Nuclear warhead development moves forward at federal lab in New Mexico

A federal laboratory in New Mexico was planned to lead a program to modernize the U.S.’ nuclear arsenal, ramping up production of warhead triggers by 2030.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was expected to produce 30 plutonium pits a year by then, while another 50 annually would come from Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina.

Together, the facilities were intended to modernize the country’s nuclear weapons stockpile, although the pits weren’t built in the U.S. since the 1980s.

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The project at Los Alamos moved forward in January as the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) approved construction of the needed facilities at LANL to begin producing the pits.

The work will reestablish the U.S.’ ability to produce warheads, which ceased in 1989 with the closure of the Rocky Flats Plant in 1989.

The NNSA also repurposed a former Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, after plans to redevelop spent plutonium into fuel were shelved, at SRS to aid in pit production.

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In total, the NNSA said the two sites will meet federal statutory requirements by generating up to 80 pits a year for the Department of Defense.

The recently approved project at LANL was one of five subprojects to increase pit capacity, entailing the design, fabrication and installation of gloveboxes and other equipment at the lab.

The subproject was expected to cost about $1.86 billion, according to an NNSA report, and expected to be complete by August 2030.

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“We appreciate the hard work that has led to this critical decision, which is an important milestone on our path to restoring and modernizing the nation’s capability to produce plutonium pits,” said Marvin Adams, NNSA deputy administrator for defense programs in a statement.

“Our planned path allows us to mature and verify the processes for producing qualified pits while installing equipment needed for production at the required rate. Throughout its execution, the 30 Base project will steadily increase the U.S. capability for manufacturing qualified pits.”

But federal watchdogs cautioned the NNSA plan could be lacking, without a “comprehensive” timeline and budget the project could take longer and cost more than projected.

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In a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the agency contended the NNSA’s schedule did not include all activities or milestones needed to meet the 80 pit-per-year capacity, or a complete cost estimate.

This could mean the project might face delays, the GAO reported, and cost in excess of the estimated $18 billion to $24 billion in federal funds.

“Because an integrated master schedule is used for coordination, among other things, missing or incomplete activities can hinder coordination, increasing the likelihood of disruption and delay,” read the report.

“Developing a comprehensive schedule and life cycle cost estimate could improve NNSA’s decision-making, the efficiency and effectiveness of their efforts, and the quality of information provided to Congress.”

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In a December 2022 letter from the NNSA to the GAO, the agency wrote that it agreed with the Office’s findings and planned to develop a full “life cycle cost estimate” for the operations at both LANL and SRS by September 2025 and continue to update its schedule when possible.

“This is a complex and challenging undertaking involving the collective efforts of many programs and sites across NNSA’s nuclear security enterprise,” the letter read. “The life cycle cost estimate will, to the extent practical, align with GAO best practices for cost estimating.

“The NNSA Integrated Master Schedule for pit production, which was implemented in October 2021, will continue to mature over time to become more fully in alignment with GAO best practices for schedule development.”

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Dylan Spaulding, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists said despite the NNSA’s commitment, the GAO report showed the plutonium pit project at both sites was at risk.

“Plans for plutonium pit production have the potential to be one of the most challenging and expensive initiatives undertaken for the U.S. nuclear stockpile,” Spaulding said. “And yet, the GAO has shown that the administration is potentially setting itself up for expensive failure, without a comprehensive schedule or budget.”

More pits could also increase waste flowing to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant repository in New Mexico, as a 2019 DOE report showed producing 80 pits a year could take up more than half the available waste disposal capacity at WIPP.

Transuranic (TRU) waste is disposed of at WIPP from across the country via burial in and underground salt deposit – the only such facility in the U.S.

The production of 30 pits a year at LANL and 50 pits a year at SRS would generate about 1,151 cubic meters (m3) of TRU waste annually, about 57,550 m3 over 50 years or about 53 percent of WIPP’s available space as of 2019.

The DOE was underway with a permit renewal through the New Mexico Environment Department that included language to support additional space in the underground for waste disposal, characterized as replacement capacity after areas of the facility were closed due to contamination in 2014.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Nuclear warhead development moves forward at federal lab in New Mexico