An uncertain number of W-76 warheads have been refurbished, reassembled and certified, but their transfer back to the U.S. Navy is not expected until fall, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported yesterday (see GSN, May 29).
The National Nuclear Security Administration has been conducting a life-extension program for the warhead that is carried on submarine-launched missiles. The agency announced in February that the "first refurbished W-76 nuclear warhead had been accepted into the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile by the Navy" (see GSN, Feb. 24). The Navy later indicated it had received no refurbished warhead.
Acceptance into the stockpile is not synonymous with delivery, NNSA spokesman Damien LaVera stated, arguing that there had been no delay.
"Our plan all along has been to deliver the refurbished W-76 (warheads) when there's enough to make sense from an economic, safety and security perspective. Our plan all along has been for that to be late this fall," he stated (Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, June 25).