The Biden administration appears to be picking up where former President Trump left off as the federal agency that oversees U.S. nuclear research and bomb-making has approved the conceptual design and cost range for infrastructure investments for a multibillion-dollar project to manufacture key components for the nation's nuclear arsenal. The National Nuclear Security Administration in a decision announced Wednesday stated that planning and construction could cost upward of $4 billion initially. The agency did not articulate what exactly that money would be spent on, nor does it include the cost of other preparations that would be needed for Los Alamos National Laboratory to begin producing 30 plutonium cores per year. The push to resume production of the nuclear triggers has spanned multiple presidential administrations, with supporters arguing that the U.S. needs to ensure the stability and reliance of its arsenal given growing global security concerns. The nuclear agency also has said most of the cores in the stockpile date back to the 1970s and '80s.
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