US to build two secret underground plutonium production labs: Analyst

[bananas]

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/22/341316/us-building-secret-labs-to-enhance-nukes/

US to build two secret underground plutonium production labs: Analyst
Sun Dec 22, 2013

The United States is planning to build two new underground plutonium production labs that will expand plutonium production for the next decades, an analyst says.

“The Senate two days ago voted to authorize the creation of two new huge secret underground plutonium production labs that will expand plutonium production for the next 150 years,” Brian Becker, national coordinator of the A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition, told Press TV on Saturday.

“That is a very important fact and I think the world is not yet learning about it or just learning about it,” he added.

Becker also said the location of the new labs is in Los Alamos.

<snip>

Embedded video with the article.

Via http://nuclear-news.net/2013/12/24/usa-secretly-building-two-underground-plutonium-production-labs/

[postulater]

1. Wait. What is plutonium used for again?

I thought the main use was for weapons.

Must be wrong, we wouldn't do that. Would we?

Not on Christmas anyway.

Oh, crap.

[longship]

2. Pu is used to power space probes.

And we are running out of it. Planetary science would suffer quite a blow if we did not ramp up Pu production.

The Voyager probes currently exiting the solar system use Pu, as does Cassini at Saturn, as does the Curiosity rover on Mars. Others, too.

[postulater]

3. Thanks, I'm glad to know there is a beneficial use.

I just hope that is the main use of the plutonium to be made at those plants.

"These are the voyages....."

[bananas]

4. This plutonium is for weapons.

There's a separate project to make plutonium for space probes.

[postulater]

5. So, it's back to "Oh, crap" again.

grrrr.

[bananas]

6. Yes - here's a news article from The Albuquerque Journal

I think this is the bill referenced in the OP:

http://www.abqjournal.com/325071/news/bill-authorizes-planned-funding-for-nm-labs.html

Bill authorizes planned funding for NM labs
By Michael Coleman / Journal Washington Bureau | Sun, Dec 22, 2013
Posted: 12:14 am

WASHINGTON – Legislation that maintains planned funding levels in fiscal 2014 for America’s national laboratories, including Sandia and Los Alamos in New Mexico, as well as the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, is headed to President Barack Obama’s desk.

The bill, approved Friday by the Senate on a 84-15 vote, also provides for a federal land transfer to help protect White Sands Missile Range. It also advances plans to replace work on the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Nuclear Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which was scrapped by the Obama administration last year.

The legislation, which earlier cleared the House, is expected to be signed into law by Obama. While it authorizes certain spending levels, it does not provide actual appropriations, which must be approved separately by Congress.

<snip>

The bill says the director of the National Nuclear Security Administration “may obligate and expend funds … for activities relating to the modular building strategy” at Los Alamos that would replace the controversial $6 billion CMRR facility the administration last year postponed for at least a half-decade.

The modular strategy, according to the bill, would include “re-purposing existing facilities and constructing a series of modular structures” to complement the existing plutonium facility at LANL.

The legislation contains language emphasizing that the B61 (bomb) Life Extension Program at Sandia and Los Alamos is a “priority” that should receive “full funding.” While not binding on Congress, the language would serve as reminder to Congress of the value of the program, Udall said.

<snip>

[bananas]

7. Defense Officials Detail Nuke Upgrade Program

In the video in the OP, they quote Robert Kehler, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, here's a related article:

http://prhome.defense.gov/News/tabid/4869/Article/5366/defense-officials-detail-nuke-upgrade-program.aspx

Defense Officials Detail Nuke Upgrade Program
By | October 30, 2013

Defense Department officials testified on Capitol Hill yesterday about the program to modernize one of the oldest weapons in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Madelyn R. Creedon, the assistant secretary of defense for global strategic affairs, and Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, spoke at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subcommittee.

The B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb has the oldest warhead design in the U.S. nuclear stockpile, Creedon said, noting that some of the warhead’s components date back to the 1960s.

“Only through extraordinary measures has this aging family of weapons remained safe, secure and effective far beyond its originally planned operational life,” Kehler told the House panel. No full-scope nuclear modernization programs have taken place since production of new warheads was suspended in the 1990s, Creedon added.

<snip>

A multi-decade effort to revitalize the nuclear deterrent force and its supporting infrastructure is just beginning, Kehler told the panel. The B61-12 life extension program is just one aspect of that effort, he said, which includes upgrades to the land-based ballistic missile capability, replacement of Ohio-class submarines, development of a new long-range penetrating bomber and upgrades to the existing B-52H Stratofortress and B-2A Spirit bomber force.

<snip>

[bananas]

8. This is for weapons, see posts #6 and #7.

There's a different program for generating plutonium for space probes.

[longship]

9. Okay. Thanks for the info.

I will leave my post up for context.


Happy Holidays!

[MADem]

10. Not much of a secret, then, if it's all over the internet! Someone was a big blabbermouth! nt