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

3. Baseline and Validation Status
TEC, TEC,
OPC OPC,
FY 2009
PED
6,883 3
Construction TEC , Total
7,700 44,583
Except D&D
7,500
D&D OPC,
455
Total
7,955
TPC
52,538
FY 2012 6,883 42,804 49,687 7,660 462 8,122 57,809
Project Description
4. Project Description, Justification, and Scope
Phase II of the Test Capabilities Revitalization (TCR) project will revitalize the NNSA aged and
deteriorated normal and abnormal mechanical environment test capabilities at Sandia National
Laboratories (SNL) and enable an integrated experimental strategy to develop, validate, and apply
models required to perform weapon system qualifications and development activities. The facilities to
be revitalized are needed to perform nuclear weapon component, subsystem, and system-level design,
development, qualification, surveillance, significant finding investigations, and model development and
validation experimentation and testing.
Project Justification
The existing test capabilities are inadequate to reliably support mission requirements. Without
revitalization, individual test capabilities will be lost. Absent these laboratories and test instrumentation
enhancements, the Modeling and Simulation approach to design, development, and qualification will not
be achieved. Finally, Sandia will not attract the high quality test engineers and scientists needed to meet
NNSA’s stockpile stewardship obligations without improved test facilities.
A study conducted in 2000 found that nearly 90 percent of the SNL test equipment and facilities being
upgraded through the TCR project were inadequate or marginal, and only 11 percent were adequate to
meet mission requirements. Conditions have worsened since this study and multiple system failures
have delayed defense program testing and increased program expenses to make temporary repairs.
The TCR-II mission needs are driven by three overarching and equally important requirements. The
first requirement is to maintain the existing stockpile as defined in the current Nuclear Weapons
Stockpile Memorandum. This encompasses all maintenance and stockpile surveillance activities, as well
as Significant Finding Investigations.
The second requirement is to maintain a capability to support Phase 6.2 and 6.3 LEP development
efforts that result in weapon system life extensions, modifications or alterations. The test capability
needs arising from these two overarching requirements are to support weapon design and development
efforts at Sandia and to maintain the ability to qualify weapons to the Military Characteristics (MCs) and
Stockpile-to-Target Sequence (STS). The third requirement driving Sandia test capabilities is the need
to develop and validate weapon-related models. Sandia has embarked on a comprehensive modeling
and simulation effort under the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Campaign. To be
successful, this campaign requires significant test support to aid the development, validation, and
application of models.
Weapons Activities/RTBF/Construction
09-D-404, Test Capabilities Revitalization-Phase II, SNL Page 194
FY 2012 Congressional Budget