This New Nuke Testing Accelerator By The U.S. Weighs 2.44 Million Pound And Is 400-Foot Long

A groundbreaking machine is being developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) wherein researchers will be able to use natural plutonium in experiments and its state right before the nuclear phase of a weapon.  

The project under which the machine is being developed is known as the Scorpius Advanced Sources and Detection (ASD) project. Once assembled, the machine will weigh around 2.44 million pounds (about 1106764.48 kg). The purpose of this project is to understand the behavior of the elements in nuclear weapons. Researchers say that it will play a key role in maintaining nuclear stockpiles.  

A 400-foot-long-linear accelerator being built at the Nevada National Security Site will form part of the two accelerator modules for the Scorpius system. The work on these projects began in March. The LANL has previously made similar cells for the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT). The facility was made so that highspeed photos of mock nuclear with plutonium surrogates may be taken.  

The highspeed photos taken by DARHT were invaluable. However, curiosity is never and should never be satiated. The scientists wanted to conduct experiments with actual plutonium. This would indefinitely increase the knowledge we have about the materials.  

The dimensions of each accelerator are about five feet wide, 10 feet long, and 10 feet tall. Each module consists of three cells, each roughly three feet in diameter. 

“Each of these cell modules is a physical vacuum chamber with magnets, power connection, vacuum pumps, cooling water, and controls that must be precision aligned to the next one in line within microns,” said Mike Furlanetto, ASD senior director, in a press release. “Getting everything together at that level of accuracy and precision does take some time.”