Minding the Nuclear Store

A model from Los Alamos studies the deformation of a hypothetical nuclear device when it collides with a steel plate. This shows that simulations play a key role in establishing the reliability of nuclear weapons. The scientists at Los Alamos, Sandia, and Lawrence Livermore labs are turning to huge computers and advanced visualization software to test virtual models. Visualizing and analyzing the data generated by the computational models overwhelm traditional scientific visualization methods. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are using computer simulations to test whether the Navy’s W76 nuclear warhead could still function amid blasts of X-rays on a nuclear battlefield. The simulations try to mathematically predict what real X-rays would do as they go through the W76's electronic circuits. Real world tests are run with weaker X-rays and the results are compared with the computer simulations. Data from old underground nuclear tests are also used to validate the computer tests.