Wrap up: PanTeXas Deterrence takes over; North Korea fires ICBM; Zaporizhzhya loses power again; Senators push OMB to assess new sub funding idea

PanTeXas Deterrence was to take over management for the Pantex Plant on Friday, Nov. 1, completing the transition from Consolidated Nuclear Security as the prime contractor for the lab in Amarillo, Texas.

Colby Yeary, the site manager for CNS at the Pantex Plant, confirmed that the transition would be complete this week when he spoke at a panel at the Energy Technology and Environmental Business Association’s second day of the 25th annual Business Opportunities and Technical Conference in Knoxville, Tenn.

PanTeXas Deterrence is a joint venture led by a BWX Technologies subsidiary with Fluor, the Texas A&M University System, and SOC.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant lost connection to its only remaining backup power line for the second time in one month last week.

According to a statement by the agency Thursday, the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) disconnected to the 330 kilovolt backup power line, meaning the plant would have to rely on a single source of electricity for cooling its six reactors. The line was disconnected for 26 hours between Oct. 21 and Oct. 22.

“What once would have been unthinkable – a major nuclear power plant suffering repeated off-site power cuts – has become a frequent occurrence during this devastating war,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in the statement. “The situation is clearly not getting any better in this regard. The nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant remains highly precarious.”

A bipartisan group of senators praised a scheme to shift submarine funding to improve current production rates but also knocked the Navy for insufficient communication with Congress on submarine funding issues in two recent letters.

On Oct. 25 seven senators sent a letter to Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, requesting the office pay “particular attention” to submarine program funding as Congress considers funding levels and options for the fiscal year 2025 budget.

Navy leadership consistently marks the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) as their highest acquisition requirement and argue they must build one SSBN and two SSNs per year by 2028 to meet defense requirements. The Navy and industrial base currently sit at producing about 1.4 SSNs per year. A version of this story first appeared in Exchange Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.

North Korea reportedly fired an intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday for a record 86 minutes, according to North Korean state media and Japanese and South Korean militaries tracking the flight.

The ICBM, named Hwasong-19, was launched after South Korea and the U.S. accused North Korea of sending troops to Russia to aid Moscow in its war with Ukraine, media reported. In a press release condemning the launch, the State Department said North Korea launched the missile after it “newly defined the ROK [South Korea] as a hostile state.”

In early August, South Korean defense minister Shin Won-sik said that North Korea could test a nuclear weapon around the time of the U.S. presidential election.