Nuclear Weapons Council Formally Commits to LANL Modular Pu Strategy

The Nuclear Weapons Council has formally committed to build two modular structures to help sustain Los Alamos National Laboratory’s plutonium capabilities, opening the door to free up approximately $90 million in funds that had been in limbo as lawmakers pushed for a promise on the modular approach. Nuclear Weapons Council Chairman Frank Kendall and National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz made the commitment in a July 25 letter to key Congressional leaders, pledging to complete the modular structures by 2027. Los Alamos has championed the modular approach—which could cost about $2 billion—as a cheaper alternative to the scuttled Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility, but Congress had been reluctant to agree to reprogram leftover CMRR-NF funds without a firm commitment from the NWC.

The Fiscal Year 2013 and FY 2014 National Defense Authorization Act prevented the NNSA from spending money on an alternate plutonium strategy without the commitment. “We request your support to use the remaining CMRR funding to begin the first two steps of the plutonium strategy as subprojects within the CMRR project,” Kendall and Klotz wrote. “Your continued support is appreciated, and we look forward to updating Congress on our progress.”