diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_test.yml b/.github/workflows/build_test.yml
index e6b63ae93..ad5083f6f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_test.yml
@@ -5,21 +5,24 @@ on:
   workflow_dispatch:
   pull_request:
     paths-ignore:
-      - '.github/workflows/build_test_publish.yml'
-      - 'docker/**'
+      - '.github/workflows/publish_latest.yml'
+      - '.github/workflows/publish_release.yml'
       - 'doc/**'
       - 'CHANGELOG.rst'
   push:
     paths-ignore:
-      - '.github/workflows/build_test_publish.yml'
-      - 'docker/**'
+      - '.github/workflows/publish_latest.yml'
+      - '.github/workflows/publish_release.yml'
       - 'doc/**'
       - 'CHANGELOG.rst'
 
 jobs:
   build-and-test:
-
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: write
+      pull-requests: write
 
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -34,24 +37,73 @@ jobs:
         ]
         cyclus_tag: [
           latest,
+          stable,
         ]
-    
-    container:
-      image: ghcr.io/cyclus/cyclus_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cyclus:${{matrix.cyclus_tag}}
 
     steps:
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Log in to the Container registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
       - name: Checkout Cycamore
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Build Cycamore
-        run: |
-          python install.py --prefix=/root/.local --cyclus-root=/root/.local -j 2 --build-type=Release --core-version 99999.99999
+        id: build-cycamore
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        with:
+          file: docker/Dockerfile
+          cache-from: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/cyclus/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cycamore:ci-layer-cache
+          cache-to: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/cyclus/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cycamore:ci-layer-cache,mode=max
+          tags: ghcr.io/cyclus/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cycamore:ci-image-cache
+          push: true
+          build-args: |
+            pkg_mgr=${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}
+            ubuntu_version=${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}
+            cyclus_tag=${{ matrix.cyclus_tag }}
+
+      - name: Checkout Cymetric
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && steps.build-cycamore.outcome == 'success' }}
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: cyclus/cymetric
+          path: ${{ github.workspace }}/cymetric
 
-      - name: Cycamore Unit Tests
-        run: |
-          cycamore_unit_tests
+      - name: Build and Test Cymetric
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && steps.build-cycamore.outcome == 'success' }}
+        id: build-cymetric
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        with:
+          context: ${{ github.workspace }}/cymetric
+          file: ${{ github.workspace }}/cymetric/docker/Dockerfile
+          cache-from: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/cyclus/cymetric_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cymetric:ci-layer-cache
+          cache-to: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/cyclus/cymetric_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cymetric:ci-layer-cache,mode=max
+          tags: ghcr.io/cyclus/cymetric_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cymetric:ci-image-cache
+          push: true
+          build-args: |
+            pkg_mgr=${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}
+            ubuntu_version=${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}
+            cycamore_tag=ci-image-cache@${{ steps.build-cycamore.outputs.digest }}
 
-      - name: Cycamore Python Tests
-        run: |
-          export PYTHONPATH=$(find /root/.local/lib -type d -name 'python*.*' -print -quit)/site-packages
-          cd tests && python -m pytest
+      - name: PR Comment
+        if: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
+        uses: thollander/actions-comment-pull-request@v2
+        with:
+          comment_tag: ${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}_${{ matrix.cyclus_tag }}
+          message: |
+            ## Build statuses using cyclus_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}:${{ matrix.cyclus_tag }}
+            - Cycamore: ${{steps.build-cycamore.outcome == 'success' && '*Success* :white_check_mark:' || 
+                steps.build-cycamore.outcome == 'failure' && '**Failure** :x:' || 
+                '**Skipped due to upstream failure** :warning:'}}
+            - Cymetric: ${{steps.build-cymetric.outcome == 'success' && '*Success* :white_check_mark:' || 
+                steps.build-cymetric.outcome == 'failure' && '**Failure** :x:' || 
+                '**Skipped due to upstream failure** :warning:'}}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_test_publish.yml b/.github/workflows/build_test_publish.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index fedd23c67..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/build_test_publish.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,60 +0,0 @@
-name: Build and Publish Cycamore Images
-
-on:
-  # allows us to run workflows manually
-  workflow_dispatch:
-  pull_request:
-    paths:
-      - '.github/workflows/build_test_publish.yml'
-      - 'docker/**'
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - main
-
-jobs:
-  build-dependency-and-test-img:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-
-    strategy:
-      matrix:
-        ubuntu_versions : [
-          20.04,
-          22.04,
-        ]
-        pkg_mgr : [
-          apt,
-          conda,
-        ]
-
-    name: Installing Dependencies, Building Cycamore and Running Tests
-    steps:
-      - name: default environment
-        run: |
-          echo "tag-latest-on-default=false" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-
-      - name: condition on trigger parameters
-        if: ${{ github.repository_owner == 'cyclus' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' }}
-        run: |
-          echo "tag-latest-on-default=true" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-
-      - name: Log in to the Container registry
-        uses: docker/login-action@v2
-        with:
-          registry: ghcr.io
-          username: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
-          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-      - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
-
-      - name: Multi-Stage Build Action
-        uses: firehed/multistage-docker-build-action@v1
-        with:
-          repository: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository_owner }}/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}
-          stages: cycamore
-          server-stage: cycamore-test
-          quiet: false
-          parallel: true
-          tag-latest-on-default: ${{ env.tag-latest-on-default }}
-          dockerfile: docker/Dockerfile
-          build-args: pkg_mgr=${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}, ubuntu_version=${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/changelog_test.yml b/.github/workflows/changelog_test.yml
index 32cfe8671..9698acb8f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/changelog_test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/changelog_test.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
           git --version
 
