Lab Rebuilds X-Ray Machine
By John FleckAlbuquerque Journal Staff Writer
Federal officials on Monday announced the completion of a long-delayed machine at Los Alamos National Laboratory built to X-ray nuclear weapons parts.
National Nuclear Security Administration deputy chief Robert Smolen called the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrotest Facility "an incredible scientific and engineering achievement."
That is a stark contrast to the day in 2003 when officials realized the machine, built at a cost of $300 million, did not work.
Monday's announcement marks the successful completion of a $90 million effort to tear the machine apart and rebuild it to fix the problems discovered in 2003.
DARHT, as the machine is known, uses powerful X-ray beams to take pictures of mock nuclear weapons as they are being detonated.
The pictures allow weapons designers to study the details of the early stages of a weapon's explosion without conducting a full nuclear test.
Monday's announcement marks the formal decision by NNSA to give the project a "completed" stamp of approval.
It is also a major accomplishment for the team responsible for the project's completion, said Mary Hockaday, deputy associated lab director for nuclear weapons physics.
"There were a lot of people who told us we couldn't do it," Hockaday said in a telephone interview Monday.
The machine is massive. Two long halls, each two thirds the length of a football field, hold equipment that generates a massive X-ray beams.
Firing the beams at right angles gives scientists a three-dimensional picture of the nuclear device being tested.
The first X-ray beam was completed in 1999 and works well. It was the second beam, which is more powerful than the first, that failed when it was first turned on in 2003.
Hockaday said testing shows that the second X-ray machine now works at full power. Now that NNSA has signed off on the machine's completion, Los Alamos workers will begin preparing for the first full-scale test using both X-ray beams, according to Hockaday. That is scheduled for September or October, she said.
[Further information on DARHT can be downloaded here.]
"Monday's announcement marks the formal decision by NNSA to give the project a "completed" stamp of approval."
ReplyDeleteWhich means the project will be shut down.
What a crock. Way over budget and very late and they are patting themselves on the back.
ReplyDeleteA bunch of people from the original project (e.g., Mike Burns) got major promotions from the first declaration of success.
Turning failure into success is a Lab virtue. I have watched it time and time again. Mike Burns wasn't the first and certainly won't be the last. Remember Jim Holt, he had two failed projects and after each failure he was rewarded with another promotion.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to take a look at the Distiguished Performance Awards for individual performance. I believe Mike Burns won at leasst one of those for a failure.
Yes, the DOE loves to declare success. I can't wait to hear what they will say about NIF.
ReplyDeleteNIF is very poorly managed. Everybody associated with it accepts that it will never reach stated performance goals. Watch for a P.R. campaign heralding the success of NIF even though performance does not meet expectation.No lie is too small.
ReplyDeleteThe main success of NIF is how much money has been extracted from the DOE by LLNL.
ReplyDelete- DARHT is a great success!
ReplyDelete- NIF will be a fantastic success!
- LANS has proven to be a wonderful success story!
- NNSA has been achieving new heights of success with each and every passing year!
Get the picture? You're going to hear more and more rah-rah stuff like this from our handlers over the coming years.
No matter, the NNSA and its labs are unfortunately headed for a huge decline in funding starting in FY 2010. Prepare as best you can. I'm sure the big downsizing and decline of science at the labs that is coming our way will be heralded as a "great success", too.
"Hockaday said testing shows that the second X-ray machine now works at full power. Now that NNSA has signed off on the machine's completion, Los Alamos workers will begin preparing for the first full-scale test using both X-ray beams, according to Hockaday. That is scheduled for September or October, she said."
ReplyDeleteBreak out the cider, party time!
5/20/08 9:36 PM:
ReplyDeleteWell, yes. Do you think something else is supposed to happen? Maybe we should pay people to sit on their butts and admire the 2nd axis now? It's built, it works, now let's go use it for experiments already.
Duh!
Yea!, The Headlines for 2009: Lab Meets Expected Goals. Reduces workforce by 20%, and comes in under budget. Great Success! (oh by the way remember the dual axis, ooops)
ReplyDelete