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New Nukes on the Block?

#1580

31

June 06, 2016

By Sanatan Kulshrestha

"As long as the United States continues to have nuclear weapons, we must ensure that
they remain safe, secure, and effective without the use of underground testing
Don Cook, NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs[1]

In October 2015, USA completed testing of upgraded Nuclear Earth Penetrating bomb
B61-12. The aim was to extend the life of B61 Mod 7 and Mod 11 strategic bombs by 20
years[2]. The upgrades include scalable nuclear yield (The B61 family of weapons can
be configured with a wide variety of yields, including 0.3, 1.5, 5, 10, 45, 60, 60, 80, 170,
and 340 kilotons), precision guidance and advanced safety mechanisms.
It is understood that strategic assets like ballistic missile facilities, command, control &
communication centers, shelters for political leadership etc are located in tunnels at
depths varying between 200 meters to 700 meters. These have been termed as strategic
hard and deeply buried target (HDBT) by NATO countries and it is against such
targets that Nuclear Earth Penetrating bombs are intended to be used.
Conventional weapons have the capability to penetrate to depths as much as the nuclear
earth penetrator weapons (NEPW) but they are not as effective against the HDBTs. The
energy transfer of NEPWs into ground is far more effective than surface or aerial bursts
of even nuclear weapons. It is said that a 300-kiloton NEPW is as effective as a 6megaton surface burst against HDBTs. Further, the accuracy requirements (Circular
Error Probable, CEP) for surface bursts are more stringent than NEPWs for HDBTs to
achieve the same kill probabilities. This brings in to focus two facts viz- that NEPWs
require much less radioactive material, and, that with increasing accuracy of hit the
damage potential keeps on increasing.
Sandia National Laboratories have been carrying out research work on the Earth
Penetrators since the 1960s. One of their newer programs is the feasibility study
program Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator program (RNEP). The aim of this
program is to study feasibility of designing RNEPs that can tackle a larger number of
targets than the B61-11. The general terms of reference indicate that RNEP should be
capable of reaching a specified depth, should be able to survive and penetrate the
target, and should perform better than B61-11 in terms of functionability, safety,
security and reliability. Sandia National Laboratories have the credit of building the
most complicated nuclear safety mechanism called the Micro Guardian in 1990s. This
ensures that the nuclear weapon does not detonate until a predefined sequence of

events is completed. It is said that the size of this system is 10 mm x 6 mm x 5 mm, and
it forms a part of the optical micro-firing system.[3] These developments highlight the
march of Micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) as well as the Nano electromechanical systems (NEMS) into the nuclear arsenal arena.
It need not be stressed that arming and detonation of a nuclear weapon should not take
place accidentally, however it is also to be ensured that the bomb once armed must not
only hit the designated target but also explode. These conditions present a formidable
technological challenge in designing of the arming, fusing, and firing mechanisms of
nuclear bombs. This requires requisite robustness and multiple redundancies as also
assured reliability of functioning. The MEMS/ NEMS have gained credibility mainly
due to their compactness and minimal moving components as compared to the early
analogue as well as digital counterparts. Programs such as the RNEP of Sandia National
Laboratories would not only benefit NEPs but also conventional weapons as well. The
availability of such devices and the fact that they have improved the resistance to failure
of key components in fusing, arming, detonators, and neutron generators by many
magnitudes has spurred research into next generation of nuclear weapons.
Though the consensus over the term Fourth Generation of nuclear weapons is still
debatable, it can be safely stated that it would invariably be those classes of nuclear
weapons which are triggered using advance triggering mechanisms such as super
lasers, magnetic compression or antimatter (this also under active research!!). This
would than result in a thermonuclear explosion of a few liters of deuterium-tritium
mixture (equivalent of hundreds of tons of TNT). The main source of yield would not be
fission reaction of the first three generations but a distinct fusion reaction, which would
classify the next generation.
The stage is set for NEMS to usher in unprecedented robustness, reliability, and
precision in CEP, nEMs to replace conventional explosives and provide much greater
explosive power[4], and advanced triggering devices & fusion yields to herald fourth
generation nuclear weapons. The possessor would not only be able to unleash a swarm
of conventional weapons but also carry out devastating assault without breaching the
kiloton/ megaton taboo of first strike!

The Author is Senior Fellow of Westminster College, Vancouver, Canada. Views

expressed are personal.

References
[1]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3154136/Air-force-drops-controversial-bomb-test-designed-update-

nuclear-arsenal.html#ixzz4A7F8wVfM
[2]http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2015/07/10/US-tests-B61-12-nuclear-gravitybomb/7211436542217/
[3]http://www.sandia.gov/LabNews/LN01-15-99/mems_story.htm
[4]http://www.claws.in/1571/nanoenergetic-materials-nems-in-conventional-ammunition-sanatan-kulshrestha.html

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