[ExI] nuclear fusion

Gary Miller aiguy at comcast.net
Wed Mar 26 23:02:11 UTC 2008


Amara asked for a reference 

aiguy at comcast.net aiguy at comcast.net :
>My understanding is that the nuclear warheads only have a certain shelf 
>life before the half-life of the nuclear warheads becomes degraded 
>enough that it has to be replaced.

According to this article our nuclear arsenal is one year from it's
expiration date.

Does anyone here really think that we are not replacing our warheads but
rather will just let them decay until they no longer work?

Reference, please.

My Response:


According to this article from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (DOE
Facility) our nuclear arsenal was one year from it's expiration date in Fall
2002 the date of the page's property.

That means our arsenal expired it's shelf life 9 years ago.

Does anyone here really think that we are not replacing our warheads but
rather will just let them decay until they all no longer work?

This article also claims that no new warheads have been made for 10 years
but I am will to bet that even if this is true that a classified program is
in place to recharge the existing warheads with newly refined Uranium to
insure that the United States still has a proven Nuclear deterrent.

The second link is a congressonal report showing that as of 2006 we are
still developing more efficient processes for recycling Uranium from spent
nuclear fuel.

It may be that we were so overstockpiled during the cold war that all we
need to do now is reprocess (re-enrich) from existing warheads.

http://www.lanl.gov/quarterly/q_w03/shelf_life.shtml

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RS22542.pdf

"Old Uranium 
Uranium is the main heavy metal used in a weapon's "rad case" to redirect
the x-ray radiation produced by the weapon's fission primary. It is also
sometimes used in other weapon parts.

Uranium and its alloys age in several ways. Like steel, pure uranium "rusts"
when exposed to the oxygen in air. It is also corroded by hydrogen. Although
nuclear warheads are sealed in airtight metal containers to reduce oxidation
and corrosion, the high explosives, plastics, and other organic materials
also in the container emit tiny amounts of oxygen, hydrogen, and water vapor
that, over time, can cause problems.

Uranium alloys also change their crystal structures, or phases, over time,
which also presents aging problems. Materials scientists manufacture a part
to have a specific phase in order to optimize its strength, density, or
corrosion resistance. However, the strain a part accumulates during
fabrication and the temperature variations a weapon experiences in the field
can, over time, change the phase, thereby degrading a part's properties. 

Subjected to the considerable heat given off by a weapon's radioactive
plutonium, for example, a uranium part-and all other weapon parts-can reach
temperatures as high as 40?C (about 100?F). A weapon can also experience
temperature extremes in its storage environment, such as a desert.
Temperature-induced phase changes that degrade uranium's mechanical
properties are a major concern."

No new nuclear weapons have been produced in this country in 10 years. In
fact, the average age of a stockpile weapon is now 19 years, and some of the
weapons are over 35 years old. 
The nation's nuclear weapons were originally designed to last for 20 to 25
years. Each year, the directors of the Department of Energy's three nuclear
weapons labs must certify that the stockpile weapons will perform as
designed. If the performance of an older weapon becomes questionable, lab
scientists must decide how to replace its aging parts in order to restore
its peak performance. 





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