Nuclear Weapons Council commemorates pit production milestone

In November 2024, the Nuclear Weapons Council, staff and affiliates visited Los Alamos National Laboratory to mark the first production unit of a W87-1 plutonium pit, an achievement for the United States that hasn’t been accomplished since the 1980s.

The daylong visit included a tour of the Plutonium Facility and stop at the TA-51 complex where Marv Adams, deputy administrator for Defense Programs for the National Nuclear Security Administration, and Deborah Rosenblum, acting deputy under secretary of defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, remarked on the Laboratory's role in manufacturing new plutonium pits.

The Nuclear Weapons Council is the six-person ruling body that directs interagency activities to maintain the safety, security, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The Council meets regularly to discuss status, paths forward and resolve issues between the Department of Defense and NNSA regarding strategies for stockpile sustainment and modernization.

Council members and their staff and affiliates first toured PF-4, where they viewed the diamond-stamped pit and the processes for producing the pit. They also learned about how craft workers and other PF-4 personnel are decontaminating and decommissioning old gloveboxes and other equipment to make space for new equipment that will support pit production. This D&D work occurs simultaneously with current pit production efforts.

"PF-4 workers are finding innovative ways to carry out these processes all at once, and doing it safely," said Dan Upp, deputy division leader of Pit Technologies. "It was important that members of the NWC could see this happening in real time."

Plutonium pit stops

The Council members then traveled down the Pajarito Corridor to the newly constructed TA-51 site. Approximately 90 employees gathered there for the brief ceremony.

During the gathering, Laboratory Director Thom Mason remarked on the critical innovation provided by the new warehouses, including shipping/receiving, equipment pre-assembly and PF-4 equipment delivery training. Four warehouses are currently constructed and in use at the site, providing 80,000 square feet of usable space.  The warehouses allow production equipment to be fully assembled and made ready for its installation in the limited PF-4 space.

Associate Laboratory Director for Plutonium Infrastructure (ADLPI) Mark Anthony described the numerous resources available at the warehouse complex to further the pit production mission.

"ALDPI's sole purpose and sole mission is to be able to execute all of the infrastructure work needed to be able to get to rate production," Anthony said, noting that the warehouse structures were constructed to support that mission.

Standing inside the warehouse designated for equipment mockup and cold testing as well as for radiological control technicians to practice D&D work, Anthony explained the importance of ensuring workers can mock up and test equipment prior to transferring it into PF-4.

"It's been very beneficial for our craft as well as our technicians to walk through things before they get out into the field," he said.

He concluded, “It's a milestone event that we were able to get to FPU [first production unit], and now we're shifting more focus on the construction execution part of the plan for the mission.”

‘Never underestimate U.S. resolve’

In addition to the comments from Lab leadership, Rosenblum spoke about the importance of FPU and also remarked on the capabilities at Los Alamos as deterrence measures in the face of global security threats.

"Your success is a daily deterrent to our adversaries who should never underestimate U.S. resolve, ingenuity and resilience," Rosenblum said. "The completion of FPU is more than just a technical achievement. It's a crucial step towards restoring the United States' capability to produce plutonium pits at the scale necessary to maintain a credible nuclear deterrent."

Adams reiterated the need to reach pit rate production to meet future challenges. "This nuclear deterrent is going to remain foundational to our national security objectives for a long time," he said. "We're here to celebrate crossing the starting line of having pit production capability again."

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