The largest Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) mission is designing, producing, delivering, and certifying the U.S. nuclear stockpile including the advancement of the underlying science and technology. The Fiscal Year 2023 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan – Biennial Plan Summary describes our efforts to implement the Administration’s 2022 Nuclear Posture Review by maintaining a safe, secure, reliable, and effective nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear explosive testing and revitalizing the nuclear security enterprise. Keeping with DOE/NNSA’s commitments to Congress and the public, updated versions of the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan (SSMP) reports are published each year.

Included in the fiscal year (FY) 2023 SSMP are the details to accomplish the program requirements including producing 80 plutonium pits per year; continuing production of the B61-12 Life Extension Program (LEP) and the W88 Alteration 370 warheads on schedule; and achieving the first production units for the W80-4 LEP and W87-1 Modernization Program. The report also discusses other major activities in stockpile modernization, infrastructure refurbishment, science, research, technology, and engineering. Because of the ages of the weapons in the stockpile, new stockpile requirements, and the recapitalization needed in the production and science infrastructure, DOE/NNSA has been conducting weapon and infrastructure modernization simultaneously. Conducting these programs side-by-side is challenging because of the intense coordination required across the enterprise and with our partners in the Department of Defense. The SSMP describes on-going and planned activities.

The scientific and technological expertise of the people in the nuclear security enterprise is the backbone of the United States’ deterrence. Our nuclear security enterprise workforce comprises experts at government-owned, contractor-operated national laboratories, production plants, and sites across the country and a smaller Federal workforce for planning, budgeting, management, and oversight. Since the days of the Manhattan Project, this model and the specialized talent of nuclear security enterprise personnel have delivered the stockpile needed for effective deterrence in the face of changing world conditions. The SSMP discusses the recruiting and retention efforts to attract the best talent in the United States.

For more than 75 years, the nuclear security enterprise has been at the forefront of cutting edge scientific and engineering work that has greatly enhanced national and global security. With continued support from Congress, DOE/NNSA will continue to anticipate future security challenges and deliver innovative solutions to meet them.

—Jill Hruby, NNSA Administrator