Disarmament Diplomacy
Issue No. 42, December 1999
US Review of Nuclear Stockpile Stewardship Programme
Editor's note: this report is derived from a US Department
of Energy (DoE) press release:
On December 10, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced the
results of a major internal review of the US Stockpile Stewardship
Program (SSP) designed to maintain the condition of US nuclear
weapons. The review concluded, in the words of a DoE press release,
"that the
program, which began in 1993, is sound and developing the
science, technology, and production capabilities needed to maintain
the long-term safety, security and reliability of the nation's
existing nuclear weapons without nuclear weapons." In Richardson's
assessment: "The Stockpile Stewardship Program is a cornerstone of
our national security, and this review confirms that it is
successfully keeping our nuclear deterrent strong, and the American
people safe. Every year we've seen important advances in the
science and capabilities needed to maintain these weapons without
nuclear testing, and we believe this progress will continue."
The Department's detailed summary of the review follows:
"The principal finding of the review is that stockpile
stewardship works, both in terms of specific science, surveillance,
and production accomplishments and in terms of developing a program
management structure that integrates the span of program
activities. In science, the program is providing the data to
validate advanced nuclear weapons simulation codes. In
surveillance, the program is developing the chemical, analytical
and materials science tools to anticipate and assess the aging of
stockpile components. In production, the nation is restoring its
capacity to produce nuclear weapons components to replace aging
parts in the enduring nuclear stockpile. The review also concludes
that the management and program organization is working to
articulate mission goals, integrate program functions and
coordinate the span of activities necessary to maintain a strong
nuclear deterrent. Thus the program is working today, as evidenced
by three certification cycles, and is structured to sustain this
long into the future.
Examples of specific accomplishments cited in the report
include, having:
- completed three annual certifications of the stockpile, which
resulted in no requirement for underground nuclear testing;
- delivered refurbished W-87 Peacekeeper warheads to the
Department of Defense;
- developed, certified, produced, and fielded the B61-11,
replacing the less safe B53 bomb;
- started production of new, replacement neutron generators, a
component of all nuclear weapons;
- re-established pit production capability at Los Alamos;
- started exhaustive life extension studies for the W76 Trident
missile warhead and W80 strategic cruise missile warhead;
- assured a new source of tritium, a radioactive gas in nuclear
weapons that must be replaced periodically; and
- performed subcritical experiments that have provided key data
on aging plutonium.
The review's findings will be used to help shape future decisions
in the program and prioritise investments, schedules and resources.
In particular the review emphasizes the need for greater
investments in people to assure capability and stability at the
production plants and the research environment at the laboratories.
The review also identified the need for the Department of Defense
and the Department of Energy to refine its process for determining
the scheduling of stockpile refurbishments over the next several
decades to take into consideration military, human and budgetary
needs. These needs are not driven by the ban on nuclear tests.
Secretary Richardson has ordered implementation of the 15
specific actions that emerge from the report's findings, including
actions to:
- define the workforce needs to meet the next decade's major life
extension work;
- place stronger emphasis on longer term investments in
exploratory science that are necessary to assure that we have the
necessary scientific foundation for the future and to attract and
retain the next generation of scientists;
- recapitalize the weapons complex to update machinery and
equipment that will be needed for weapons refurbishment;
- establish a Requirements Assessment and Implementation Team in
consultation with the Department of Defense to match military
requirements to financial, facility, and human resource
levels;
- develop an overall defense plutonium strategy;
- support restoration of Laboratory Director Research and
Development funding to six percent and establish a
- similar mechanism at the production plants in order to provide
the scientific, engineering and manufacturing base for the next
generation of stockpile stewardship; and
- create an advisory committee for the Office of Defense
Programs; and
- improve cooperation opportunities for cross cutting work among
the sites in the weapons complex. …"
Secretary Richardson ordered the review in October. It was chaired
by the Under Secretary of Energy, Dr Ernest J Moniz, and engaged an
external group of senior technical advisors with long experience in
the nation's national security programmes. The review's scope
included the health and status of the nuclear weapons complex; and
the status of recruitment, retention and training of top scientists
and engineers needed to sustain stockpile stewardship. A copy of
the review can be found on the World Wide Web; the URL address is
http://www.dp.doe.gov/.
Report: Review concludes Stockpile Stewardship
works, US Energy Department Press Release R-99-323, December
10.
© 2000 The Acronym Institute.
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