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As the National Nuclear Security Administration aims to increase its production of explosive cores for nuclear weapons, a draft environmental impact statement on the goal is available for public comment through mid-July.
The two sites being eyed for production are Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
Environmental organization Tri-Valley CAREs officials, however, question the potential roles of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the proposed pit production given the recent publication of an environmental impact report on increasing the amount of plutonium at the laboratory.
“I am opposed to the dangerous plutonium production work planned at Los Alamos and Savannah River Site, and I am opposed to the support work being done here in Livermore,” Tri-Valley CAREs nuclear policy program director Tanvi Kardile said in a statement.
The draft plutonium pit production programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) up for comment covers the potential impacts of pit production over the next 50 years at LANL and SRS and “a range of reasonable alternatives”, the draft states.
The comment period closes July 16.
“Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory does not directly support pit production and that would not change under what’s in the PEIS,” NNSA officials told the Livermore Vine in an email interview. “The lab’s role is limited to plutonium research and development, testing, and stockpile certification activities.”
The proposal comes as the U.S. aims to manufacture at least 80 “war-reserve” plutonium pits annually by 2030, according to the draft.
The goal was established in 2018 to “replace existing pits as they age” and to have the capacity to “meet current and planned military stockpile requirements”, the draft states.
Nearly all of the pits in the nuclear stockpile were produced between 1978 and 1989, according to the draft.
“The Nation’s capability to produce plutonium pits is limited and does not meet federal requirements,” the draft explains.
The PEIS evaluates capacities ranging from 30 to 205 pits per year, NNSA officials said.
Pit production involves the receipt, unpacking and storage of material; feed preparation and manufacturing. Production can also involve the reuse of a pit.
The first fully qualified pit for the W87-1 nuclear warhead was verified by the NNSA October 2024, according to the NNSA website.
Just last month, the NNSA approved LLNL to have increased quantities of Plutonium as well as its increase to Security Category II (plutonium metal limited to 2 kg), up from Category III (plutonium metal limited to 400 grams).
“The two are not directly related,” NNSA officials told Livermore Vine.
Tri-Valley CAREs Executive Director Scott Yundt disagreed and said increased utilization of plutonium at LLNL is related to the agency’s aim to increase core production.
“Livermore lab is integral to the plan,” Yundt said in an interview with Livermore Vine.
LLNL is the lead laboratory designing the W87-1 warhead, which requires new plutonium pits, Yundt explained.
The pits are made from plutonium, which has a half-life of 24,000 years, Yundt said. “Plutonium isn’t exactly rotting on the shelf,” he added.
“This newly designed nuclear weapon is the driver for new production, and Livermore Lab is receiving significant funding to do what’s called plutonium pit support work,” he said.
“There’s no analysis of why some of this plutonium work that’s going back to Livermore or coming to Livermore, couldn’t be done elsewhere, where it might be more secure,” Yundt said.
The PEIS was spurred by a settlement agreement reached January 2025 between environmental groups including Tri-Valley CARES and the U.S. Department of Energy and NNSA.
The agencies were found to have violated the National Environmental Policy Act in previous environmental reporting for “failing to sufficiently evaluate the programmatic (as opposed to site-specific) environmental impacts of producing pits at a second location (Savannah River) and by failing to consider reasonable alternatives for pit production locations”, the ruling states.
The settlement was reached through the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
One of the five public hearings on the draft PEIS was held May 12 at Garré Vineyard & Winery in Livermore.
According to Yundt, all of the approximately 35 commenters expressed opposition to proposed increase in pit production.
The draft PEIS is available here.
