The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is celebrating “a significant milestone,” announcing that it completed a record number of key element extractions integral to nuclear weapons testing and acceleration.
The NNSA announced Friday that there were 13 extractions of tritium—an isotope of hydrogen and key element in nuclear weapons—over a nine-month period stemming from Fiscal Year 2025 and into FY 2026. The previous extractions record was eight in 12 months, spanning FY 2022 and FY 2023.
Savannah River Tritium Enterprises (SRTE), operated by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) for NNSA, extracts the tritium. SRTE’s facilities provide a unique capability to safely increase production and effectively execute tritium missions, according to the NNSA.
“This record achievement in tritium extractions demonstrates what the Nuclear Security Enterprise can achieve when we operate with urgency and focus,” NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams said in a statement. “The successful delivery of tritium is essential to meeting the Department of War’s deterrent requirements and delivering President Trump’s peace through strength agenda.
“This accomplishment significantly strengthens our national security and reinforces the strategic readiness of our deterrent mission.”
What Is Tritium?
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that consists of one proton and two neutrons, with a half-life of approximately 12.3 years. It is one of the rarer Earth elements.
While it is often extracted to be used for nuclear weapons and reactors, it has other uses in everyday life that include acting as an energy source in watches’ radio-luminescent lights, firearm night sights, self-illuminating key chains, and is also found in various instruments and tools.
However, due to that half-life, tritium must be continually replenished in active nuclear warheads to, as the NNSA describes, “maintain the integrity of the U.S. nuclear stockpile.”
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, man-made tritium was widely dispersed in the mid-1950s and early ‘60s during above-ground nuclear weapons testing—peaking in 1963 and steadily decreasing ever since.
“SRNS is proud to build on its 75-year legacy of operational excellence in delivering nuclear materials to NNSA and the Department of War in support of our nation’s nuclear deterrent,” Nick Miller, senior vice president of the NNSA Tritium Operations and Programs for SRNS, said in a statement. “This accomplishment is only possible thanks to the hard work and dedication of the SRTE workforce.”
While tritium can be a gas, its most common form is in water because radioactive tritium reacts with oxygen to form water. It also emits a very weak beta particle.
Humans are exposed daily to small amounts due to its wide dispersal in the environment and in the food chain.
Tennessee Valley Authority Partnership
An NNSA spokesperson described the record number of extractions to Military.com as “a big deal,” resulting from hard work involving both federal officials and contractors to accelerate weapons production.
The increase was also attributed to a “substantial increase” in tritium production since 2019, credited to the NNSA’s unique partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in which NNSA irradiates Tritium-Producing Burnable Absorber Rods in two units of the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant in Tennessee. That ultimately produces tritium.
The TVA, according to its website, serves more than 10 million people across seven states. It is owned by the federal government but doesn’t receive tax funding; rather, it uses revenue from energy sales to serve the region.
Design engineering, process improvements, and use of additional licensed reactor units has helped tritium production soar, NNSA officials added.
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