How Kansas City is connected to nuclear weapons production
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The federal government on Thursday heard from concerned Kansas Citians and activists about its plan to ramp up nuclear weapons manufacturing.
Why it matters: The public hearing is part of a decade-long odyssey to stockpile more warhead cores, something the U.S. says is needed for national defense but critics say could be dangerous, harmful to the environment and unnecessary.
Driving the news: The 2.5-hour meeting at Hillcrest Community Center was one of five mandated listening sessions nationwide.
Flashback: A production plan was greenlit during the first Trump administration and also endorsed by the Biden administration.
- That plan, which involves two plutonium pit production sites, has ballooned in cost to $1 trillion.
- A federal judge in 2024 ruled officials failed to assess the production plan's environmental impact. Part of that ruling included a mandatory review and public scrutiny.
Zoom in: The National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), managed and operated by Honeywell, supports the U.S.'s nuclear program by making non-nuclear components.
- Spokesperson Molly Hadfield tells Axios the site will support the NNSA's Plutonium Modernization Program, but it will not handle radioactive production.
- The NNSA in February purchased an additional building in Kansas City for $38.8 million to expand KCNSC's workload.
What they're saying: The NNSA says current plutonium production capabilities can't meet the demand of replacing aging nuclear cores, and a modern arsenal would provide "safe, secure, and reliable" conflict deterrence.
The other side: The Union of Concerned Scientists argues the stockpiled cores are still good, and a ramp-up in production would be bad for the environment and could cause tensions abroad.
- The government's environmental study notes that the program would increase nuclear waste and increase the potential for radioactive accidents.
What we're watching: Deputy Energy Secretary James Danly in April ordered a 120-day "special study" to examine the program's delays.