The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in a meeting with the agency’s board of directors June 16, called on all parties involved since Israel attacked Iran to exercise “maximum restraint.”
“Military escalation threatens lives, increases the chance of a radiological release with serious consequences for people and the environment and delays indispensable work towards a diplomatic solution for the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon,” Director General Rafael Grossi said. He added inspections of Iran’s nuclear program will resume as soon as it’s safe to conduct.
According to IAEA officials this past Monday, there has been no additional damage to Tehran’s Natanz fuel enrichment plant since Israel’s attack on June 13, but the attack destroyed the aboveground part. Natanz is where Iran is enriching uranium up to 60%. The Esfahan nuclear site had four buildings damaged since last week, and no damage was reported at the Fordow fuel enrichment facility.
Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Christopher Hanson was fired late Friday June 13 by President Donald Trump, according to Hanson’s Monday LinkedIn post.
“Late on Friday, President Trump terminated my position with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission without cause, contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees,” Hanson said.
A NRC spokesperson confirmed the termination of Hanson as a NRC commissioner took place on June 13. “The NRC has functioned in the past with fewer than five commissioners and will continue to do so,” the NRC spokesperson added.
Amid scant details from the Defense Department about the Trump administration’s proposed homeland missile defense concept, the House Appropriations Committee wants granularity on the piece-parts, costs, and implementation plan for Golden Dome.
Even though a draft bill would provide $13 billion for the missile defense effort, a committee report highlights the complete lack of useful information from the administration about Golden Dome. The committee wants to know what existing programs Golden Dome will consist of, how they will be modified and integrated, details on proposed new investments and technologies to include risk assessments and cost estimates, and how allies and partners will contribute. It also seeks a report within 90 days of the spending bill becoming law seeking a comprehensive plan for Golden Dome that includes the reference architecture, requirements, and implementation plan. The report can be classified, it says.
“Importantly, such an ambitious endeavor will require a comprehensive effort and a clear common understanding between the Department of Defense and the Committee of the detailed plans, costs, tradeoffs, and risks involved in developing and fielding such a complex system,” the House appropriators say in report language accompanying their recommendation for the fiscal year 2026 DoD spending bill, which they passed last week. “To date, the Department of Defense has yet to provide information on what exactly it entails and how it intends to implement Golden Dome or make the case that it is feasible or affordable.”
Centrus Energy, headquartered in Bethesda, Md., has been awarded an extended contract with the Department of Energy, worth about $110 million, to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium through June 30, 2026.
In 2022, Centrus was awarded a three-phase follow-on contract to bring the cascade into production and produce HALEU for DOE’s use. DOE has exercised its first year option after a contractual amendment to split the first-three year extension into a one-year extension followed by a two-year option, according to Centrus Friday press release.
DOE initially contracted with Centrus to license and construct a cascade of advanced centrifuges to demonstrate HALEU production at Centrus’s American Centrifuge Plant at the Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said at a board of governor’s meeting June 9 that North Korea is building a new uranium enrichment facility, the New York Times reported.
Rafael Grossi, IAEA director general, said the agency is monitoring construction of a new building in the northwest. The building reportedly has similar features to an existing enrichment plant near Pyongyang.
A study from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies released satellite imagery of the suspected facility. The Center estimates that the facility could add from 700 to 100 kilograms, or 154 to 220 pounds, of highly enriched uranium to Pyongyang’s stockpile per year, which could equal five to ten new warheads a year.
Obituary
Jerry Beery, an Army veteran who was employed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, died June 6 of organ failure in his home in Los Alamos, N.M. at 91 years old, according to local paper the Los Alamos Reporter.
Jerry received his bachelor’s in science in nuclear engineering from Kansas State University, and then received his master’s of science and doctorate in nuclear physics from the University of Mexico while employed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He worked at the lab in 1959, spending most of his career as an experimental physicist.