Quality of nuclear devices questioned

By H. Josef Hebert
Associated Press Writer / January 20, 2008

WASHINGTON— ...

Last summer, the first replacement plutonium trigger in 18 years received "diamond stamp" approval signaling it was ready for use in a warhead. To scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, that was a milestone to celebrate. It meant the warheads, after testing that makes the original trigger unsuitable for reuse, could be reassembled with a new trigger and put back into service ...

The Project on Government Oversight says it was told by some Los Alamos scientists that the trigger certified last July and known as the W88 pit needed 72 waivers from the specifications used for the original triggers, including 53 engineering-related changes ...

In an e-mail response to the watchdog group's claims, Bernard Pleau, a spokesman for the agency's office at Los Alamos, said the changes do not "compromise the integrity of the parts. The bottom line -- the pits produced meet all functional quality requirements for use and are fully accepted by NNSA." ...

A single trigger made at Rocky Flats cost less than $4 million. At Los Alamos, it has cost an estimated $430 million over 10 years to certify the first trigger. That difference in cost was noted by Brian in the letter to the energy secretary ...

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/01/20/quality_of_nuclear_devices_questioned/