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§6128 Plutonium Pit Production Capacity

Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART VI — ELEMENTS OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND OTHER MATTERS › Subpart B — Atomic Energy Defense › CHAPTER 602 — NUCLEAR WEAPONS STOCKPILE MATTERS › SUBCHAPTER I — STOCKPILE STEWARDSHIP AND WEAPONS PRODUCTION › § 6128

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Energy must make sure the U.S. can produce plutonium pits on a set schedule: start qualification pit production in 2021, make at least 10 war reserve pits in 2024, 20 in 2025, 30 in 2026, and 80 in 2030. By March 1, 2015, and every year after that through 2030, the Secretary must tell Congress and the Secretary of Defense that DOE’s programs and budget will meet those goals. If the Secretary does not make that yearly certification by March 1, the Chairman of the Nuclear Weapons Council must send Congress a plan by May 1 that shows what DOE resources will be shifted to meet the targets. When a covered project reaches a major approval milestone, two DOE officials must, within 30 days, certify that the project’s waste handling operations, facilities, and workforce are ready; if they do not, they must give Congress a plan within 30 days. The Administrator for Nuclear Security must send yearly March 1 reports during the start-up period showing planned yearly pit production for the first 10 years, risks, ways to balance scope/costs/production, and any changes from the prior year. DOE must ensure Los Alamos can reliably make at least 30 pits per year and the Savannah River facility at least 50 per year. The Administrator may not expand ARIES spaces at PF–4 before certifying the 30-pit base capability, with limited exceptions. Within 570 days after December 22, 2023, the Administrator must run the plutonium modernization program using GAO best practices for schedules and cost estimates. Covered projects: the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility and the Los Alamos Plutonium Pit Production Project. ARIES: the process for disassembling pits and making plutonium oxide. PF–4: the Plutonium Facility at Los Alamos Technical Area 55.

Title 10, §6128

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(a)Requirement.—

Consistent with the requirements of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy shall ensure that the nuclear security enterprise—

(1)during 2021, begins production of qualification plutonium pits;

(2)during 2024, produces not less than 10 war reserve plutonium pits;

(3)during 2025, produces not less than 20 war reserve plutonium pits;

(4)during 2026, produces not less than 30 war reserve plutonium pits; and

(5)during 2030, produces not less than 80 war reserve plutonium pits.

(b)Annual Certification.—

Not later than March 1, 2015, and each year thereafter through 2030, the Secretary of Energy shall certify to the congressional defense committees and the Secretary of Defense that the programs and budget of the Secretary of Energy will enable the nuclear security enterprise to meet the requirements under subsection (a).

(c)Plan.—

If the Secretary of Energy does not make a certification under subsection (b) by March 1 of any year in which a certification is required under that subsection, by not later than May 1 of such year, the Chairman of the Nuclear Weapons Council shall submit to the congressional defense committees a plan to enable the nuclear security enterprise to meet the requirements under subsection (a). Such plan shall include identification of the resources of the Department of Energy that the Chairman determines should be redirected to support the plan to meet such requirements.

(d)Certifications on Plutonium Enterprise.—

(1)Not later than 30 days after the date on which a covered project achieves a critical decision milestone, the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management and the Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs shall jointly certify to the congressional defense committees that the operations, infrastructure, and workforce of such project are adequate to carry out the delivery and disposal of planned waste shipments relating to the plutonium enterprise, as outlined in the critical decision memoranda of the Department of Energy with respect to such project.

(2)If the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management and the Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs fail to make a certification under paragraph (1) by the date specified in such paragraph with respect to a covered project achieving a critical decision milestone, the Assistant Secretary and the Deputy Administrator shall jointly submit to the congressional defense committees, by not later than 30 days after such date, a plan to ensure that the operations, infrastructure, and workforce of such project will be adequate to carry out the delivery and disposal of planned waste shipments described in such paragraph.

(e)Reports.—

(1)Not later than March 1 of each year during the period beginning on the date on which the first covered project achieves critical decision 2 in the acquisition process and ending on the date on which the second project achieves critical decision 4 and begins operations, the Administrator for Nuclear Security shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the planned production goals of both covered projects during the first 10 years of the operation of the projects.

