SANDIA IMPACT TEST ON B61 DEEMED A SUCCESS

Sandia National Laboratories said yesterday that an impact test involving the B61 nuclear bomb in late November performed as expected. The impact test was the first rocket-driven impact test at the lab in seven years after a 2008 accident at the lab’s 10,000-foot rocket sled track forced a hiatus to rocket-driven tests. In the three years leading up to the Nov. 20 test, Sandia said it rebuilt its ability to run the tests, reconstructing the firing set system at an adjoining aerial cable facility, purchasing new rocket motors and strengthening emphasis on safety. In the Nov. 20 test, a B61-11 stripped of its nuclear material was hoisted high above the test facility, attached to a rocket sled, and propelled into a target. According to the lab, preliminary data indicated that the bomb operated as intended under worst-case conditions. “One of the main purposes of the stockpile is deterrence, so one important way to assure deterrence is to have a successful surveillance test that shows our systems work,” senior manager Patrick Sena said in a statement.