Nuclear Weapons Annual Assessment Of The Safety Performance Reliability Of The Nations Stockpile PDF Download

In response to changes in the international climate in the late 1980s, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Defense Programs altered its mission. Instead of designing, testing, and building new nuclear weapons, the Office's current mission-known as the Stockpile Stewardship Program-is to maintain the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile indefinitely without nuclear testing. The Office now performs this mission as part of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semiautonomous agency within DOE. Because the nation's existing nuclear weapons are anticipated to remain in the stockpile well beyond the expected life of their original design, one of the Office's key tasks will be to refurbish each of the nine weapon types through a comprehensive stockpile life extension program. To accomplish this task, the Office of Defense Programs will have to (1) determine which components will need refurbishing to extend each weapon's life; (2) design and produce the necessary refurbished components; (3) install the components in the weapons; and (4) certify that the changes do not adversely affect the safety and reliability of the stockpile. This program will require a coordinated effort among the design laboratories and production facilities that comprise the nation's nuclear weapons complex.