NNSA Updates Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan

The National Nuclear Security Administration has released the latest update to its Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan, outlining a plan that it says balances near- and long-term stockpile, infrastructure and science and technology needs—as long as Congress provides necessary funding for the program. “NNSA has great confidence in its ability to execute the program described in this document if funded at the requested levels,” the agency said. “The [life extension programs] underway are on schedule and, with minor exceptions, on budget. …  With Congress’ support, the safety, security, and effectiveness of the stockpile can be maintained, and the Nation’s stewardship sustained.”

 

The 314-page document provides an overview of the agency’s plans to maintain the stockpile, detailing cost estimates for each of the agency’s warhead refurbishment efforts. Estimates for the agency’s three planned interoperable warheads have grown “substantially,” according to the document, because the Air Force and Navy will develop separate fuzes for the warheads. For the first time, the document also mentions another refurbishment of the B61 bomb, even though the agency is only in the engineering and design phase of the current refurbishment of the bomb, which is known as the B61-12. Work on the B61-13 would begin in 2038, according to the document, and would cost between$8.6 and $11.3 billion in current dollars—or between $17.8 and $23.3 billion in “then-year” money.