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the national nuclear security administration (nnsa) under the u.s. department of energy announced that the first weapons-grade plutonium pit sample for the w87-1 nuclear warhead has been completed. this is an important component of the warhead and serves as the first-stage "trigger" device to trigger the explosion of a thermonuclear device. nnsa called this "an important milestone in the modernization of the united states' nuclear weapons arsenal."

according to reports, the w87-1 nuclear warhead will gradually phase out the aging w-78 warhead and will be mounted on the air force's "sentinel" intercontinental ballistic missile. this type of missile is expected to be deployed in the early 2030s, and if you want to successfully achieve this goal , the united states first needs to build a qualified plutonium pit.

during the cold war, the united states was producing hundreds of such plutonium pits each year, but production ceased in 1989. the current goal, nnsa said, is to rebuild "the capability to create plutonium pits at a rate of at least 80 per year ... and repurpose the entire nuclear security enterprise's atrophied production capacity in the post-cold war era."

dylan spaulding of the union of concerned scientists told the war zone that producing the first plutonium pit that could be used to make weapons is just the first step in a long journey. "it is important to note that this does not mean that production will increase exponentially. it is likely that not every plutonium pit produced will meet the standards, and the congressional goal of 80 plutonium pits per year by 2030 remains out of reach, "we believe this goal is both unnecessary and dangerous," he said.

"there is considerable doubt about the u.s. nuclear warhead production plan and whether the w87-1 project can be completed as planned," added christensen, director of the nuclear information program at the federation of american scientists and associate senior fellow at the stockholm international peace research institute. he said the planned factory "has been delayed, which will almost certainly lead to further delays."

the bulletin of the atomic scientists (bas) introduced in a 2023 report: "one of the production lines is located at los alamos national laboratory in new mexico and is in an advanced state of installation; the other production line will be installed in south carolina. the u.s. department of energy’s savannah river site (srs), but conditions there are not ready.”

at the same time, the sentinel missile project equipped with the w87-1 nuclear warhead plan is also in trouble, facing serious cost overruns and delays. the new budget for the sentinel missile program will be approximately $141 billion, nearly twice the original budget, and the project schedule is expected to be delayed by several years.

review | lu changyin

editor | xu xuan

proofreading | guo weitong