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March 08 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine
My View
Joe Martz, Thoughts on complex transformation
Editor's note: The National Nuclear Security Administration recently
announced its proposed plan for the transformation of the nation’s
nuclear weapons complex that calls for a "nuclear weapons infrastructure
that is smaller, safer, more secure, and more cost effective." In the following,
Joe Martz, the nuclear weapons program director in the Principal
Associate Director for Weapons Programs, shares some of his thoughts on
the proposed complex transformation with Currents. Photo: LeRoy N. Sanchez
Currents: How do you see
stockpile stewardship evolving and
relating to complex transformation?
Martz: I was raised in Los
Alamos, and it is really the whole
reason I came back after college. My
senior year of high school in 1983
also was the 40th anniversary of the
Laboratory.
There was a reunion of
Manhattan Project scientists, and
many of the great names of 20th
century science had come back to
Los Alamos—Richard Feynman, I.I.
Rabi, Edward Teller, Hans Bethe.
I
was one of about 30 science-minded
kids who were invited to three days
of talks.
The one I'll never forget
came from Hans Bethe. He talked
about how stars die, the physics of
supernovas.
Then he talked about the obligation
that his generation had created, and
he said to us, "It is up to your generation
to find a way out of this problem
that we created—nuclear weapons."
I believe there now exists a means to
protect our national security while
lessening the cost of nuclear deterrence,
and the Laboratory sits at the
heart of that means. It's the idea of a
capability-based deterrent.
Currents: What do you mean
by a "capability-based deterrent?"
Martz: If we are extremely
competent and demonstrate the
capability to reconstitute nuclear
weapons, convincing both allies
and adversaries that the capability is
assured and agile—that capability in
and of itself becomes a component
of deterrence. It's a compelling idea.
Our security rests not so much on
the products of our work, but on our
work itself.
Currents: What do you see as
the most important factors in achieving
complex transformation?
Martz: Transformation of the
complex comes down to one key
thing: timing. If you're going to rely
on capability to protect your security,
you have to be so agile that no
adversary can surprise you. That
means that timing counts, months
and years matter. Being able to do
what's required in 12 to 14 months
compared to three years makes a big
difference.
Currents: Does that kind of
agility exist today?
Martz: Some of it does. A good
example took place during the Reliable
Replacement Warhead competition.
The typical historic weapons
hydrodynamic test took between 18
and 24 months, with existing designs
and parts. During RRW, from the time
we conceived the design to the time
we were ready to conduct the first
hydrodynamic test was less than 12
months. That is a direct demonstration
of the agility needed in complex
transformation.
Currents: Do you think
complex transformation also might
enable non-weapons science?
Martz: Yes. One example is
MaRIE. The development of this new
fundamental science facility, Matter
Radiation Interactions in Extremes,
will bring to bear experimental tools
that will allow us to measure areas
where in the past we were just taking
a pretty good guess.
Currents: On a personal note,
what do you consider to be one of
your main contributions to science?
Martz: No one accomplishes
any important element of their career
alone. There is nothing I've done
that I can say I did by myself. The
successes that I've been part of have
all come about because I've been
able to work with some of the best
and brightest people at the Laboratory
throughout my career. I've been
part of incredible teams conducting
the Octave test series, the RRW
competition, bringing pit surveillance
to Los Alamos, and many others.
Seeing and appreciating the genius
of John Pedicini's incredible ideas in
RRW was probably the highlight.
"I believe there
now exists a means
to protect our
national security while
lessening the cost of
nuclear deterrence,
and the Laboratory sits
at the heart of
that means. It's the
idea of a capabilitybased
deterrent."
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Issues
Public Hearings
Public hearings
on draft Complex
Transformation SPEIS
The National Nuclear Security
Administration is holding public
hearing at locations across the
country on the draft complex
transformation Supplemental
Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement (SPEIS).
NNSA officials will be available
to discuss the draft and answer
questions. The public also will
have an opportunity to provide
oral and written comments. Five
public hearings are scheduled
in four New Mexico cities—
Socorro, Albuquerque, Los Alamos,
Santa Fe, and Española.
For dates and
times, go online to http://www.
complextransformationspeis.com/
news.html.
NNSA distributed
more than 2,000 copies of the draft
SPEIS, and the public has until
April 10 to review and provide
comments.
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