Warren, Garamendi Press Energy Secretary on Mismanagement and Taxpayer Waste in Plutonium Pit Production Program

Warren, Garamendi Press Energy Secretary on Mismanagement and Taxpayer Waste in Plutonium Pit Production Program

Without transparency, accountability, and action around the pit program, the Department of Energy may be enabling the waste of billions of taxpayer dollars.

"In rushing to production, NNSA has developed an excessively risky program structure, with management concerns around fundamental aspects such as the cost and schedule."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - In a new letter, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative John Garamendi (D-Calif.), both members of their respective Armed Services Committees and of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, are urging Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright to review the scope of and the need for the nuclear weapon plutonium pit production program, and pause the program's Savannah River site until the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has established guardrails to prevent additional waste of taxpayer funds.

In August, the Department of Energy (DOE) launched a special study into NSSA's leadership and management of the plutonium pit production mission. The lawmakers believe that, if properly conducted, the study will find that years of mismanagement have put billions of taxpayer dollars at risk with an unrealistic pit production schedule and goals.

"The Trump administration is blindly spending tens of billions of dollars to produce plutonium pits for nuclear weapons without a real budget or plan," said Senator Warren. "This program is already years behind schedule and over budget, and Congressman Garamendi and I are urging the Secretary of Energy to conduct a vigorous review to rein in years of waste and mismanagement."

"For years I have called for Congress to take action to fix the failing plutonium modernization effort. Congress has continued to pour billions of dollars into efforts to restart production with arbitrary targets," said Congressman Garamendi. "This letter cuts to the core of the matter and asks necessary questions of NNSA, including about the questionable management and faulty assumptions underlying the program. I eagerly await their response, along with the results of the Department of Energy's 120-day special investigation."

The lawmakers raise concerns about how, years into this program, it is still unclear what the pit production program's schedule and full cost will be. The Government Accountability Office recommended NNSA create a master schedule to comply with its best practices, but the agency has yet to produce one. Additionally, the lawmakers call out the continued pursuit of the Savannah River pit production site as a big driver of the pit production program's ballooning cost, even as the site's benefits remain questionable. They argue that without a comprehensive plan and budget for this massive undertaking, the agency is setting itself up for failure.

The lawmakers pressed for answers by January 9, 2025, about the DOE's special study on the program, the budget and timeline of the program, and the necessity of new plutonium pits for the United States' nuclear deterrence.

Senator Warren has long worked to ensure the accountability of the United States nuclear arsenal:

• In March 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren slammed Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) reckless firings of federal employees, including at the NNSA, where workers who ensure the safety and security of the country's nuclear stockpile were fired and had to be rehired.

• In January 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Elon Musk with recommendations that would cut at least $2 trillion in government waste, including cutting nearly $2 billion in NNSA yearly spending on plutonium pit production at the Savannah River Site.

• In April 2022, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed then-NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby at a Senate Armed Services hearing on how the NNSA had not provided a full cost estimate of the pit production program to Congress and on how the NNSA had admitted previously that its goal to produce 80 pits per year by 2030 would not be feasible.

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