Sandia News

Nuclear weapons security


Nuclear weapon accident-incident exercise-11 was conducted Nov. 6-9, 2010, at the US Navy submarine base in Kings Bay, Ga., and naval air station in Jacksonville, Fla. The focus of this exercise was response to “loss-of-control” involving US nuclear weapons and subsequent recovery and render-safe operations. The exercise involved 1,800 participants from DOE/NNSA, DoD, DOJ, and a variety of local, state, and federal agencies. Sandia deployed 18 responders to the field locations, 36 home-team personnel, and 10 exercise controllers. (2900, 5400) NW

The Integrated Surety Solutions (ISS) project team completed a demonstration of a security upgrade concept for weapons in the SafeGuards Transporter (SGT) environment known as the Transportation Attachment Device (TAD). This demonstration capped the successful completion of one of NNSA’s “Getting the Job Done” milestones. In addition to this milestone, Sandia also partnered with Los Alamos National Laboratory on a more advanced concept for ISS, which was also demonstrated in FY10. (8200, 6400, 2100) NW

Sandia developed the Physical Security Technology Management Plan (PSTMP) and process to revolutionize the way the Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) identifies, deploys, and sustains physical security technologies. The plan includes supporting rationale for physical security technology-related budget requests in annual future years nuclear security program submittals. The PSTMP highlights the significant work NNSA has completed to implement physical security technologies at its sites, while improving security by consolidating special nuclear material at fewer locations. This work was selected for a Defense Program Award for Excellence. (6600) ECIS

Internal Audit performed a Nuclear Safety Culture Assessment of Sandia’s Annular Core Research Reactor at the request of Nuclear Facilities and Applied Technology management. The assessment, an outgrowth of Internal Audit’s Nuclear Operations and Maintenance Assessment Program, tackled the difficult problem of evaluating ACRR’s safety culture, which in turn shapes behaviors. Relying on safety culture principles developed by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, the assessment team provided recommendations to ACRR management, which can be extended beyond the ACRR to the entire Labs’ safety culture. (00800) NW, IES


Each citation is followed by the center numbers of centers that contributed most directly to the effort described. An acronym after each accomplishment indicates which of Sandia’s strategic management units (SMUs) or strategic management groups (SMGs) the work most directly supported.

The SMG/SMU acronyms are:

  • NW: Nuclear Weapons SMG & SMU
  • DS & A: Defense Systems & Assessments SMU
  • IHNS: International, Homeland, and Nuclear Security SMU
  • ECIS: Energy, Climate, and Infrastructure SMU
  • IES: Integrated Enabling Services SMU
  • SPP: Sandia Partnership Projects