Sandia National
Laboratories:
The United States’ Leap into the
World of Nuclear Weaponry, and the Safety and Security Thereof.
The United States’ Leap into the
World of Nuclear Weaponry, and the Safety and Security Thereof.
 |
| Sandia National Laboratories ca. 1950 |
Sandia Laboratories
has accomplished numerous feats pertaining to the design, testing, and security
of the United States’ nuclear arsenal. Sandia’s research led to the increased
safety, mobility, and sustainability/readiness of the US's nuclear armaments. Sandia, previously known as the "Z Division," was a close counterpart of Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace and home of the Manhattan Project, the US's nuclear weapon development program. Sandia's main role in the Manhattan project was to ensure the safety and security of the nuclear weapons designed by the scientists at Los Alamos. Sandia National Laboratories' greatest feats have been the creation of the Permissive Action Link, Safe Secure Trailer, and the Weigh and Leak-Check system (in collaboration with Pantex).
Works Cited
A Brief Tour of Sandia National Laboratories
(c) Sandia National Laboratories
Permissive Action Link
The Permissive Action Link system, or a PAL for short, is a device used to protect and prevent the unintentional deployment of nuclear weaponry. The PAL system ensures that a nuclear device can only be deployed if approved by the president. Early PALs were simply padlocks, whereas modern PALs contain advanced computers, overrides, and cybersecurity measures. The early day PAL required two, three digit combinations, with one being from an officer, so that the missiles containing warheads could not be fired unless instructed to do so by the national executive and commander in chief. Modern PALs consist of a computerised launch system, requiring longer codes, and having the capability to "lock down" after too many incorrect codes. However, many of these early, and even semi-modern PAL systems were easily dismantled or bypasses, thus proving to be an ineffective method for protecting America's most deadly weapons. When the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy asked for a solution, Sandia NAtional Laboratories, in collaboration with Los Alamos NL, devised a solution. The labs created a solution involving a "mechanical or electromechanical code switch in the warhead in a location such that it could not be bypassed easily. To foil any attempt to bypass the device, the switch's appearance and markings were disguised to make its function unclear unless the weapon's manual were also available," (Columbia.edu). After the creation of this system, armaments were designed with a PAL device embedded to the electric circuitry of said weapon. The PAL system serves as both a safety and security system for the United States' nuclear armoury and was made possible through the hard work of Sandia National Laboratories.
 |
| Modern Day Recreation of an early PAL. (No original photos are available due to confidentiality of such 'advanced systems' ) |
The Safe Secure Trailer System
A Safe Secure Trailer system (SST) is used to transport dangerous cargo, AKA nuclear armaments, from location to location. This system was designed and developed by Sandia National Laboratories in 1970. The trailer is completely bulletproof, and the driver doesn't have the ability to open the trailer. Each trailer is driven by a federal agent, and escorted by a group of armed vehicles. These transporters are conspicuous, and the naked eye of an uneducated citizen would have a difficult time discerning a difference in the SST and a regular tractor trailer. These systems have evolved over the years, and are now simply described as "mobile vaults" by the US Department of Energy, the user of said systems. "The Albuquerque Operations Office, [Sandia National Laboratories] established the Transportation Safeguards Division in 1975." In Fiscal Year 1997, TSD employed 237 nuclear material couriers who act as Special Agents in transporting nuclear weapons, components, and material for the Department of Energy. These specially trained "couriers" are able to defeat any situation that comes their way, and have an impecable track record given the brilliant design of the SST by Sandia National Laboratories. The US' nuclear defense system would prove ineffective if weapons couldn't be mobilized because all weapons would be stuck in one place, where they are unusable and impractical.
 |
| Map of the Operation Locations of Secure Trailer Systems throughout the United States of America |
Weigh and Leak Check System
The Weigh and Leak Check system (WALS), created as a collaboration between Sandia and Pantex, stores radioactive materials, known as pits. This system stores and moves nuclear "cores"(known as pits) at the Pantex weapons assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas. According to Sandia, " WALS uses a 6-axis robotic arm on a 25 ft. linear track. The robotic arm is programmed to move pits to custom tooling and automation stations, where the pits are unpacked from their containers, removed from their shipping fixtures, weighed, leak-checked, and repacked. WALS also has a suite of sensors and safety features necessary to operate the robot safely and reliably." This system greatly reduces the amount of radiation, specifically gamma emittance, that workers who are required to handle the nuclear pits/cores are submitted to on a daily basis, and can prevent diseases such as cancer that are caused by said radiation exposure for the workers. The scientists at Sandia even took into account the methods of which they want the WALS to fail, should the situation ever arise. This is to prevent catastrophic disasters from happening, and to ensure the safety of those responsible for handling the disassembly and assembly of nuclear weaponry. In the future, a WALS system will most definitely be deployed to all areas where nuclears pits/cores are handled, and will increase the overall safety of the United States' nuclear materials handling capabilities.
 |
| WALS system at Pantex -- Amarillo, TX |
Works Cited
https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/nsam-160/pal.html
http://www.sandia.gov/about/history/_assets/documents/2017snlhistoryfactsheet.pdf
http://www.sandia.gov/about/history/_assets/documents/2017snlhistoryfactsheet.pdf
http://amarillo.com/stories/031600/usn_truck.shtml#.WQlQDFPyvy8
http://www.ig.energy.gov/documents/CalendarYear1998/wrb-9901.pdf
http://www.sandia.gov/research/robotics/high_consequence_automation/wals.html
http://www.sandia.gov/media/robots.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment