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S&TR March 2012 6 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory S&TR March 2012 Extending the Life of an Aging Weapon 6 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory S&TR March 2012 W78 Life-Extension Program Extending the Life of an Aging Weapon Stockpile stewards By law, the directors of the NNSA the warhead’s nonnuclear components. weapons laboratories—Lawrence The announcement was made in a letter Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia— from Don Cook, deputy administrator for modernize the W78 provide the secretaries of Energy and NNSA’s Defense Programs. Defense with an annual assessment of the The W78 is used on U.S. Air Force stockpile. Confidence in these assessments Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic warhead for the depends on the laboratories’ abilities to missiles (ICBMs). The Mark 12A reentry evaluate the inevitable changes that occur vehicle encloses the warhead to protect nation’s land-based inside nuclear weapons as they age and it from heat as it speeds through the to effectively deal with any safety or atmosphere. A team of about 30 Livermore performance issues that may arise from physicists, engineers, and chemists are intercontinental ballistic those changes. Stockpile stewardship working on an options study in what is activities enhance understanding of currently planned to be a 10-year effort to nuclear weapons and ensure their safety extend the W78’s service life for another missiles. and performance through a combination 30 years. of theoretical advances, nonnuclear In Congressional testimony in 2011, experiments, supercomputer simulations, Laboratory Director George Miller (now OLLOWING the end of the Cold and stockpile surveillance. When retired) underscored the importance of FWar, the U.S. discontinued design and necessary, life-extension programs (LEPs) the W78 LEP, saying, “The role of any development of new nuclear warheads and are approved to prolong the service life of Life Extension Program is to fix issues halted underground nuclear experiments. an aging warhead and enhance its safety that impact—or will soon impact— In place of underground testing, the and security. overall system effectiveness and take National Nuclear Security Administration LEPs address issues discovered through actions that will extend the stockpile life. (NNSA) pursues stockpile stewardship, routine surveillance and annual stockpile Failure to address these issues can have a comprehensive set of scientific and assessments. Nuclear weapon components immediate and drastic consequences for engineering activities focused on ensuring are made from various materials including the viability of the deterrent our national that existing U.S. warheads remain high explosives, steel, plutonium, uranium, security strategy relies on. In particular, reliable, secure, and safe. and plastics. Over decades, plastics can it is imperative that we begin the study of break down, metals corrode, and coatings options for refurbishing the W78 warhead deteriorate. A material’s properties may to address evolving issues identified in the The life-extension program (LEP) for the W78 change unpredictably in response to high annual assessment of this weapon system.” warhead (above left) will evaluate options for radiation fields, fluctuating temperatures, “When the W78 was added to the refurbishing the nuclear weapon to address and other environmental conditions to stockpile in 1979, no one anticipated it issues identified with aging components. The which stockpile components are subjected. would not have been replaced 33 years U.S. Air Force deploys the W78 warhead in its In July 2010, NNSA designated later,” says physicist Hank O’Brien, Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles Lawrence Livermore the lead nuclear who leads the W78 LEP for Livermore’s (ICBMs), which are dispersed in hardened silos design laboratory to conduct an LEP on Weapons and Complex Integration (left) to protect against attack. (Courtesy of the Los Alamos–designed W78 warhead, Principal Directorate. “We are seeing Department of Defense.) with Sandia, California, responsible for signs of aging among W78 components, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 7 W78 Life-Extension Program S&TR March 2012 although these changes have yet to impact Y-12 National Security Complex, Kansas system reliability. It is important to start City Plant, Pantex Plant, Savannah River the LEP process to prevent this aging issue Site, and Sandia, New Mexico) as they from becoming a real problem.” assess the manufacturability of options for The W78 will be the fourth nuclear components and systems. In particular, weapon system to undergo refurbishment. they want to identify manufacturing In 2004, Lawrence Livermore successfully processes that reduce waste and do not use completed NNSA’s first LEP, refurbishing hazardous materials. the W87. That effort enhanced the A Project Officers Group, with structural integrity of the warhead and representatives from the Department of extended its life by 30 years. For the Defense, NNSA, Livermore, Sandia, and W87, Livermore and Sandia scientists Los Alamos, meets regularly to assess and engineers developed and certified progress. At the conclusion of phase 6.1, the engineering design and worked Livermore managers will present the closely with NNSA production facilities recommended LEP options to this group. to ensure a cost-effective design and “We are thoroughly analyzing all options ease of manufacture. The W87 effort has to present decision makers with low-risk, served as a model for subsequent LEPs, cost-efficient alternatives,” says O’Brien. including two being conducted by Los “Our findings and recommendations Alamos: the W76 warhead used in Trident are based solely on our best technical II submarine-launched ballistic missiles assessments of cost, risk, and ability to (SLBMs) and the B61 family of nuclear meet stockpile goals.” bombs. (See the table on p. 9.) According to O’Brien, U.S. government LEPs progress through a series policy requires LEP design teams to of phases labeled 6.X. Phase 6.1 is a consider options for refurbishing the concept study, during which scientists existing design, reusing components and engineers explore options, reviewing from other stockpiled designs, and each one’s performance characteristics, implementing nuclear-test-based designs manufacturing issues, and technical that are not in the current stockpile. The challenges; expected improvements Department of Defense also requires LEP in performance margins, safety, and studies to identify and assess options security; and long-term maintenance and that improve safety and security features surveillance requirements. Livermore and that make the warhead adaptable for stockpile stewards expect the W78’s deployment on SLBMs as well as ICBMs. 6.1 phase to conclude this year. It will No new military capabilities or missions then be followed by three phases: option are required. Among the suite of options selection and detailed design and cost identified, the stockpile component reuse studies (6.2), development engineering designs show the most promise to address (6.3), and production engineering (6.4). the LEP requirements cost-effectively and First production of the modified warheads with high confidence in performance. (phase 6.5) is scheduled to begin about 2023, followed by full-scale production Looking to Increase Confidence (phase 6.6). A modern nuclear explosive package As part of phase 6.1, Livermore and includes nuclear and nonnuclear Sandia researchers are working with components that comprise a primary NNSA production agencies (Los Alamos, explosive device and a secondary, both enclosed within a case to confine radiation The Minuteman III ICBM, shown in a flight from the primary explosion. Among test, contains the W78 warhead. (Courtesy of the options being considered as part of Department of Defense.) phase 6.1, designers for the primary and 8 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory S&TR March 2012 W78 Life-Extension Program secondary are examining ways to increase warhead so it can be adapted to multiple To that end, Livermore engineers are confidence that the weapon will reliably delivery platforms, which would provide working on an advanced mechanical safe achieve its predicted energy release, or a cost-effective hedge against future arming detonator (MSAD). This intricate nuclear yield. problems in the stockpile. nuclear safety component prevents accidental A primary is typically a shell of fissile Many safety and security options or unintended detonation of a warhead. material—called the pit—that is imploded ready for deployment on the W78 are MSADs protect nuclear weapons by by a surrounding layer of chemical high based on results from past nuclear tests. preventing an outside source from using the explosive (HE). Options that entail changes Some features would provide enhanced weapon detonators to successfully ignite the to the weapon’s primary to increase protection from fire, while others would IHE main charge. The miniature notches on confidence in performance make it guard against unauthorized use and attack. an MSAD pattern wheel encode a signal set possible to accommodate insensitive high One safety option being evaluated is a that must be received for the weapon to be explosives (IHEs) and other safety and method to better ensure that the firing operable. This unique signal set ensures that security components to meet U.S. Air Force system commences only when an elaborate naturally occurring signals or an improper requirements. However, says O’Brien, sequence of events takes place. input cannot cause the weapon to function.
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