An overhead view of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Y-12 is home to most of America’s nuclear materials manufacturing, and recently announced the new construction of a nuclear material called “binary alloy” for the first time since the 1990s. (Department of Energy)

After Years of Neglect, America Is Making Nuclear Materials Again

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The Department of Energy has announced the renewed construction of “binary alloy,” a critical material for nuclear weapons design—but has not explained how it is made, for obvious reasons.

After 20 years, America will resume production of “binary alloy,” a key alloy used in nuclear weapons, as it seeks to modernize its stockpile.

The alloy is used to manufacture radiation cases that enclose the essential components within a nuclear weapon. However, after the end of the Cold War in 1991 and ensuing defense budget cuts, the United States scaled down its active nuclear weapons production and relied on what was, in essence, a finite stockpile of previously manufactured binary alloy.

For approximately 20 years, specialized US government nuclear facilities—most........

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