The United States is spending to overhaul and modernize its aging nuclear arsenal to compete with weaponry developed by other countries. Part of this plan directs Los Alamos National Laboratory to produce new cores for nuclear weapons called 鈥減lutonium pits.鈥�
But, from the Union of Concerned Scientists argues for reusing existing cores from decommissioned weaponry to lower costs amid rising global nuclear tensions.
Reminiscent of the core of an apricot or peach, a plutonium pit is the trigger of a modern thermonuclear weapon. When imploded, it sets off a fission reaction that drives the destructive power behind the bomb.
These weapons are more than 20 times more potent than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki nearly 80 years ago.
Dylan Spaulding is a senior scientist in the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists and the . He said LANL is expected to create 30 of these cores per year by the mid-2030s.
鈥淲e don't think new pits are necessary at all,鈥� Spaulding said. 鈥淧lutonium aging is often cited as a motivation for resuming pit production, but in fact, none of these new pits are intended to sustain the stockpile we have.鈥�
The U.S. Department of Defense has that it wants to simply maintain the country鈥檚 nuclear stockpile, not expand it.
However, , the leading conservative policy guide for President Trump鈥檚 second term, advocates for a significant arms expansion and an aggressive nuclear stance on the world stage.
Most of the time, these cores 鈥� which the U.S. has thousands of in storage 鈥� are viable for . Though, Spaulding said that the average age of this weaponry is around 40 or 50 years old.
鈥淪o, we don't need to worry about the lifespan of plutonium in the weapons we have,鈥� Spaulding added.
The program, estimated to cost up to just for pit production, has no complete cost estimate or schedule. In fact, the two sites where these pits are exclusively manufactured 鈥� Los Alamos National Laboratory and the in South Carolina 鈥� face , , and past .
While there won鈥檛 be a resumption of uranium mining for pit production for now, the report also highlights health and environmental risks among New Mexico鈥檚 Indigenous Pueblos and communities in South Carolina from plutonium production and waste.
In addition to reusing existing pits and assessing true costs, the Union of Concerned Scientists鈥� report proposes to instead focus on environmental cleanup and remediation at these manufacturing sites and to cancel new warhead efforts like the 鈥� which aims to produce over 600 new warheads and significantly update the nation鈥檚 nuclear infrastructure.
The current risk, the report states, is fueling an 鈥渁lready accelerating arms race鈥� between the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea.
鈥淭he laboratories definitely have a place for innovation and for creativity,鈥� Spaulding said. 鈥淏ut it would be preferable, in my view, if that were applied to other existential problems, rather than creating new existential threats.鈥�
