WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today released its most recent quarterly summary of experiments [1] conducted as part of its science-based stockpile stewardship program.
The U.S. Stockpile Stewardship Program is a robust program of scientific inquiry used to sustain and assess the nuclear weapons stockpile without the use of underground nuclear tests. The experiments carried out within the program are used in combination with complex computational models and NNSA’s Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Program [2] to assess the safety, security and effectiveness of the stockpile. An extraordinary set of science, technology and engineering (ST&E) facilities have been established in support of the stockpile stewardship program.
The quarterly summary prepared by NNSA’s Office of Defense Programs [3] provides descriptions of key NNSA facilities that conduct stockpile stewardship experiments. These include some of the most sophisticated scientific research facilities in the world. These include, for example, the Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test [4] (DARHT) facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Ignition Facility [5] (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Z machine [6] at Sandia National Laboratories. The summary also provides the number of experiments performed at each facility during each quarter of the fiscal year.
To view a copy of the summary, visit NNSA’s Managing the Stockpile [1] webpage at http://nnsa.energy.gov/ourmission/managingthestockpile [7].
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Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science in the nation’s national security enterprise. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; reduces the global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad.
