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For immediate release: April 4, 2026
Additional budget details reveal Trump's proposal for expanded Los Alamos plutonium bomb factory, production Total LANL factory costs are approaching TEN TIMES the 2018 estimate, when the decision was first made to build a LANL factory Contact: Greg Mello: 505-577-8563 Albuquerque, NM -- While the full National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) budget request is still not available, this statistical table sheds some further light on the Trump Administration's warhead program plans.
Regarding plutonium pit production, the largest nuclear weapons program in New Mexico and indeed in NNSA's history:
NNSA is requesting $2.393 billion (B) for plutonium warhead core ("pit") production at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), $2.249 B for pit production at the Savannah River Site (SRS), and $0.271 B for pit production support at other NNSA sites, for a total of $4.912 B.
At LANL, pit production is now more than 1/3 of LANL's total mission commitment. When final budget figures become available, pit production will likely approach 40% of all LANL's nuclear weapons work. LANL is undergoing a tremendous expansion and transformation into what amounts to a nuclear bomb factory and weapons development center.
In 2022, NNSA estimated that pit production at LANL would require $1.272 B in fiscal year (FY) 2027, and annual costs would be falling. Instead, FY 2027 costs are to be nearly twice what was estimated and are still rising fast, instead of falling.
LANL has failed to meet every statutory pit production deadline. The number of pits LANL is producing is now classified. NNSA and Triad, which operates LANL for NNSA, have stated they hope to produce 30 pits by FY2028.
LANL pits are to be used in a new warhead, the W87-1, to be deployed on future Sentinel missiles along with existing W87-0 warheads. There are considerably more W87-0 warheads already available than the planned number of deployed Sentinel missiles.
The new SRS pit production facilities are not expected to begin production until FY2035 at the earliest.
In April 2018, the total financial commitment necessary to install the capability to produce at least 30 pits per year was estimated to be $3.0 B. The cost of achieving this is now at least $28 billion, and may be closer to $31 B ("Current & historical cost estimates for reconstituting plutonium pit production, details," Aug 29, 2025).
Costs for the larger facility at SRS were estimated at $4.6 B; they are now up to $29 (B).
Study Group director Greg Mello:
More details regarding NNSA's nuclear weapons programs are likely to be available in the coming days.
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