U.S. nuclear complex to be modernized

The department gave preliminary approval to an environmental impact study on the consolidation program, which includes limiting plutonium and highly enriched uranium to just five sites, compared with seven today. The government also would close 600 buildings and structures at the facilities and reduce the number of workers involved in weapons programs by 20 percent to 30 percent.

None of the seven primary weapons complex facilities, including three nuclear weapons research labs, will be closed. But activities will be combined, in many cases.

“The world is changing and we are changing along with it,” said Thomas D’Agostino, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency within the Energy Department that oversees the weapons program.

“The number of U.S. nuclear weapons is shrinking, budgets are flat or declining and we need a smaller, more secure, more efficient infrastructure that reflects these realities, and yet retains our essential capabilities,” D’Agostino said.

In a conference call from the government’s Y-12 National Security Complex near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, D’Agostino said the program will not require new money beyond the agency’s five-year spending plan, and would save dollars in the future.

The next administration will have to carry out the effort. D’Agostino said he is “very comfortable” it will stand up to scrutiny.

A final go-ahead cannot be made for at least 30 days.

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