Fogbank.

This is coolbert:

“It is ‘a reminder that expertise about nuclear weapons is a precious thing and needs to be maintained’”

From the Chicago Tribune this last Sunday:

“Delays in refitting warheads fuel fears about lost knowledge”

“A decade–long effort to refurbish thousand of aging nuclear warheads has run into serious technical problems that have forced delays and exacerbated concerns about the Energy Department’s ability to maintain the United States strategic deterrent.”

“The program involves a type of warhead known as the W76, which is used on the Navy’s Trident missile system and makes up more than half of the deployed warheads in the U.S. stockpile.”

THIS IS REALLY TROUBLING STUFF!!

A program to refurbish - - and make up to date - - and have reliability regarding half the nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal - - is in big trouble? The reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent arsenal is in question? These nuclear weapons - - all nuclear weapons for that matter - - have a long shelf life, but nonetheless - - still have a shelf life!?

A CERTAIN DEGREE OF MAINTENANCE AND REFURBISHMENT MUST BE DONE FROM TIME TO TIME OR RELIABILITY IS AT QUESTION?

AND NOW, THIS ENTIRE REFURBISHMENT PROGRAM IS IN TROUBLE?

The institutional memory and expertise to make a certain crucial component of the warhead - - the component that enables a thermonuclear detonation, cannot be replicated?

“At issue . . . is a classified component . . . that engineers and scientists . . . could not duplicate in a series of efforts over the last several years.”

“The component, known by the code word ‘fogbank’ . . . is crucial to a hydrogen bomb [detonation]”

“the current workforce was unable to duplicate the characteristics of the batches that were made in the 1970’s and 1980’s”

“’I don’t know how this happened that we forgot how to make fogbank’”

NO fogbank, no hydrogen detonation for HALF of the U.S. deterrent arsenal. Plain, pure, and simple.

Could it be that the top scientific, engineering and technical minds of the U.S. are no longer drawn to atomic weapons design and fabrication? NOT only has the institutional memory and expertise been “put to pasture”, but the modern American scientist, engineer, and technician no longer has the basic wherewithal to accomplish tasks once considered routine?

Some folks need to be brought out of retirement and fast too??!!

coolbert.