Nuclear Weapons Update:
Budget:
• House Republicans passed by one vote $57.3 billion in Energy and Water appropriations. They made big cuts to renewable energy programs while boosting nuclear weapons and energy.
• Congress is back from August recess facing a government shutdown October 1. There will likely be a Continuing Resolution(s).
Plutonium Pit Production:
A draft plutonium pit production programmatic environmental impact statement is expected to be released next year in early 2026.
New Updates: Two specific amendments to the Defense Authorization Act (DAA) —
Sec. 3111 of the House NDAA: Codifies NNSA’s two-site strategy and explicitly states 30 pits per year at Los Alamos National Laboratory and 50 pits per year at Savannah River Site requirements. (Sec. 3111)
Sec. 3112 of the Senate NDAA: Specifies numbers for plutonium pit production leading up to the 80 pits per year requirement. Commits to the two-site strategy at Los Alamos and Savannah River and pushes the 80 pits per year requirement back to 2032. Opens the door for annual production above 80 pits per year. (Sec. 3112)
- Energy Department orders “special” investigation of plutonium pit problems
https://www.axios.com/2025/08/27/pit-production-nnsa-study-nukes
*The whole program is in trouble over continually escalating costs.
Accelerating Arms Race:
The War Issue – The AI Doomsday Machine Is Closer to Reality Than You Think
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/09/02/pentagon-ai-nuclear-war-00496884
The results? Almost all of the AI models showed a preference to escalate aggressively, use firepower indiscriminately and turn crises into shooting wars — even to the point of launching nuclear weapons. “The AI is always playing Curtis LeMay,” says Schneider, referring to the notoriously nuke-happy Air Force general of the Cold War. “It’s almost like the AI understands
‘Unrestrained’ Chinese Cyberattackers May Have Stolen Data From Almost Every American Information collected during the yearslong Salt Typhoon attack could allow Beijing’s intelligence services to track targets from the United States and dozens of other countries…The operation was “more than a one-off intelligence success for China,” Anne Neuberger, a Biden administration cybersecurity official, wrote recently in Foreign Affairs magazine. It reflected a deeper, troubling reality,” she wrote, adding, “China is positioning itself to dominate the digital battle space.”
North Korean state media on Thursday said the country’s top missile scientists verified a new multi-warhead delivery system that could significantly complicate U.S. and allied defense planning against Kim Jong Un‘s regime…. MIRVs, first developed by the United States, allow a single intercontinental ballistic missile to release multiple nuclear-armed, hypersonic warheads at different speeds, delivering the weapon’s payload at separate ground targets to overwhelm air defense systems.
Rosatom Chief Issues Russia Nuclear Weapons Warning: ‘Colossal Threats’
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-nuclear-weapons-rosatom-2116774
With Russia’s help, North Korea expands its nuclear weapons capability
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/08/28/north-korea-russia-nuclear-missile-advances/