The U.S. Energy Department is reviewing proposals for construction of a nuclear-weapon component manufacturing facility that would replace an aging site in Kansas City, Mo., the Kansas City Star reported yesterday (see GSN, April 11).
The new $500 million plant to be operated by Honeywell would produce non-nuclear parts, particularly electronics, for the nation's atomic arsenal. The current plant is too old and too large to meet U.S. needs, said Mark Holecek, deputy site manager for the National Nuclear Security Administration.
"The existing facility is now 65 years old and is becoming increasingly expensive to operate and maintain," he said. "Also, it's about three times larger than is needed to meet current and anticipated demands of the nuclear weapons stockpile."
However, some critics of plan have argued that the United States lacks a clear vision of its future nuclear-weapon needs.
"My main concern is that to start building facilities when we don't know what the new president would want is like putting the cart before the horse," said William Hartung of the New America Foundation.
Unlike other sites in the U.S. nuclear-weapon complex, the planned facility would be privately owned and operated (Kevin Collison, Kansas City Star, May 5).