Heinrich Secures Commitment From Energy Secretary On Key LANL Mission

During a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing to review the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) atomic energy defense programs for Fiscal Year 2019, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) secures a commitment from Energy Secretary Rick Perry to support maintaining Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) role as the nation’s Center of Excellence for Plutonium Research. Work is currently underway to upgrade facilities at LANL in preparation to produce 30 pits per year by 2026, and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will soon recommend a strategy to increase the capacity to 80 per year by 2030. March 22, 2018.