Army funds nuclear reactors at five military bases.
Today's events
Army nuclear reactors.
The Army picked five vendors — Antares, BWXT, General Atomics, Radiant, and Westinghouse — and five posts for its first nuclear microreactors, awarding up to $2.2 billion toward a planned fleet of more than 20.1Aug 27 · DODFrench refiner blocked.
Treasury gave counterparties of La Nivernaise De Raffinage SAS, a French refiner blocked under the 2020 Iran-sectors order, until October 23 to wind down; other authorized Iran transactions end September 8.2Aug 27 · TreasuryDefense intelligence plea.
Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 29, a former information-technology specialist in the Defense Intelligence Agency's Insider Threat Division, pleaded guilty to transmitting national defense information to a foreign government.3Aug 27 · DOJLake Ontario renamed.
An executive order renames Lake Ontario “Lake America,” citing U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking and nearly $4 billion in American Great Lakes spending over the past decade against smaller Canadian investment.4Aug 27 · WHCartel fentanyl plea.
A Mexican national pleaded guilty to manufacturing fentanyl for the Sinaloa Cartel from precursor chemicals obtained in China and conspiring to import the drug into the United States.5Aug 27 · DOJTurkey joins Artemis.
Turkey signs the Artemis Accords at NASA headquarters on Monday, becoming the 71st country to adopt the U.S.-led principles for civil exploration of the Moon and Mars.6Aug 27 · NASAArtifactory flaw exploited.
CISA added three actively exploited vulnerabilities to its catalog: a path-traversal bug in JFrog Artifactory, an authentication flaw in ownCloud, and an unspecified Linux kernel defect.7Aug 27 · CISAIdle attack submarines.
Maintenance delays and idle time cost the Navy more than 15,000 attack-submarine operational days over ten years and an estimated $3.4 billion; decommissioning backlogs could add $3.1 billion.8Aug 27 · GAOShipyard loan rules.
The Maritime Administration rewrote the federal loan-guarantee program for U.S. ships and shipyards, effective immediately, deleting 14 of its 34 rule sections; comments close October 27.9Aug 28 · Fed. Reg.
Allied Governments
European force posture.
Secretary General Mark Rutte hosted the U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy, who briefed allies on the ongoing American review of its force posture in Europe.aAug 27 · NATOSyrian forces dissolved.
Britain welcomed the Syrian Democratic Forces' dissolution into central government structures and direct Israel-Syria talks in Jordan, warning that strikes like last week's in Idlib undermine Syria's progress.bAug 27 · UK FCDOSecurity pact published.
Britain presented the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement to Parliament in August as a published treaty, Treaty Series number 38 of 2026.cAug 27 · UK FCDO
Voices
“We are building the energy resilience necessary to project combat power globally, without relying on potentially vulnerable external grids.”
Army Sec. Dan Driscoll · Aug 271
“Unlawfully disclosing national defense information to a foreign government is a serious crime, not a form of principled dissent.”
AAG John A. Eisenberg, DOJ National Security · Aug 273
“He obtained precursor chemicals from China, produced fentanyl in a Mexican lab, and fueled addiction from coast to coast, harming our communities.”
Brian Clark, Drug Enforcement Administration · Aug 275
“The United States is the greatest protector of the Great Lakes, including the body of water currently known as Lake Ontario.”
Presidential action on the Great Lakes · Aug 274
“Over the last 10 years, the U.S. Navy has lost more than 15,000 operational days due to maintenance delays and idle time on active attack submarines.”
Government Accountability Office report · Aug 278
“We are seeking not just reactors capable of turning on for a brief demonstration, but rather systems able to deliver power with high-capacity factors for years of operation.”
Jeff Waksman, Army installations and energy · Aug 271
Sources
- U.S. Dept. of War, “Army Selects Vendors, Sites for Nuclear Microreactors,” August 27, 2026. war.gov/News/News-Stories/…/army-nuclear-microreactors
- U.S. Dept. of the Treasury (OFAC), “Publication of Iran-Related Web General Licenses AA and BB,” August 27, 2026. federalregister.gov/…/iran-related-web-general-licenses-aa-and-bb
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Former U.S. Government Employee Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Provide Classified Information to Foreign Government,” August 27, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/classified-information-guilty-plea
- White House, “Honoring the American History of the Great Lakes and Renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America,” August 27, 2026. whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/…/renaming-lake-ontario
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Mexican Fentanyl Manufacturer Pleads Guilty to International Drug Trafficking Offenses,” August 27, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/mexican-fentanyl-manufacturer
- NASA, “NASA Invites Media to Turkey Artemis Accords Signing Ceremony,” August 27, 2026. nasa.gov/news-release/…/turkey-artemis-accords
- CISA, “CISA Adds Three Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog,” August 27, 2026. cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/…/three-known-exploited-vulnerabilities
- Government Accountability Office, “Navy Readiness: Actions Needed to Address Costly Attack Submarine Maintenance Challenges” (GAO-26-109256), August 27, 2026. gao.gov/products/gao-26-109256
- Federal Register, “Vessel and Shipyard Financing, Regulatory Revision” (Maritime Administration interim final rule), August 28, 2026. federalregister.gov/…/vessel-and-shipyard-financing
- NATO, “Secretary General welcomes United States Under Secretary of War for Policy to NATO Headquarters,” August 27, 2026. nato.int/en/news-and-events/…/under-secretary-of-war-visit
- UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, “We welcome the recent announcement on the dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces into central government structures: UK statement at the UN Security Council,” August 27, 2026. gov.uk/government/speeches/…/uk-statement-syria
- UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, “International treaty: Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement [TS No.38/2026],” August 27, 2026. gov.uk/government/publications/…/csipa-ts-no38-2026