Amid heated opposition from critics of nuclear proliferation, the National Nuclear Security Administration has chosen a design submitted by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for its Reliable Replacement Warhead.
The NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency responsible for national security through the application of nuclear energy. The Reliable Replacement Warhead is a proposed replacement for existing nuclear warheads with emphasis on better materials, longevity and the elimination of underground testing, according to the NNSA Web site.
Scientists of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory are forecasting that the first warhead may be ready by 2012.
The warhead has been the target of a year-long design competition between the government’s two elite nuclear weapons labs at Lawrence Livermore and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, both of which are co-managed by the University of California.
But controversy rages around the issues of what message this sends to other nations and whether the United State’s current nuclear stockpile is sufficient.
Those in opposition to the warhead hold that it sends a bad signal to the world by creating a new warhead during a time in which the U.S. is trying to truncate nuclear development in North Korea and Iran ““ though it is branded as a simple replacement for the current warheads.
“It is a bad idea to move forward with the Reliable Replacement Warhead because the existing warhead is good for another 30 years. It is now 15 years after the Cold War. It is important to de-emphasize nuclear weapons while the Bush administration is going in the opposite direction,” said John Isaacs, executive director for the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation.
The Lawrence Livermore model was chosen largely because it incorporates improved technology, eliminating the necessity of underground nuclear testing, according to the NNSA Web site.
The NNSA said in a statement that the warhead will be cheaper to maintain, safer in terms of materials that are harmful to people and the environment, safer in the prevention of accidental detonation, and safer due to the elimination of underground testing.
Many of the warheads in the U.S. stockpile were developed 40 years ago, and their components are decomposing by means scientists do not understand. Billions of dollars are spent each year tending to the outdated stockpile.
“This isn’t going to be better or worse. We are just trying to update the stockpile, and make sure that the weapons are regulated in a cheaper way with better technology, so that they do not deteriorate,” said NNSA spokesman Bryan Wilkes.
Steve Henry, deputy assistant to the Secretary of Defense for nuclear matters, said the new design is aimed at reducing the number of warheads. There are an estimated 6,000 warheads deployed and another 4,000 in store, and the administration is aiming to reduce that to 2,000.
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek, said in a statement that she believes the Reliable Replacement Warhead will not conflict with hopes of decreasing the stockpile.
“Neither the mission, yield nor delivery platform has or will change. Instead we will replace or upgrade components that increase the safety, security, reliability and certifiability of an existing weapon, with a commitment not to test,” she said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.