Administrator D’Agostino also highlighted the investments in NNSA’s physical infrastructure, human capital and scientific base that will be required to support all aspects of the President’s overall nuclear security agenda
– By Linton Levy –
In remarks delivered as part of the 2010 National Defense University Foundation Homeland Security Breakfast Series, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator Thomas D’Agostino highlighted the agency’s national security role in light of the recently released Nuclear Posture Review, a new START Treaty, the Nuclear Security Summit and the President’s FY2011 Budget Request.
NNSA plays a critical national security role, particularly in implementing the President’s nuclear security agenda. Administrator D’Agostino outlined NNSA’s role in preventing what President Obama has referred to as the biggest threat to our nation’s security – a terrorist acquiring a nuclear weapon – as well as NNSA’s role in ensuring that the nation’s nuclear stockpile is safe, secure and effective.
Administrator D’Agostino also highlighted the investments in NNSA’s physical infrastructure, human capital and scientific base that will be required to support all aspects of the President’s overall nuclear security agenda.
The following are excerpts of Administrator D’Agostino’s opening remarks as prepared for delivery. The full text can be found on NNSA’s new and improved website at http://www.nnsa.energy.gov/mediaroom/speeches/nduremarks050410.
• SUSTAINING A SAFE, SECURE, AND EFFECTIVE NUCLEAR ARSENAL: “Even as the President was outlining his goal of seeking the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons, he made clear that as long as nuclear weapons exist we will do what it takes to maintain the safety, security, and effectiveness of our own stockpile… the NNSA will extend the lifetime of nuclear warheads required for the force structure identified under the new START agreement. As recommended in the NPR, the NNSA will fully fund the ongoing Life Extension Program for the W76 submarine-based warhead, and complete a full scope Life Extension study for the B61 bomb. We will also work with the Nuclear Weapons Council on a study of Life Extension options for the W78 ICBM warhead.”
• INVESTING IN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: “As the Vice President said a few months ago, ‘some of the facilities we use to handle uranium and plutonium date back to the days when the world’s great powers were led by Truman, Churchill, and Stalin. The signs of age and decay are becoming more apparent every day.’ Consistent with the NPR, NNSA will fund two key facility projects in the coming decade that will provide critical capabilities that are essential to our complete nuclear security mission. The Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory will replace the existing 58-year old Chemistry and Metallurgy Research facility by 2021, and the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee will come on line for production operations by 2021.”
• REVITALIZING NNSA’S HUMAN CAPITAL: “Responsible stockpile management requires not only the supporting infrastructure, but also a highly capable workforce with the specialized skills needed to sustain the nuclear deterrent and to support the President’s overall nuclear security agenda. To that end, the NNSA will strengthen the science, technology, and engineering base that underpins all of our programs, including the supporting computational and experimental capabilities, needed for conducting weapon system LEPs, increasing weapons surety, certifying weapons without nuclear testing, and providing annual stockpile assessments through weapons surveillance.”
Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science in the nation’s national security enterprise. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; reduces the global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad.