ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The federal agency that oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons cache and key deterrence initiatives around the globe will name its new facility in Albuquerque after a retired Air Force general who was the agency’s first administrator.
The facility now under construction will be named after Gen. John A Gordon, who died April 19, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s current leader announced Friday.
NNSA Administrator Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, who is also the Department of Energy’s under secretary for national security, said the agency continues to build upon the “strong foundation” that Gordon left after serving as the first administrator from 2000 to mid 2002.
The NNSA’s new facility is being built on the southern edge of Albuquerque. It’s scheduled to be occupied in late 2021 by 1,200 NNSA staff members currently working in 25 separate buildings and facilities, some of which were constructed in the 1940s.
After leaving NNSA, Gordon’s final federal leadership position was as President George W. Bush’s homeland security adviser.
Gordon began his career as a physicist at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory and went on to serve in posts with the Air Force Space Command, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council at the White house.
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