A publication of the Advanced Simulation & Computing Division, NA-121.2, NNSA Defense Programs
March 2009
NA-ASC-500-09—Issue 10
Return to this issue’s stories
The Meisner Minute
… ASC now plays the central integrating role previously performed by nuclear tests, and is the only arena in which all aspects of the program are tested together.—Defense Science Board Task Force on the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Strategic Plan for Advanced Computing, January 2, 2009
Our newsletter this month focuses on the variety of contributions by ASC to national defense. This is a timely theme and it has been echoed in several external studies that have been completed in the past few months (including the one cited above). A recent demonstration of the central role of ASC is that the first refurbished W76 nuclear warhead has been accepted into the U.S. nuclear weapon stockpile by the Navy, culminating a ten-year effort that made extensive use of ASC-provided simulations and computing http://nnsa.energy.gov/news/2286.htm
Hostile shock testing of the W76-1 at Sandia National Laboratories
This is a major accomplishment for the weapons program and points to the critical importance of science and technology in national defense.
The ASC codes and capabilities are also used to inform decisions made by the plants on safety and efficiency of their processes. For example, the managers of the Pantex cells, where nuclear weapons are dismantled and examined, use ASC tools to determine safe levels for the material density in their cells as well as to examine safe ways to clamp the weapons for examination.
A strong science technology & engineering (ST&E) capability contributes to saving money in the operation of the plants by optimizing production and manufacturing processes. An example is using ASC simulation tools to reduce the costs of neutron generator tube production and qualification by reducing the number of costly neutron generator (NG) prototypes that are built en route to a final NG design.
Our contributions extend beyond the immediate benefits to the nuclear weapons program as acknowledged in the following excerpt:
The Department of Energy’s laboratory system provides invaluable support to the nation … the system is the wellspring of the talent and tools needed to address a multitude of national problems, such as nonproliferation research, nuclear threat reduction, nuclear forensics, bioterrorism defense, missile defense, countering improvised explosive devices, nuclear energy, and alternative energy options.—Interim Report of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, December 11, 2008
The ability of the science base of the national laboratories to contribute to national security is a major theme for NNSA for the future and one that we have been developing over the past two years as the Administrator’s “Focus Area 4” effort. The acceptance of this broadened mission by the NNSA and the Defense Laboratories has already resulted in an MOU with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and I expect that as we move forward over the next several years, it will become an increasingly important part of our workload.
I am heartened by the acknowledgement of our value by the external community and appreciate the dedication of those responsible, in both direct and supporting roles, for the technical work lauded in these studies.
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