A CAT SCAnner for nuCleAr WeApon ComponenTS

T Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is looking to accomplish even more within its budget constraints, as it pursues a smaller, safer, more secure, and less expensive nuclear weapons complex. Meeting that goal means relying on advanced scientific tools and procedures to assure a high level of confidence in the performance of aging weapons in the stockpile. The longer confidence in the performance of an aging weapon system can be assured, the longer the nation can keep the system as part of a credible nuclear deterrent without having to refurbish the weapons or produce replacements. In response to NNSA’s needs, Livermore physicists, engineers, and computer scientists have developed a new computed tomography (CT, also known as computerized axial tomography or CAT) x-ray system to image nuclear weapon components removed temporarily A new x-ray