High explosives in stockpile surveillance indicate constancy

TL;DRAbstract

Although stockpile evaluation is not new, methods and tests have undergone marked changes since the program`s inception almost four decades ago. Today Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia National Laboratories are responsible for the extensive and rigorous tests to evaluate the portions and components of the stockpile weapons that each has designed. An overview of Livermore high-explosives tests of components in nuclear stockpile weapons illustrates the degree of assurance that the laboratories worked toward. Evaluation includes tests for changes in physical properties, mechanical properties with tensile and compression tests, and performance with pin-dome, {open_quotes}snowball{close_quotes}, and aging tests. Looking toward the future, the program is working to improve predictive capabilities so that weapons designed at Livermore can safely be stored and work exactly as intended throughout their stockpile life.

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