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NNSA plans for the Savannah River Site to play major role in nuclear weapon production
The Savannah River Site will play a major role as the National Nuclear Security Administration seeks to revamp the production of nuclear weapons. The NNSA recently released its blueprint that provides an overview of how the semi-autonomous Department of Energy agency plans to produce nuclear weapons in the coming years. "With this blueprint, we offer a thorough, holistic and time-phased roadmap towards ensuring NNSA can continue to effectively address nuclear security in a rapidly changing world," NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby said in a news release. The Savannah River Site's role includes the production of plutonium pits. Plutonium pits are a sphere inside of a thermonuclear weapon that's compressed to begin a nuclear fission reaction. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the manager and operator of the Savannah River Site, is working to convert the former Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility into a pit production facility to be called the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility. The SRPPF is expected to begin production of plutonium pits by the mid-2030s and to produce 50 pits per year.
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