The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s (DOE/NNSA) largest mission is to design, produce, deliver, and certify the Nation’s nuclear stockpile while advancing the scientific, technological, and engineering skills that underpin it. Since the Manhattan Project, the talented people of the nuclear security enterprise have applied unique capabilities to promote U.S. security in an evolving global security environment. Today, our nuclear deterrent remains the foundation of the Nation’s defense.

The Fiscal Year 2024 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan (SSMP) describes how DOE/NNSA will maintain and advance the safety, security, reliability, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without underground nuclear explosive testing. The report also details DOE/NNSA’s plans to accomplish the program requirements to produce 80 plutonium pits per year; achieve the first production units for the W80-4 Life Extension Program (LEP), W87-1 Modification Program, and W93; and continue production of the B61-12 LEP and W88 Alteration 370 warheads. Finally, the report examines other key activities that support DOE/NNSA’s weapons program, including stockpile modernization, infrastructure recapitalization, and science, research technology, and engineering capabilities. The SSMP discusses both on-going and planned activities.

For more than 75 years, the scientific and engineering discoveries of the nuclear security enterprise have enhanced our national and global security in the face of changing world conditions. Our greatest asset is the people of the nuclear security enterprise, whose expertise is the core of the United States’ nuclear deterrence. The nuclear security enterprise workforce is comprised of technical experts at the national laboratories, production plants, and sites across the country, and a Federal workforce for planning, budgeting, management, and oversight. The SSMP discusses efforts to attract and retain a world-class workforce to steward today’s deterrent and design the systems of tomorrow.