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

• Provided input for the annual assessment and Technical Basis Stockpile Transformation Planning on
components and material aging for each weapon system;
• Developed next generation component and material evaluation capabilities for additional weapon
component surveillance.
• Developed and validated nominal, high and low performance models for each device in B61 Firing
Set (these models allow simulations of variability in the firing set with temperature tracking allowing
simulation throughout the B61 Stockpile-to-Target Sequence (STS) temperature environment);
• Completed Quantification of Margins and Uncertainties-based lifetime assessment for the W88 NEP;
• Improved component aging models for CSAs, polymers, high explosives (HE), and initiation systems
were developed or used to support lifetime assessments, and the initial framework to incorporate
aging signatures into quantitative predictive models for assessing uncertainties was developed;
• Initiated development of robust failure criteria for CSA materials;
• Completed material outgassing with x-ray and neutron radiation;
• Completed final report on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ProFiler for surveillance of select silicon pad
and cushion; and
• Developed methodology for ultrasonic inspection of reservoir for W76-0.
Major Outyear Priorities and Assumptions
The outyear requirements for the Engineering Campaign total $652,458,000 for FY 2013 through
FY 2016. With the upcoming LEPs, an opportunity exists to improve the safety, security, and use
control of the stockpile as well as its reliability and performance through the application of modern
technologies and advanced materials. Before this can occur it is important to understand both how
materials perform and the impact of material aging through application of advanced capabilities
developed in the enhanced surveillance subprogram. Outyear funding will partially recoup a previous
delay in completion of QASPR and restore funding for all other nuclear survivability assessment
capability modernization. Outyear funding will also support the need for additional experiments to
validate qualification tools; subsystem engineering model validation experiments; accelerating the
maturation of surety technologies; and developing, assessing, and validating aging impacts of new
technologies in support of future LEP and weapon alterations. In accordance with the 2010 Nuclear
Posture Review Report, the Engineering Campaign will support a “full scope life extension, including
surety – safety, security, and use control – enhancements, for the B61 nuclear bomb” as well as support
the “study of LEP options for the W-78 ICBM warhead, including the possibility of using the resulting
warhead also on SLBMs to reduce the number of warhead types.”
Weapons Activities/
Engineering Campaign Page 97
FY 2012 Congressional Budget