The House Rules Committee passed its version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act 217-199 on Friday after a three-day debate among members on around 350 amendments.
The bill includes provisions that restore the B-52 bomber’s nuclear capabilities, codifies the National Nuclear Security Administration as the lead in strategizing against smuggling nuclear materials, and requires the DoD compile a strategy for deploying nuclear microreactors.
Lawmakers passed a defense appropriations bill on Thursday 34-25 that would support the modernization of the nuclear triad through the House Appropriations Committee.
The fiscal year 2025 Defense Appropriations Act would aim to modernize the B-21 Raider, the Columbia-class submarine, and the Sentinel as an attempted innovation to the military, even while the Sentinel is currently undergoing review and faces a potential budget cut of $324 million.
The bill also requests $33.6 million toward global nuclear security.
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted 22-3 to advance their version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act to the Senate floor.
This version of the NDAA includes provisions that require acquiring 450 Sentinels, the restoration and increase of the B-52 bomber’s nuclear capabilities, and no fewer than 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The bill also authorizes $25 billion to the National Nuclear Security Administration, increased funding for stockpile maintenance, and $70 million to support development of the W80-X ALT-SLCM as a warhead of the sea-launched missile.
At some point, the National Nuclear Security Administration might consider locating a small modular reactor at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, an agency field manager told the Radwaste Summit last week in Louisville, Ky.
Michael Mikolanis, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) field office manager at the site, stressed he was not “breaking news” and no decisions have been made. However, Mikolanis said Savannah River’s 310-square-mile footprint has room to accommodate new missions. New nuclear development on weapons complex sites, has been mentioned by feds and contractors since Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm announced the Cleanup to Clean Energy program in July 2023.
NNSA currently relies upon the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar nuclear plant to produce some tritium for U.S. nuclear weapons, Mikolanis went on to say. The idea of a small modular reactor at Savannah River, was one of the topics Mikolanis touched upon during his June 4 presentation.
Obituary
An executive at American Demolition and Nuclear Decommissioning, John (Rick) Dearholt, has died in his 60s, the head of a Knoxville-based nuclear trade organization confirmed by phone Tuesday morning. A memorial service for Dearholt, a longtime board member for the Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association, is set for Friday June 21, said the executive director of the association, Elizabeth Harm.
Dearholt, director of federal programs for New York state-based American DND, died over the weekend, Harm said in a phone conversation with Exchange Monitor. He was apparently in his 60s, various industry sources said by email. According to social media posts, a memorial service is set for Friday afternoon, June 21, at the Rothchild Catering and Conference Center in Knoxville.
During the early days of the Donald Trump administration, Dearholt’s name was floated as a candidate to head the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for 21 years, Dearholt joined the private sector, where he served in various senior management roles for large corporations as well as positions in health and safety jobs, according to his American DND bio. Dearholt was also active over the years in planning the decommissioning program for the Phoenix-based Waste Management Symposia.
