The people of stockpile stewardship are the key to LLNL’s success

The last nuclear test, code-named Divider, took place 30 years ago, on Sept. 23, 1992. That year, President Bush declared a temporary moratorium on nuclear testing, which became permanent during the Clinton administration. This ending of the era of nuclear testing was also the beginning of stockpile stewardship.

Leaders from the Department of Energy (DOE), and Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, convened to develop a strategy and map out an R&D effort that would come to be known as the Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP). Its mission was ensuring the readiness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent force without nuclear tests. 

This third article of a series surveys the people of stockpile stewardship and the variety of the work that they perform to support the mission, as well as how that work has evolved. All LLNL employees support the stewardship mission in one way or another — in scientific and engineering roles, and in many more occupations. A few of their stories are told here. Read more...