Sandia National Laboratories passed all fiscal 2013 milestones for the country’s nuclear weapons program but expects to run into budget and timetable issues for 2014 due to federal budget disputes, the Albuquerque Business Journal reported Wednesday.Dan Mayfield writes the lab’s key priorities, which include upgrading the B61 nuclear weapon, could be danger of missing mission targets as the center operates on a budget 23 percent below fiscal 2014 requirements.
“I fully recognize the fiscal environment in which we are operating,†Paul Hommert, president and director of Sandia, testified before a House Committee on Armed Services hearing Tuesday.
“However, my experience deeply reminds me that nuclear weapons are the last place for half measures or corner cutting,†he added.
Mayfield reports the B61 life expectancy program could cost the Defense Department up to $2.65 billion total.
