www.nnsa.doe.gov
U.S. Department of Energy www.nnsa.doe.gov
For Immediate Release Contact: NNSA Public Affairs
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March 2, 2007 (202) 586-7371
Design Selected for Reliable Replacement Warhead
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA) announced today that the Nuclear Weapons Council (NWC) approved a
design for a joint NNSA and U.S. Navy program to provide a replacement warhead for a portion of the
nation’s sea-based nuclear weapons that will provide means to ensure long-term confidence in a more
secure, smaller and safer nuclear weapons stockpile.
The design team from NNSA’s Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories was
selected to develop the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW). NNSA and the national laboratories
have determined that this design can be certified without requiring underground nuclear testing.
NNSA and the Navy will now work together to develop a detailed RRW project plan and cost
estimate for developing and producing the system. This work will support a future decision to seek
congressional authorization and funding in order to proceed into system development and subsequent
production.
“The RRW 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 warhead that will keep the same explosive yields and
other military characteristics as the current ones. RRW will take advantage of today’s science to
ensure the long-term confidence in the future stockpile,” said Thomas P. D’Agostino, NNSA’s acting
administrator. “RRW builds on the successful scientific accomplishments of our Stockpile
Stewardship Program, which helps to maintain our nuclear weapons without underground testing.”
This announcement comes at a time when there is a sharp increase in the number of U.S.
nuclear weapons being dismantled, permanently removing them from the stockpile. NNSA has
accelerated its dismantlement process, following President Bush’s 2004 decision to cut the number of
U.S. nuclear weapons dramatically.
“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 U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile will be at
its lowest point since the Eisenhower administration,” D’Agostino said.
Teams from NNSA’s Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories partnered
with Sandia National Laboratories to submit design proposals to the NWC. In late 2006, the NWC
evaluated the proposals and determined that the RRW concept was feasible to sustain the nation’s
nuclear weapons stockpile.
“Both teams developed brilliant designs,” said D’Agostino. “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.”
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