Despite concerns, US pushes policy to improve nuclear arsenal
President Joe Biden holds a bipartisan meeting on the American Jobs Plan at the White House in Washington
US President Joe Biden has continued where his predecessor Donald Trump has left when it comes to the nuclear ambitions of the United States as the first design phase of a multibillion-dollar project has been approved.
The National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday announced that planning and building of the project to manufacture key components of nuclear arsenal could cost upwards of USD 4 billion initially, news agency AP reported.
For the project, the Los Alamos National Laboratory will begin manufacturing 30 plutonium cores per year.
The debate to increase the US's nuclear arsenal has been raised in many administrations with supporters arguing that Washington needs it amid global security concerns.
The nuclear agency also has stated that a majority of the cores in the stockpile are from the 1970s and 1980s.
Democrats belonging to New Mexico's congressional delegation have backed the production at Los Alamos over the billions of dollars in federal funding and thousands of jobs that are at stake.
However, watchdogs have raised concerns over potential security and safety lapses at the northern New Mexico lab and adverse effects on the environment.
Nuclear waste that is likely to be generated by the project is also a concern.