The nuclear weapons that the United States currently has in its stockpile were largely designed and built during the Cold War. NNSA is currently working diligently through its Stockpile Stewardship Program to extend the life of these current weapons. However, the weapons were not designed with security and longevity as the top priorities.

NNSA and the Department of Defense are evaluating ways to address long-term reliability issues, enhance security features, and alleviate potential aging issues in order to reduce the chance of having to return to underground nuclear testing.

With a reliable replacement concept, NNSA would be able to upgrade certain safety, security and other features in current weapons using modern technology, while still keeping the same explosive yields and other military characteristics. By making use of today’s security technology to prevent use by terrorists and incorporating modern safety features, the nation could start down the path towards ensuring long-term confidence in a more secure, smaller and safer nuclear weapons stockpile.

Replacement concepts could:

• Better assure long-term confidence in the reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile;
• Enhance security and prevent use by terrorists, rogue nations or criminal organizations, through state-of-the-art technology;
• Improve the safety of the stockpile;
• Utilize and sustain critical nuclear security skills;
• Enable a reduced stockpile size, by increasing confidence in the infrastructure to produce weapons if and when they are needed; and
• Decrease the likelihood that a nuclear test will be needed.