(2)Each report under paragraph (1) shall include—

(A)the number of war reserve plutonium pits planned to be produced during each year, including the associated warhead type;

(B)a description of risks and challenges to meeting the performance baseline for the covered projects, as approved in critical decision 2 in the acquisition process;

(C)options available to the Administrator to balance scope, costs, and production requirements at the projects to decrease overall risk to the plutonium enterprise and enduring plutonium pit requirements; and

(D)an explanation of any changes to the production goals or requirements as compared to the report submitted during the previous year.

(f)Capacity.—

In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of Energy shall—

(1)ensure that Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, has the capability to reliably produce no fewer than 30 war reserve plutonium pits annually; and

(2)ensure that the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina, has the capability to reliably produce no fewer than 50 war reserve plutonium pits annually.

(g)Prohibition on ARIES Expansion Before Achievement of 30 Pit-per-year Base Capability.—

(1)Until the date on which the Administrator certifies to the congressional defense committees that the base capability to produce not less than 30 war reserve plutonium pits per year has been established at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Administrator may not—

(A)carry out a project to expand the pit disassembly and processing capability of the spaces at PF–4 occupied by ARIES as of December 22, 2023; or

(B)otherwise expand such spaces.

(2)Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to—

(A)ongoing or planned small projects to sustain or improve the efficiency of plutonium oxide production, provided that such projects do not expand the spaces at PF–4 occupied by ARIES as of December 22, 2023;

(B)the planning and design of an additional ARIES capability at a location other than PF–4; or

(C)the transfer of the ARIES capability to a location other than PF–4.

(3)In this subsection:

(A)The term “ARIES” means the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System method, developed and piloted at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, for disassembling surplus defense plutonium pits and converting the plutonium from such pits into plutonium oxide.

(B)The term “PF–4” means the Plutonium Facility at Technical Area 55 located at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico.

(h)Management of Plutonium Modernization Program.—

Not later than 570 days after December 22, 2023, the Administrator for Nuclear Security shall ensure that the plutonium modernization program established by the Office of Defense Programs of the National Nuclear Security Administration, or any subsequently developed program designed to meet the requirements under subsection (a), is managed in accordance with the best practices for schedule development and cost estimating of the Government Accountability Office.

(i)Covered Project Defined.—

In this section, the term “covered project” means—

(1)the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility, Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina (Project 21–D–511); or

(2)the Plutonium Pit Production Project, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico (Project 21–D–512).

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Amendment by section 3112 of Pub. L. 119–60 directed to section 4219 of Pub. L. 107–314 executed to this section pursuant to section 3111(d)(1)(B) of Pub. L. 119–60. See Further Technical

Amendments

note set out under section 6114 of this title.

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in section 2538a of Title 50, War and National Defense, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 119–60, § 3111(b)(1).

Amendments

2025—Pub. L. 119–60, § 3111(d)(2)(B), realigned margins. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 119–60, § 3111(d)(2)(A), struck out pars. (1) and (2) headings which read as follows: “Requirement” and “Failure to certify”, respectively. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 119–60, § 3111(d)(2)(A), struck out pars. (1) and (2) headings which read as follows: “Requirement” and “Elements”, respectively. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 119–60, §§ 3111(d)(1)(B), 3112(4), added subsec. (f). Former subsec. (f) redesignated (g). See Codification note above. Pub. L. 119–60, § 3111(d)(2)(A), struck out pars. (1) to (3) headings which read as follows: “In general”, “Exceptions”, and “Definitions”, respectively. Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 119–60, §§ 3111(d)(1)(B), 3112(1), redesignated subsec. (f) as (g). Former subsec. (g) redesignated (i). See Codification note above. Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 119–60, §§ 3111(d)(1)(B), 3112(1)–(3), redesignated subsec. (g) as (i) and moved subsec. (i) so as to appear after subsec. (h) and substituted “this section” for “this subsection” in introductory provisions. See Codification note above.

§6128 Plutonium Pit Production Capacity

Summary

Title 10, §6128

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Prior Provisions

Amendments

Citations & Metadata