Guest Column: Infrastructure Revitalization Is Necessary for America’s Peace and Security | Columns of opinion

Today, millions of Americans are back enjoying their summer vacation.

Yet while they drive, few will remember that their travel is made possible by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, a bipartisan law that started one of America’s greatest public works programs of all time.

It resulted in the construction of 66,000 miles of interstate highways – and the creation of numerous businesses serving commuters, car pools, and countless family vacationers. But the law wasn’t just about improving road quality or promoting the economy, it was also about national security.

President Eisenhower knew that in addition to their essential peacetime use, Interstate Highways could also be used in wartime to transport troops and supplies and, in urgent need, to evacuate civilians.

This is what makes the bipartisan push to rebuild our country’s infrastructure – led by President Biden and Foreign Minister Granholm – so important and essential. And the unique infrastructure used to support US nuclear inventories is equally important and essential, and requires continued investment and upgrading.

Today America’s deterrence remains strong thanks to the National Nuclear Security Administration. But many of the facilities necessary to maintain our nuclear deterrence and protect our national security predate the Eisenhower administration. Future American leaders will not have the infrastructure to support strategic deterrence unless we restore that capability now.

Rooted in the Manhattan Project, the NNSA is the only federal agency with the ability to safely manage, maintain, and secure our nuclear inventories, a mission vital to America’s peace and security. As our own industrial base, this mission is carried out by a team of more than 50,000 employees in eight locations.

But much of NNSA’s critical infrastructure is in dire need of investment and upgrading.

NNSA employees work with determination and pride – despite old and even dilapidated facilities. About 30% of the NNSA’s facilities date from the early Cold War era. Almost 60% of the facilities have exceeded their 40-year life expectancy and 51% are in poor condition. In order to protect the environment, reduce risks, increase safety and make much-needed space for much-needed infrastructure, NNSA is dismantling and disposing of obsolete facilities.

Thanks to bipartisan support, NNSA is also making the necessary investments in its plutonium capabilities. NNSA recently approved the start of planning for the Los Alamos Plutonium Pit Production Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina. The project aims to further improve America’s security by increasing the NNSA’s ability to construct war reserve pits – a vital component of nuclear weapons – in support of the Department of Defense.

Much like the intergovernmental system supports both civil and military purposes, the NNSA’s infrastructure serves America in more ways than one. From the Cold War to the present day, SRS has been essential to our national security mission. The site provides vital environmental support and maintains the nation’s nuclear deterrent through the custody and disposal of domestic and international nuclear material. It is the only facility in the country that extracts, recycles and purifies tritium – a radioactive isotope of hydrogen used to make nuclear weapons.

The location functions like a small town with around 11,000 specialists who ensure that everything runs smoothly. It takes skilled hands and brilliant minds to ensure that America’s nuclear deterrent will be safe and effective for years and decades to come. Still, nearly a third of NNSA’s workforce will be eligible for a pension within five years. The NNSA is actively recruiting the next generation for nuclear safety. However, this type of recruitment and retention requires a modern infrastructure that is not only attractive, but also reliable and resilient – it requires a workplace worthy of a top-notch workforce.

There will always be challenges in reconciling defense and domestic policy priorities. However, they don’t have to be exclusive. As the construction of the American highways shows, investments in infrastructure have a profound impact on security, peace and prosperity. And as long as America invests wisely, there will always be calm and another long way to go for the summer vacation.