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PREDICTION, TESTING, MODELING & SIMULATION
Current Research
Los Alamos applies state of the art science and engineering to conduct
its stockpile stewardship mission. Here are some
of the areas of research we do to ensure that our nation's aging weapons
remain in top shape.
- Aging Materials: The United States has never had a nuclear weapons stockpile as old as it is now, and predicting when parts will need to be replaced is a big challenge.
- Hydrodynamic Testing: Hydrodynamics experiments help scientists develop more realistic models of nuclear weapons explosions.
- Subcritical Testing: Because we can no longer conduct a supercritical nuclear test of an entire weapon, we do subcritical experiments at the Nevada Test Site using small amounts of nuclear material.
- Modeling & Simulation: Big, fast computers and better
computer models of the processes occurring in explosions are needed to predict
the performance of various aspects of nuclear weapons.
See Also:
Modular Neutron Detector
Protection from Airborne Biological Threats
Muon Radiography
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Classified?
The basic scientific ideas that describe a nuclear explosion - critical mass, fission, implosion- are relatively simple.
The specifics of such devices- the necessary amounts of the various materials, the shapes and arrangements of the many components, and the precise timing of events leading up the the explosion-those details are classified "secret restricted data."
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