ENERGY
Trump budget hikes nuclear warhead spending, cuts nuclear cleanup
The proposed increases are part of a push to modernize and expand nuclear weapons stockpiles
President Donald Trump released a budget request over the weekend that asks Congress to appropriate millions in new funds for the nation鈥檚 nuclear weapons programs 鈥� and to cut funding to clean up legacy nuclear waste leftover from the Manhattan Project.
If Congress grants the full funding request 鈥� hardly a guarantee 鈥� the National Nuclear Security Administration, the semiautonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy Agency responsible for the nation鈥檚 nuclear weapons stockpile, would receive a 12% increase for the fiscal year 2027, which begins in October. Under the proposal, the DOE would get $53.9 billion, more than 60% of which, or $32.8 billion, is allocated to the NNSA.
That increase, Trump鈥檚 budget request says, 鈥渉ighlights America鈥檚 unwavering resolve to strengthen the U.S. nuclear deterrent 鈥� the cornerstone of America鈥檚 defense against threats from adversaries.
鈥淭he United States must maintain and expand its set of nuclear capabilities that allow the President flexibility to protect the homeland and deter adversaries,鈥� the budget request says. 鈥淪pecifically, the Budget makes strong investments to develop new warheads that would bolster deterrence, modernize NNSA鈥檚 supporting infrastructure and extend the life of existing warheads.鈥�
The budget 鈥渁lso enables NNSA to develop next-generation reactor technology for future naval systems, while also improving NNSA capability to keep America safe from radiological and nuclear terrorism through the Nuclear Emergency Support Team,鈥� the budget request says.
The DOE鈥檚 Office of Environmental Management would take a $386 million cut from the current budget.. The mission of the office is to manage cleanup of nuclear waste at test and research facilities across the nation. Under Trump鈥檚 proposed budget, the office would receive $8.2 billion.
鈥淭he reduction in funding reflects a strategic focus on near-term, critical path cleanup milestones,鈥� the request says.
Toni Chiri, spokesperson for the NNSA鈥檚 Los Alamos Field Office, directed questions about the budget and cleanup efforts to the agency鈥檚 headquarters, which did not respond to questions by press time.
New Mexico has had a troubled history with the labs. More than 70 years after the Manhattan Project, which birthed the nuclear bomb, there remains in Los Alamos material disposal areas with 500,000 cubic meters of 鈥渓egacy hazardous and radioactive waste,鈥� according to the DOE. Workers on the Manhattan Project had disposed of radioactive and hazardous materials in unlined landfills, septic tanks and other sites. Water containing hexavalent chromium, a toxic metal, was discovered in the regional aquifer, and was detected in November 2025 in the groundwater of San Ildefonso Pueblo.
In February, regulators with the New Mexico Environment Department fined the DOE up to $16 million for violating groundwater safety rules.
President Trump鈥檚 budget request says it supports 鈥渆xecution of seven simultaneous warhead modernization programs, including the B61-13 variant, while coordinating with the Department of War 鈥� to plan for future systems,鈥� the DOE said in a Congressional justification to its budget..
The B61-13, a thermonuclear gravity bomb, is also known as the bunker buster. The program calls for production and extension of other warheads such as the W80-4, used for the Air Force.
The DOE says in its budget request that it needs to produce at least 80 plutonium pits 鈥攖he radioactive triggers for nuclear bombs 鈥� annually.
鈥淣one of this future pit production is to maintain the safety and reliability of the existing stockpile, but instead is entirely for new-design nuclear weapons,鈥� the group Nuclear Watch New Mexico said in an April 6 press release. 鈥淭his is despite the fact that in 2006 independent experts found that pits have serviceable lifetimes of at least 100 years.鈥�
Justin Horwath covers tech and energy for the Journal. You can reach him at jhorwath@abqjournal.com.
