Department of Energy FY 2012 Congressional ... - The FIRE Place

• Successfully completed and tested at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) a full-size re-entry
vehicle/body (RV/RB) mock-up of the Checkerboard Demonstration Project;
• SNL successfully fabricated and tested a vacuum compatible thermoelectric module for the Tritium
Thermoelectric Generator (TTG);
• Completed six tests of the highest priority surety sensor technology with excellent and predicted
results;
• Completed the first deuterium test load for the TTG heat source vessel; and
• Successfully filled titanium tritide heat source at Savannah River Site and Beginning of Life heat
measurement were as predicted.
Weapons Systems Engineering Assessment Technology
• Collected cell foam validation data, in a geometry relevant to the fireset for the B61;
• Mock assembly for modeling and characterization of high-explosive assembly stress state
characterization was completed and assembly data was collected; and
• Completed assessment of advanced quantitative tracking concept with embedded strong turbulence
mitigation technologies.
Nuclear Survivability
• Implemented the unstructured mesh capability for radiation transport calculations;
• Blind data gathered previously on the Sandia Pulse Reactor-III and at the White Sands Missile Range
Fast Burst Reactor aided in the assessment of Qualification Alternatives to the Sandia Pulse Reactor
(QASPR) results for a prototype silicon circuit; and
• Demonstrated high precision techniques to assess the potential impact on radiation hardness during
overall system lifetime. A spin-off of the R&D was then established as a surveillance protocol now
being conducted on select W76-1 parts.
Enhanced Surveillance
• Demonstrated new capabilities for next system tester (W87) at the Weapons Evaluation Test
Laboratory (WETL);
• Demonstrated the methodology for the estimation of an integrated lifetime of a Nuclear Explosive
Package (NEP) component; in this case a lifetime was established for a W88 primary, advancing our
lifetime estimates beyond the pit lifetimes produced in 2006;
• Completed the development of four diagnostics to TRL 6, including: 1) Schlieren imaging for
detonators, 2) Acoustic Resonance Spectroscopy for pit application, 3) Computer Tomography (CT)
reconstruction and image analysis tools for application to CoLOSSIS and other CT data, and 4)
Nondestructive Laser Gas Sampling system for application to canned sub-assemblies (CSAs);
• Deployed assembly sensors and improvised diagnostic probes on hydrotests to more accurately assess
hydrodynamic behavior;
• Identified a candidate for next-generation x-ray scintillator and fabricated test part at 1-inch scale;
• Tested a prototype in-situ water sensor and briefed the results to the potential user community;
• Submitted S5370 silicone polymer aging model for publication in open literature;
• Demonstrated the preconditioning capability for the W80;
• Developed an age-aware fireset electrical model that included connector and bondpad-bondwire
corrosion, the model was used to predict failure criteria for various degradation nodes;
Weapons Activities/
Engineering Campaign Page 96
FY 2012 Congressional Budget