Plutonium Pit Production

Abstract

A plutonium pit is a key component of a nuclear weapon. During the Cold War, the United States produced approximately 1,000 pits per year at the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado. Rocky Flats was closed in 1992 and today the United States does not have the capability to manufacture new pits at the rate needed to maintain the nuclear deterrent. A delay in revitalizing this capability will eventually necessitate a larger, more expensive recapitalization effort in the future.