ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A top nuclear security official says the U.S. must move ahead with plans to ramp up production of key components for the nation’s nuclear arsenal despite challenges tied to the coronavirus.
Federal officials have set a 2030 deadline for increased production of the plutonium cores used in nuclear weapons.
The work will be split between facilities in New Mexico and South Carolina and will attract billions of federal dollars.
The head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said in a recent letter to a New Mexico senator that her agency has worked to protect employees from the virus at Los Alamos National Laboratory while pushing forward with defense work.
