The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration was a key collaborator in the Department of Defense’s 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, which was publicly released today.

“DOE has an essential and unique role in national security, and we take pride in fulfilling a key part of President Biden’s vision for a safer world,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. “We are grateful to DOD, NNSA, and the entire interagency team for their partnership and commitment to maintaining a secure and effective nuclear weapons stockpile, while prioritizing implementing nonproliferation, counterproliferation, and counterterrorism responses to reduce global nuclear threats.”

The 2022 NPR represents a comprehensive, balanced approach to U.S. nuclear strategy, policy, posture, and forces. As the steward of the nation’s nuclear stockpile and a global leader in nonproliferation and arms control, NNSA has an important role to play in meeting the Biden-Harris Administration’s national security objectives, in close coordination with interagency partners.

As detailed in the 2022 NPR, NNSA’s priorities to support President Biden’s nuclear strategy include:

• Delivering on stockpile modernization programs to provide our nation’s nuclear deterrent and support strong, credible extended deterrence commitments to our allies and partners;
• Recapitalizing the Nuclear Security Enterprise—including the infrastructure, production capabilities, and science and technology base—to ensure a safe, secure, and effective nuclear stockpile and afford the nation the ability to adapt to changes in the security environment;
• Increasing investment in capabilities to support future arms control, risk reduction, and strategic stability initiatives when conditions allow;
• Denying non-state actors’ access to nuclear materials and related technology and disrupting attempts to commit acts of nuclear terrorism; and
• Recruiting and retaining the highly skilled and adaptive NSE workforce critical to fulfilling our stockpile mission and delivering the full range of NNSA’s nonproliferation, nuclear forensics, counterterrorism, and arms control efforts.

As NNSA Administrator and Under Secretary for Nuclear Security, Jill Hruby will lead the agency’s NPR implementation activities. “The NNSA has responsibility for nuclear deterrence by sustaining a safe, secure, and effective stockpile and by developing technologies that further nuclear security and arms control. These missions are critical at this moment in time when the security environment has deteriorated,” said Hruby. “The Nuclear Posture Review affirms our need for adaptability and resilience across the enterprise, and we are addressing our commitments through new initiatives focused on stockpile production, scientific and technological innovation, and better integration with our partners at the Department of Defense. We will also make strong investments in next-generation arms control, to improve our technical monitoring and verification capabilities and prepare the United States for future opportunities. I look forward to working with our interagency partners to deliver on the full range of these activities.”

The unclassified NPR is available as a document nested within the DOD’s National Defense Strategy (page 33), alongside the Missile Defense Review. DOD released classified versions of the NPR, NDS, and MDR to Congress in March 2022.

To learn more about NNSA’s national security mission, visit our website here.

Original source can be found here.