Los
Angeles Times: A decade-long effort to refurbish thousands
of aging nuclear warheads built more than 20-years-ago has run
into serious technical problems that have forced delays.
The $200-million-a-year refurbishment program involves a type
of warhead known as the
W76, which is
used on the Navy's Trident missile system and makes up more
than half of the deployed warheads in the US stockpile.In
February, the Energy department's
National Nuclear Security
Administration announced that the "first refurbished W76
nuclear warhead had been accepted into the US nuclear weapons
stockpile by the Navy."But no delivery was ever made. The
warhead is still in pieces at the
Energy Department's Pantex
plant in Amarillo, Texas, according to an engineer at the
facility.The hold-up in deploying the warhead is not connected
to any missing expertise regarding how to build a nuclear
device, but how to manufacture one of the other warhead
components. Delays in the program could extend the
refurbishment program by another 10 years.
The $200-million-a-year refurbishment program involves a type
of warhead known as the
W76, which is
used on the Navy's Trident missile system and makes up more
than half of the deployed warheads in the US stockpile.In
February, the Energy department's
National Nuclear Security
Administration announced that the "first refurbished W76
nuclear warhead had been accepted into the US nuclear weapons
stockpile by the Navy."But no delivery was ever made. The
warhead is still in pieces at the
Energy Department's Pantex
plant in Amarillo, Texas, according to an engineer at the
facility.The hold-up in deploying the warhead is not connected
to any missing expertise regarding how to build a nuclear
device, but how to manufacture one of the other warhead
components. Delays in the program could extend the
refurbishment program by another 10 years.
