- NNSA furloughs ~1,400 staff for first time, leaving under 400 for critical nuclear stockpile tasks and forcing safe shutdowns at key facilities.
- NRC furloughs ~1,837 employees; routine inspections, licensing, and rulemaking paused, relying on carryover funds for essential safety work.
- Shutdown risks modernization, contractor layoffs, global security programs, and complicates restarting complex nuclear operations once funding resumes.
WASHINGTON — As the federal government shutdown stretches into its fourth week, the nation’s nuclear security apparatus is feeling the pinch in ways that could have lasting repercussions.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the agency tasked with safeguarding and maintaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, is set to furlough hundreds of employees, leaving just a skeleton crew to handle critical operations.
This marks a historic first for the NNSA, which has never before had to send workers home during funding lapses since its creation in 2000.
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Starting Monday, around 1,400 NNSA staffers will be furloughed, reducing the workforce to fewer than 400 people focused on essential duties like emergency services and basic oversight.
Facilities such as the Pantex Plant in Texas, where nuclear weapons are assembled and dismantled, and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee will shift into “safe shutdown mode,” halting routine modernization and day-to-day federal oversight.
Contractors will keep up minimal work until their funding runs dry, but the absence of federal employees means a slowdown in crucial tasks.
Official Statements on the Nuclear Activity Pause
Energy Department spokesperson Ben Dietderich explained the tough decision, stating, “Since its creation in 2000, NNSA has never before furloughed federal workers during funding lapses.
We are left with no choice this time. We’ve extended funding as long as we could.”
An NNSA insider highlighted the risks of pausing mid-operation, stating, “To stop in the middle of disassembling or building a nuclear weapon, there are several steps you must take to ensure everything is safe enough to leave and lock up.
And then when you come back, you have to do all of that in reverse to restart. It takes time—it’s not like flipping a light switch.”
The NNSA’s core mission involves ensuring a “safe, secure, and reliable nuclear stockpile” through advanced science and engineering, but the shutdown threatens to delay modernization efforts for America’s aging Cold War-era arsenal.
Security guards will stay on post to protect nuclear materials, but broader programs—like global efforts to secure dangerous materials in places like Ukraine amid its war with Russia—could face setbacks.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, visiting the Nevada National Security Site on Monday to address the crisis, warned on Bloomberg that the program is “just getting momentum there… To have everybody unpaid and not coming to work, that will not be helpful.”
He also posted on X, calling it “enough is enough” and blaming Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer for the “disastrous Shutdown.”
Experts are sounding alarms too.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, questioned the priorities: “If the Trump administration really thinks the NNSA’s functions are important — and many of them are essential for nuclear facility safety and security — I am sure they can find the funds to keep the workers on the job, or else they might want to rethink their position on the federal government shutdown.”
The agency oversees roughly 60,000 contractors who handle maintenance and testing at national labs, and Wright has suggested tens of thousands of contractor layoffs could follow.
Civilians Are Being Affected by the Move
This isn’t isolated to weapons; the shutdown’s ripple effects are hitting the civilian side of nuclear oversight as well.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which regulates nuclear power plants, fuel facilities, and radioactive materials, is also operating under severe constraints.
With the lapse in appropriations starting October 1, 2025, the NRC has furloughed about 1,837 employees, retaining around 828 for essential duties.
The agency is dipping into carryover funds from prior years to keep critical health and safety activities going, but once those dry up, it’ll switch to a bare-bones “minimal maintenance and monitoring mode.”
NRC operations continuing include resident inspectors at power plants and fuel facilities, emergency responses, processing urgent licensing actions, and handling security threats.
Licensees must still comply with all safety and security rules, and the NRC’s Operations Center remains open for event notifications at 301-816-5100.
But routine inspections, rulemaking, and most licensing reviews are on hold, which could delay projects for nuclear operators and applicants.
The story gets deeper and deeper
Work tied to Executive Order 14300—aimed at reforming the NRC for faster licensing of advanced technologies—continues with carryover funds, covering things like revising the Reactor Oversight Process and setting deadlines for approvals.
The NRC’s lapse plan details how this plays out: Non-excepted activities like environmental reviews, routine enforcement, and adjudicatory hearings stop, with impacts growing the longer the shutdown lasts.
For stakeholders, including Agreement States that handle some materials regulation, interactions are limited—urgent matters go through 301-415-7000.
The agency emphasizes that primary safety responsibility lies with licensees, but NRC oversight persists for essentials.
Politically, the impasse shows no signs of breaking.
Republicans, including President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, point fingers at Democrats for refusing to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, while Democrats block funding bills in the Senate.
But GOP members such as Marjorie Taylor Greene is criticizing her own party for the failures.
GOP Rep. Mike Rogers, chair of the House Armed Services Committee, voiced frustration over the NNSA cuts: “These are not employees that you want to go home.
They’re managing and handling a very important strategic asset for us. They need to be at work and being paid.”
Broader shutdown fallout includes disruptions at the Department of Homeland Security, where 176 employees from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have been laid off.
With costs for nuclear modernization projected at $946 billion through 2034, according to a Congressional Budget Office report, any delays could compound budget strains.
one NNSA source put it, “The nuclear stockpile today is reliable.
But if we can’t continue modernization, refurbishing, doing surveillance, then it’s the reliability of the stockpile that’s affected—and it’s going to take time to play catch-up.”
Marco Rubio Says UAP Activity Has Spiked at Nuclear Sites
There is further speculation that suggests the lingering shutdown may be tied to recent reports of heightened UAP activity at nuclear sites.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly confirmed what whistleblowers and declassified reports have whispered for decades: unidentified objects are repeatedly breaching the skies above America’s most sensitive nuclear facilities.
“We’ve had repeated instances of something operating in the airspace over restricted nuclear facilities — and it’s not ours,” he stated.
He doubles down on the urgency, stating, “And we don’t know whose it is. That alone deserves inquiry, deserves attention, deserves focus.”
For now, both the NNSA and NRC are hanging on by a thread, underscoring how political gridlock in Washington can jeopardize national security and public safety.
When funding returns, restarting won’t be simple—it’s more like carefully reassembling a puzzle with high-stakes pieces.
Also Read: Republicans Face Growing Backlash as Voters Blame Them for Govt. Shutdown
