Why is the US ramping up production of plutonium ‘pits’ for nuclear weapons?

floofloof@lemmy.ca to News@lemmy.world – 119 points –
Why is the US ramping up production of plutonium ‘pits’ for nuclear weapons?
theguardian.com
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Because we need to replace and maintain the ones we already have. People have been talking about doing this to our aging stockpile for decades.

It makes sense to reduce our arsenal, but the nukes we do have need to be maintained for safety and reliability.

That sounds awfully legit.

I hate to think that the government is doing exactly what they've said they'd do in a sensible timeframe. What is this nation coming to?

People on the internet like to pretend that if the US just stopped making weapons then everyone else would also stop making weapons.

This, lifecycle renewal only goes so far and old plutonium is still very useful for things like breeder reactors.