According to Reuters, US "Political News Network" and other media reports, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on the 17th that due to the government "stop", the key agency responsible for managing U.S. nuclear weapons reserves - the 1,400 employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration under the U.S. Department of Energy will be forcibly dismissed, accounting for about 80% of the agency's total number, the U.S. nuclear weapons modernization program may be affected.

Reuters said Wright posted on social platform X that day that the mandatory leave would affect employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration, who are "crucial to the modernization of the U.S. nuclear arsenal."

In an interview with Bloomberg, Wright said the agency would not allow emergency workers vacation, but that nuclear weapons modernization programs aimed at replacing old weapons could be affected.

¡°We¡¯ve just made progress [on the plan],¡± Wright said, ¡°it¡¯s useless to let everyone go on unpaid leave and not work.¡±

The National Nuclear Safety Administration (NSA) staff oversees approximately 60,000 contractors who are responsible for nuclear weapons maintenance and testing in national laboratories and other locations across the United States. Wright said in an interview with The Washington Post that tens of thousands of contractors could be dismissed as the government¡¯s ¡°stop¡± lasted 17 days, in addition to the agency¡¯s employees being forced to leave.

The report mentioned that the U.S. Department of Energy said that Wright will visit the Nevada nuclear test site on the 20th to discuss the impact of the government's "shutdown" on the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

A notice obtained by U.S. media local time on 17 November indicates that the vast majority of the NSA civilian staff will be forcibly dismissed and another 375 employees will continue to work because the available funds will be exhausted on 18 June. House Military Committee Chairman, Republican Mike Rogers and Republican leadership on 17 January accused Democrats of blocking the Republican-backed provisional allocation bill, leading the NSA to ¡°denial 80 percent of its staff¡±.

The U.S. Nuclear Safety Administration does not directly operate U.S. nuclear weapons (the responsibility is assumed by the Pentagon), but it is responsible forining and updating nuclear warheads, overseeing Navy nuclear propulsion systems, and managing anti-proliferation programs, which are key components of U.S. nuclear capabilities.