Only using the Los Alamos National Laboratory to produce an annual target of 80 plutonium pits is risky and ill-advised, said Kelly Cummins, program executive officer for strategic materials at the National Nuclear Security Administration. Thirty pits a year should be produced at LANL, with the remaining 50 produced at the Savannah River Site, Cummins said.

A plutonium pit production project at the location of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site would be ambitious in terms of costs and goals, said William "Ike" White, chief of staff at the National Nuclear Security Administration. "These are major nuclear facility recapitalization efforts," said White.

Removal of a metric ton of plutonium from the Savannah River Site before 2020 is on track, says the National Nuclear Security Administration. A half-metric ton has already been removed, with the remaining half to be sent to the Pantex Plant in Texas and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

The Defense and Energy departments' nuclear budget for the next 10 years would have $9 billion for plutonium pit production at the Savannah River Site and Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The total nuclear-related budget would be $494 billion -- 23% higher than the previous estimate made in 2017.

The Energy Department will use 1 metric ton of plutonium from the Savannah River Site for pit production at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. "This material will ultimately be used for vital national security missions and is not waste," National Nuclear Security Administration Chief of Staff William "Ike" White wrote in a court document.