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - run: |
           git config --global --add safe.directory ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish_latest.yml b/.github/workflows/publish_latest.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..44c3e6d67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish_latest.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+name: Publish Latest Cycamore
+
+on:
+  # allows us to run workflows manually
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      - '.github/workflows/publish_latest.yml'
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  build-dependency-and-test-img:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: write
+
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        ubuntu_versions : [
+          20.04,
+          22.04,
+        ]
+        pkg_mgr : [
+          apt,
+          conda,
+        ]
+
+    name: Build, Test, Publish
+    steps:
+      - name: Tag as ci-image-cache
+        run: |
+          echo "tag=ci-image-cache" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+      - name: Tag as latest
+        if: ${{ github.repository_owner == 'cyclus' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' }}
+        run: |
+          echo "tag=latest" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Log in to the Container registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Build and Test Cycamore
+        id: build-cycamore
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        with:
+          cache-from: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/cyclus/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cycamore:ci-layer-cache
+          cache-to: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/cyclus/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cycamore:ci-layer-cache,mode=max
+          file: docker/Dockerfile
+          push: true
+          tags: ghcr.io/cyclus/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cycamore:${{ env.tag }}
+          build-args: |
+            pkg_mgr=${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}
+            ubuntu_version=${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}
+            cyclus_tag=latest
+          
+      - name: Checkout Cymetric
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: cyclus/cymetric
+          path: ${{ github.workspace }}/cymetric
+
+      - name: Build and Test Cymetric
+        continue-on-error: true
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        with:
+          context: ${{ github.workspace }}/cymetric
+          file: ${{ github.workspace }}/cymetric/docker/Dockerfile
+          cache-from: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/cyclus/cymetric_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cymetric:ci-layer-cache
+          cache-to: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/cyclus/cymetric_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cymetric:ci-layer-cache,mode=max
+          tags: ghcr.io/cyclus/cymetric_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cymetric:${{ env.tag }}
+          push: true
+          build-args: |
+            pkg_mgr=${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}
+            ubuntu_version=${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}
+            cycamore_tag=${{ env.tag }}@${{ steps.build-cycamore.outputs.digest }}
+    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish_release.yml b/.github/workflows/publish_release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e1ab28891
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish_release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+name: Publish Stable Cycamore
+
+on:
+  release:
+    types: [released]
+
+jobs:
+  build-and-test-for-release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: write
+
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        ubuntu_versions : [
+          20.04,
+          22.04,
+        ]
+        pkg_mgr : [
+          apt,
+          conda
+        ]
+
+    name: Build, Test, Publish
+    steps:
+      - name: Tag as ci-image-cache
+        run: |
+          echo "version_tag=ci-image-cache" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "stable_tag=ci-image-cache" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+      - name: Tag as stable
+        if: ${{ github.repository_owner == 'cyclus' }}
+        run: |
+          echo "version_tag=${{ github.ref_name }}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "stable_tag=stable" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+      - name: Log in to the Container registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Checkout Cycamore
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Build, Test, and Push Cycamore
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        with:
+          cache-from: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/cyclus/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cycamore:ci-layer-cache
+          cache-to: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/cyclus/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cycamore:ci-layer-cache,mode=max
+          file: docker/Dockerfile
+          push: true
+          tags: |
+            ghcr.io/cyclus/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cycamore:${{ env.version_tag }}
+            ghcr.io/cyclus/cycamore_${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}_${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}/cycamore:${{ env.stable_tag }}
+          build-args: |
+            pkg_mgr=${{ matrix.pkg_mgr }}
+            ubuntu_version=${{ matrix.ubuntu_versions }}
+            cyclus_tag=stable
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index ad902a555..b991df2c6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ cycamore Change Log
 .. current developments
 **Added:**
 
-* GitHub workflows for building/testing on a PR and push to `main` (#549, #564)
+* GitHub workflow for publishing images on release (#573)
+* GitHub workflows for building/testing on a PR and push to `main` (#549, #564, #573)
 * Add functionality for random behavior on the size (#550) and frequency (#565) of a sink 
 * GitHub workflow to check that the CHANGELOG has been updated (#562) 
 * Added inventory policies to Storage through the material buy policy (#574)
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 8d2d33952..8682a7c59 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,16 +1,17 @@
 ARG pkg_mgr=apt
 ARG ubuntu_version=22.04
+ARG cyclus_tag=stable
 
-FROM ghcr.io/cyclus/cyclus_${ubuntu_version}_${pkg_mgr}/cyclus as cycamore
+FROM ghcr.io/cyclus/cyclus_${ubuntu_version}_${pkg_mgr}/cyclus:${cyclus_tag} as cycamore
 ARG make_cores=2
 
 COPY . /cycamore
 WORKDIR /cycamore
 
-RUN python install.py -j ${make_cores} --build-type=Release --core-version 99999.99999
+RUN python install.py -j ${make_cores} --build-type=Release --core-version 999999.999999
 
 FROM cycamore as cycamore-test
 RUN cycamore_unit_tests
 
-FROM cycamore as cycamore-pytest
-RUN cd tests && python -m pytest
+FROM cycamore-test as cycamore-pytest
+RUN cd tests && python -m pytest
\ No newline at end of file