Trident Missile Renewal Slowed by Technical Problem

The United Kingdom’s plan to renew its arsenal of Trident missiles is being slowed by technical problems at a U.S. nuclear weapon facility, the London Guardian reported today (see GSN, March 15, 2007).

The British government is seeking to extend the service life of the W-76 warheads carried on the missiles, which are intended to remain in service past the end of their design life in the 2020s and to be carried by a new fleet of submarines.

The Y-12 nuclear weapon plant in Tennessee is conducting service extensions on the W-76 warheads used in British and U.S. Trident missiles.  However, it has run into an unspecified problem involving a material known as “Fogbank,” which is believed to be a cleaning substance.

“The only thing we can say is there’s an issue with the W-76 life extension program.  It’s been delayed a bit, but we have all our experts working on it,” said a spokesman for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees Y-12.

The agency is spending “a lot of money” to produce “Fogbank,” NNSA chief Thomas D’Agostino told lawmakers last year.  “We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said, noting the difficulty in working with a substance that is toxic, flammable and explosive (Ian Sample, London Guardian, March 6).

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