Wrap up: NNSA scans NOLA ahead of Super Bowl; Rubio signs MOU with El Salvador; House Approps GOP says max pressure against Iran; Sentinel expected less than 10% of Northrop sales; more

The National Nuclear Security Administration was to conduct low-altitude helicopter flights Sunday through Thursday, Feb. 2-6 this week over New Orleans, La. ahead of the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, the agency said in a press release last week.

The agency’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team now uses a Leonardo AW-139 helicopter equipped with radiation technology as its Aerial Measuring System aircraft. The helicopter flies at low levels during daylight hours and measures for expected background radiation. 

The NNSA’s aerial measuring system conducts preventative radiation missions in preparation for high-profile events, including the Superbowl, political party conventions, and the presidential inauguration. The NNSA did not respond to a request for comment on how the flights went.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic civil nuclear cooperation with Salvadoran foreign minister Alexandra Hill Tinoco Monday, according to the State Department’s website.

The website did not say that this was a 1-2-3 agreement, referring to the section of the Atomic Energy Act that authorizes that a nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States and another country would allow sharing of  nuclear information and technology. However, according to the release, a memorandum of understanding concerning strategic civil nuclear cooperation was developed during President Donald Trump’s first term with aims of “expanding strategic ties” between the U.S. and “its partners.”

As of October, El Salvador does not have a 1-2-3 agreement with the United States.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) released a statement alongside Defense Subcommittee chair Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) and vice chair Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) in support of President Donald Trump’s implementation of a memorandum restoring maximum pressure on Iran and “denying Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon.”

“The Iranian regime isn’t shy about its desire to destroy America,” the statement said. “We fully support President Trump’s maximum pressure strategy to confront Iranian threats and deny their nuclear ambitions.”

Northrop Grumman expects its B-21 stealth bomber and the Sentinel next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile “to be less than 10 percent of sales in the company, but continuing to gradually increase from ’24 into ’25,” CEO Kathy Warden said in a quarterly earnings call last week.

According to the fourth quarter earnings news release from Jan. 30, sales increased $271 million, or 3%, in 2024 primarily due to a $182 million increase on Sentinel and a ramp up of that program. This increase happened alongside the recent Nunn McCurdy breach and recertification of the Sentinel program. 

Sales drivers across the business included the B-21, F-35 fighter production and sustainment, the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, military ammunition, classified microelectronics, communications, and electronic warfare programs for self-protection and targeting systems. Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily contributed to this story.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on website X that he visited the Kyivska substation in Kyiv, Ukraine this week in his 11th visit to Ukraine since Russia’s conflict began and what he called “an important part of Ukraine’s power grid essential for nuclear safety.”

According to a press release last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the team at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant hears explosions daily surrounding the plant due to military activity related to the war with Russia, which began in 2022.

“As long as this horrific war continues, the IAEA will remain present and stay active, focused on doing everything we can to support nuclear safety and security in extremely challenging circumstances,” Grossi said in the agency’s press release. “As the overall situation is still precarious and fragile, our work there remains essential.”

Alex Fitzsimmons, who previously held executive jobs at the Department of Energy and the private sector has been appointed DOE chief of staff under Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.

Fitzsimmons announced his chief of staff job last week on his LinkedIn page and introduced Wright Wednesday morning when the energy secretary gave his first address to DOE staff in Washington, D.C. During the first Donald Trump administration, Fitzsimmons was chief of staff for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. He also served as deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency.

During the Joe Biden presidency, Fitzsimmons held jobs as head of government affairs for Sila Nanotechnologies . He also served as a senior director for renewable energy and energy storage at Clear Path, according to his online bio. He holds a masters degree from Georgia Tech and an undergraduate degree from George Washington University. Politico first reported the chief of state pick.

Access Intelligence has appointed Wayne Barber editor of Exchange Monitor Publications. Barber, who has been with the Monitor since 2017, has been writing on nuclear, energy and natural resources issues for four decades. He can be reached at [email protected].

The new editor succeeds Dan Leone. Leone, a veteran journalist who spent nine years at the Monitor, recently left to take a media relations post in the corporate world. Good luck Dan!