US to build new nuclear bombs

The US government has announced that they intend to build new plutonium pits for nuclear weapons for the first time since 1989. Plutonium pits are the main key part of a nuclear weapon. Production of pits at the Rocky Flats plants was halted in 1989 because of concern about radioactive contamination of the environment.

"We need to have the capacity to manufacture certified pits to maintain the safety, security and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent into the future," Secretary Spencer Abraham of the US Energy Department said on 31 May.