
The commander of U.S. nuclear forces, who met with President-elect Joe Biden’s (D) transition team recently, worried Monday that the civilian nuclear weapons complex faces problems bigger than a potential slip in plutonium-pit production. Under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act passed into law this month over President Trump’s veto, U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) could certify, under certain conditions, that the military would retain confidence in the nuclear arsenal even if the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) cannot produce multiple…