Saturday, August 23, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nuclear test set for 2004

Experiment sustains test-readiness ability

Scientists are preparing to conduct a nuclear materials experiment in a fashion similar to full-scale nuclear weapons tests that were put on hold indefinitely in 1992, National Nuclear Security Administration officials said Friday.

The so-called subcritical experiment, dubbed Unicorn, will be detonated in 2004 in a hole in the east-central part of the Nevada Test Site, about 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas, according to a statement from the administration's Nevada Site Office in North Las Vegas.

Previous subcritical experiments were conducted in a cavern complex, 960 feet below ground at the test site.

"Initial site preparation for this experiment is under way," the statement said. "This activity, and the means for emplacement of the experimental hardware into the vertical hole, will appear visually similar to those employed in underground nuclear tests conducted prior to the 1992 moratorium."

In a telephone interview Friday, Nevada Site Office spokesman Darwin Morgan said the experiment helps maintain mandated test readiness capabilities.

Bush administration officials said last year that they would like the test site to be ready to resume full-scale tests, if needed, in 18 months, or about half the time expected during the Clinton administration.

Subcritical experiments involve small amounts of nuclear materials and are designed to stop short of triggering nuclear chain reactions. They allow scientists to study how materials, such as plutonium, blow apart when detonated with high explosives.

The subcritical program was launched in 1997 as a way to maintain the skills of U.S. nuclear weapons scientists and allow them to check how the stockpile ages in the absence of full-scale nuclear weapons tests.

Unicorn will be the nation's 20th such experiment since the program began. The most recent subcritical experiment, Rocco, was conducted Sept. 26, 2002.