal by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). The transfer authority would last from fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2030, […]

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle told the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee on May 12 that the Navy expects industry to hit a production rate of two Virginia-class attack submarines (SSNs) per year by 2032 “based on the things we’ve done in place and the things we have now, we should be at the […]

The Navy’s latest 30-year shipbuilding plan released May 11 reveals the Trump-class battleship will be nuclear powered and armed, while extending to a 15-ship class.. “The nuclear-powered battleship is designed to provide the fleet with a significant increase in combat power by longer endurance, higher speed, and accommodating advanced weapon systems required for modern warfare,” […]

Several lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee last week were dubious of the Navy’s approach to the new Trump-class battleship in the fiscal year 2027 budget request. “I don’t doubt for a minute your need, I don’t,” Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), ranking member of the subcommittee, told Navy officials May 12.  “But here’s […]

As the Air Force prepares to modify two B-52H bombers later this year for the Commercial Engine Replacement Program (CERP), the bomber directorate’s contracting office will meet with contractors interested in supplying support equipment to install new engines. The Office at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., will meet with contractors interested in supplying support equipment […]

SANTA FE, N.M. — Residents, advocates and technical experts said here last week that a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) environmental review on plutonium pit production understates risks to water resources, worker safety and communities along transport routes. Some speakers at a Thursday May 14 public hearing in Santa Fe also said NNSA is failing […]

An Iranian withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) could destabilize the Middle East nonproliferation regime and prompt regional states to reconsider their treaty commitments, Iran scholar Sina Azodi said this week. Speaking at a Monday event hosted by the Stimson Center and moderated by former Iran task force leader Barbara […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said it completed the first phase of its Kansas City Non-Nuclear Expansion Transformation (KC NeXT) at its Kansas City National Security Campus. “In a rapidly changing national security environment, modernizing the enterprise to be more adaptive, agile, responsive, and resilient is more critical than ever before,” […]

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) criticized the omission of funding for the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile from the fiscal 2027 budget request, warning the absence of appropriated funding could jeopardize the Navy’s ability to meet a congressionally mandated deadline. Speaking to Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao on Tuesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Fischer […]

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed the first production unit (FPU) of the W76/Mk4B reentry body for the Navy’s submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead, the agency said Wednesday. The first unit was produced nearly three months ahead of schedule, according to an email from NNSA. The Mk4B reentry body, developed in coordination […]

The House Appropriations Committee passed 34-25 its version of a bill on Wednesday that would give $27 billion to the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for fiscal 2027. That number is $1.67 billion more than was enacted for the agency in charge of maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile in fiscal […]