Reliable Replacement Warhead
The Reliable Replacement Warhead ( RRW ) is a US nuclear warhead that has been under development since 2004 . Its main component is plutonium . Contrary to the previous priorities, the RRW is designed for security and reliability. Until now, nuclear warheads had to be as light and accurate as possible.
On 2 March 2007, has National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) the development of the RRW based on the 1991 set W89 decided -Programmes. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is in charge of the development . This concludes the first phase of the RRW project, in which various designs and options, including a design by the Los Alamos Laboratory and a hybrid solution between the Livermore and Los Alamos designs, were evaluated. The RRW is initially intended to replace the W76 warheads used in Trident II . Use in ICBMs of the US Air Force is also possible.
The W76 has been criticized as being unreliable and potentially dangerous.
The decision to further develop the W89 was made in particular due to the fact that this warhead had already been tested in underground tests and thus further nuclear tests should be avoided. The W89 was developed with a particular focus on safety when handling and in the event of an accident. The ignition mechanism has been made safer than its predecessor, the W88 , and the high-explosive used has been improved in terms of its fire safety , among other things . The aim of the development is to avoid misfiring of the warheads. According to the NNSA, older plutonium warheads in particular age and become unsafe. Critics, particularly the Arms Control Association , oppose the fact that nuclear warheads were designed to last around 100 years and that the oldest warheads in inventory are around 50 years old.
The costs of the program are to be reduced by reusing the plutonium from old warheads and largely automated production. However, the plutonium used should not be older than 45 years. The use of safe and durable nuclear warheads would significantly reduce the immense cost of maintaining nuclear weapons stocks. At the moment, the US spends a single-digit billion dollar amount on maintaining existing nuclear weapons.
Technical data on the warhead are not known, but will be based on those of the W89. The explosive force of the W89 should correspond to approx. 425 kilotons of TNT , that of the W76 is 100 kilotons.
Critics fear that this first new development of nuclear weapons since 1989 will usher in a new arms race. The commissioning of the first warheads was planned for 2012.
The US President Barack Obama stopped the project shortly after taking office in January 2009.