| Title | Researchers Successfully Execute Experiment To Support U.S. Stockpile Modernization Efforts | |
| Date | Tuesday August 02 2022, @08:20PM | |
| Author | hubie | |
| Topic | ||
| from the where's-the-kaboom? dept. | ||
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
A multi-institutional team of researchers and collaborators successfully executed an integrated vessel confinement system (VCS) experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), as part of an experimental campaign to study how nuclear materials react to high explosives without conducting a traditional nuclear test.
The experiment—dubbed Miramar—was an extensive collaboration across LLNL, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the United Kingdom's Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). It is a major milestone in an upcoming subcritical experiment series, named "Nimble." The Nimble series is designed to remain below the threshold of nuclear criticality in accordance with the U.S. commitment not to return to nuclear explosive testing. The Nimble series will play a key role in assessing the safety, security and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, as well as providing data crucial to certifying that modernized warheads will perform as expected.
Miramar is the penultimate dress rehearsal experiment leading up to the Nimble series at NNSS's underground U1a facility in Nevada. The experiment will help ensure that there will not be vessel confinement or data-return surprises when the Nimble experiments are conducted in U1a. This was a fully integrated test, meaning that all components of the vessel and confinement system were in place, as well as diagnostic and experimental components, using relevant materials.
[...] "Completion of this experiment provides the information and confidence necessary to move forward with upcoming activities and experiments in the Nimble series," Najjar said. "Overall, Miramar was a very successful experiment with excellent data return and allowed the team to evaluate and verify procedures in preparation for fielding and execution of the subcritical experiments at U1a."
It isn't necessarily easy testing the stability of things designed to blow up without blowing them up.
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printed from SoylentNews, Researchers Successfully Execute Experiment To Support U.S. Stockpile Modernization Efforts on 2024-04-25 16:24:45