A national defense production site in KC is expanding
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The new KC National Security Campus office building. Photo: Courtesy of the National Nuclear Security Administration
A federal facility that produces nonradioactive components for nuclear weapons is expanding in Kansas City.
The big picture: Government officials say they're creating jobs and bolstering national security, while opponents criticize the idea of using nuclear weapons to prevent conflict and push for changes in Washington.
Driving the news: The Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC) in May completed a 700-seat office building, the first phase of a multiyear expansion called KC NExT, which is set to add about 2 million square feet to the site's footprint.
- KCNSC began construction on phase two, a manufacturing building, late last year.
Zoom in: KCNSC's workforce has grown from 2,500 to nearly 7,000 employees since it moved from the former Bannister Federal Complex in 2013.
- Mariza Smajlaj, a spokesperson with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), tells Axios the agency plans to acquire and develop 245 acres east of the current facility at Botts Road and Highway 150.
- New expansion phases are projected to begin each year through 2030.
By the numbers: The facility has a nearly $1.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2026, which could grow to more than $2.2 billion next fiscal year.
- Smajlaj says the NNSA is hiring for more than 300 positions, including engineering, purchasing and security.
Context: The expansion is partly due to the NNSA's Plutonium Modernization Program, part of a $1 trillion push to replace the nation's aging nuclear arsenal.
- The KC campus makes 80% of the nonnuclear components used in nuclear weapons manufacturing, which includes the plutonium program.
What they're saying: The NNSA says that increasing the KC facility's capacity will help meet increasing production demands and that modernizing its facilities will help "keep pace with evolving threats."
The other side: PeaceWorks Kansas City has protested nuclear weapons in Kansas City since 2010.
- The organization, along with the Union of Concerned Scientists, spoke against the plutonium initiative at a local hearing in May and met with congressional leaders in Washington this week.
- "We are headed the wrong way to catastrophe," PeaceWorks KC vice chair Ann Suellentrop tells Axios. "Nuclear weapons do not keep us safe."
Between the lines: A U.S. Department of Energy environmental study found that the plutonium program would increase nuclear waste and increase the potential for radioactive accidents.
- PeaceWorks secretary Spencer Graves says skilled workers employed at NNSA production facilities should instead help the transition to green energy.
What we're hearing: Suellentrop says a denuclearization resolution in the House has gained some support, but another in the Senate hasn't.
What's next: The NNSA says agreements have been finalized for phase three support facilities, which could begin construction this year.