Nuclear Weapons Program, cont.
Strategic objectives
Despite this time of changes within
the nuclear weapons complex, Sandia continues to have
responsibilities to sustain the nation’s
stockpile and nuclear deterrent. With
more than 60 years’ experience in
developing and designing the nonnuclear
components and subsystems
of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, Sandia
ready to continue to provide answers
the challenges of the nation’s nuclear
enterprise.
Woodard and her strategic management
group are addressing the evolving
challenges by seeking to achieve
number of strategic objectives:
- Continue to ensure a credible nuclear
stockpile for the nation while, at the
same time
- improving our science-based stockpile
evaluation techniques and
- creating a Common Adaptable
System Architecture, making use
microsystems and other advanced
technologies for the transformed
stockpile.
- Achieve a transformed nuclear
weapons enterprise by leading in
production of nonnuclear systems
with demonstrated performance at
lower cost.
- Assure safe weapon response in all
environments at all times, without
exception, with absolute control and
no compromise in reliability.
- With Sandia’s Science, Technology,
and Engineering business unit, accelerate engineering and
innovation by integrated
application of simulation,
scientific understanding,
experiment, and test.
Transforming the stockpile
An ideal future vision for policy makers overseeing
the U.S. stockpile would include transformation
to modular, adaptive designs, improved
integration with new weapons delivery
platforms and new mission capabilities,
robust reliability margins, integrated
surety features, and reduced life-cycle
costs. But while those goals are being
addressed, there is an overriding need
to ensure that the existing stockpile continues
to be safe, secure, reliable, and
capable of meeting its requirements.
Science-Based Engineering is a
concept that brings together the fundamental
science, computer models,
and experimental facilities needed to
understand, predict, and verify weapons
systems performance. Without underground
testing, Science-Based Engineering
is critical to the continuing qualification
of nuclear weapons.
