A high-speed imaging device designed to study U.S. nuclear weapons has achieved full operational status after decades of delays, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced yesterday. The Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility, based at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, can produce X-ray images of rapidly moving events, such as explosions (see GSN, Jan. 31).
"DARHT is an incredible scientific and engineering achievement and is extremely important to certifying the nuclear weapons stockpile," Robert Smolen, NNSA deputy administrator for defense programs, said in a press release. "U.S. nuclear weapons are 20 to 30 years old, and this high-tech machine allows us to look at how changes made to fix age-related and technical defects may affect weapon performance -- all without conducting an underground nuclear test."
The equipment monitors explosions from two different perspectives, enabling the production of three-dimensional images (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration release, May 19).