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.
This week
Operation Economic Outcast.
Treasury opened a sanctions campaign against Iran on August 24 with sectoral determinations covering gold, aviation, shipping, digital assets and technology, and blocked nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels. State designated two Iran-based entities and seven individuals, including a startup that used Chinese commercial satellite imagery to help target U.S. forces. The determinations expose any foreign firm still trading with Tehran to secondary sanctions. First reported in the August 25 brief.1Aug 24 · WHRemittances cut.
Treasury stayed five Iran general licenses indefinitely on August 26, ending authorized personal remittances to and from Iran along with educational activities in third countries, conference services, and academic and sports exchanges. The next day it gave counterparties of La Nivernaise De Raffinage, a French refiner blocked under the 2020 Iran-sectors order, until October 23 to wind down; other authorized Iran transactions end September 8. Reported in the August 27 and 28 briefs.2Aug 26 · TreasuryGrid equipment emergency.
Executive Order 14420, signed August 26, declares a national emergency over foreign-made bulk-power equipment and bars its purchase or installation wherever the Energy Secretary finds sabotage or supply risk; local distribution equipment is exempt. The order cites the possibility of digital backdoors allowing remote foreign access. It landed the same day the Justice Department seized a Chinese state hacking platform whose victims included the Energy Department. From the August 27 brief.3Aug 26 · WHState hacking platforms seized.
Court-authorized seizures on August 26 shut down QScan and QTRouter, platforms run by Nanjing-based contractor QTFY for China's Ministry of State Security. Victims included NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Energy Department and the U.S. Senate. The takedown was one of three China-facing enforcement actions this week, alongside a Chicago trade-secrets conviction over CT X-ray tube technology and a fentanyl plea tracing precursor chemicals to Chinese suppliers. From the August 27 brief.4Aug 26 · DOJSyria delisted.
Secretary of State Rubio rescinded Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on August 24, after the mandatory 45-day congressional notification, and removed Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham from the global terrorist list. State called it the removal of the final major barriers to private-sector investment in Syria. Two days later State and Treasury added three networks — Italy's Autistici/Inventati, Palestine Action and Masar Badil — to that same terrorist list. Covered August 25 and 26.5Aug 24 · State$103,265 visa fee.
Homeland Security proposed on August 25 charging that amount on every cap-subject H-1B petition, on top of all existing filing fees. The department framed it as a dedicated revenue mechanism to recover part of the cost of administering the immigration system across four departments. Cap-subject petitions are the main route by which U.S. employers hire skilled foreign workers for the first time. Comments close September 24. Covered August 25 and 26.6Aug 25 · 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