Ensuring the safety, security and reliability of the nuclear deterrent
LLNL's Weapons and Complex Integration (WCI) Directorate works to ensure the remaining deterrent remains safe, secure and reliable. WCI accomplishes this through the Stockpile Stewardship Program — an ongoing effort to apply a science-based fundamental understanding of nuclear weapons performance — from the development of enhanced warhead surveillance tools that detect the onset of problems to manufacturing capabilities that produce critical components.
Using the Laboratory's tools and talents, the nation has been able to assess and certify the safety, security and reliability of the stockpile each year without a return to nuclear testing for more than 20 years.
WCI scientists and engineers are able to accomplish this through unique centers of excellence, including:
- High Explosives Application Facility
- Contained Firing Facility at LLNL's Experimental Test Site (Site 300)
- National Ignition Facility
- Livermore Computing Center
Through these cutting-edge tools, coupled with the Lab's multidisciplinary expertise, the nation can successfully transition to a reduced stockpile.
Featured Capabilities and Technologies
- When Weapons Age and Materials React
- Additive Manufacturing Reshapes Foam Design
- Shaking Things Up for the Nation’s Defense
- NIF Experiments Track Weapons Effects to Improve Nuclear Forensics
- Advanced Engineering Delivers More Exact Weapons Performance
- Simulation and Precision Engineering
- Shock Physics Experiments
- High-Energy-Density Science
- Material Experiments: Plutonium at
- Nuclear Weapon Life Extension
- High Performance Computing Simulations
- Nuclear Weapon CAT Scanner