The United States has finalised a design for a new generation of nuclear warheads in a major step toward construction of the first new atomic weapon since the Cold War with the former Soviet Union came to an end in the early 1990s.
The National Nuclear Security Administration announced the new approved design for replacement of warheads for a portion of the nation's sea-based weapons that will provide a more secure, smaller and safer stockpile.
"The Reliable Replacement Warhead design concept utilizes modern technology that was not available during the Cold War when our nuclear weapons were designed and built. This will permit significant upgrades in safety and security features in the replacement of warhead," said Thomas P D'Agostino, NNSA's acting administrator.
The Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories were selected to develop the RRW and the selected design can be certified without requiring underground nuclear testing.
The selection of the new design comes at a time when the Bush administration is trying to control the nuclear programmes of both Iran and North Korea and critics have been saying that it sends the wrong signals.
"The minute you begin to put more sophisticated nuclear warheads on the existing fleet, you are essentially creating a new nuclear weapon. And it's just a matter of time before other nations do the same," Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said, adding, "This could serve to encourage the very proliferation we are trying to prevent."
Non-Proliferation advocates have made the point that the latest move could lead to proliferation and that there is no need to replace the Cold War era stockpile.
The US Congress authorised design work on a new warhead in 2005 on the basis that there would not be any fresh missile tests; and no nuclear underground tests have been conducted since a ban in 1992.
The new warhead, due to be operational in five years' time, will be used to replace Trident missiles on submarines. Supporters say that the new effort is in parallel with attempts to eliminate nuclear weapons from the stockpile.
"Our RRW effort is in parallel with our efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons from the stockpile that are no longer needed for national security purposes. We have increased this year's dismantlement rate to 50 percent above last year, and in just five years, the US nuclear weapons stockpile will be at its lowest point since the Eisenhower administration," D'Agostino said.
Teams from Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories partnered with Sandia National Laboratories to submit design proposals and it was determined in late 2006 that the RRW concept was feasible to sustain the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile.
"Because of the superior science across the nuclear weapons complex with assets like supercomputers, and the early design engagement with the production facilities, the laboratories were able to develop designs in nine months that were much more mature than they would have been after two years of work during the Cold War. This is an amazing scientific accomplishment that should not be overlooked," D'Agostino said.
