Testifying at the Senate Armed Services Committee's START hearing today, National Nuclear Security Admistration chief Tom D'Agostino said upgrading Los Alamos National Laboratory's plutonium capabilities is among the agency's top priorities. From the written testimony:

Key priorities are to:

• Complete the design and begin building the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Facility Replacement Nuclear Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in order to complete construction by 2020, and ramp up to full operations by 2022;
• Increase pit manufacturing capacity and capability at the Plutonium Facility at Los Alamos; and
• Complete the design and begin building the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in order to complete construction by 2020, and ramp up to full operations by 2022.