Oh, if only we could forget more things like this. It’s not quite what I imagined when protesting the Trident program back in the 1980’s, but still…
Plans to refurbish Trident nuclear weapons had to be put on hold because US scientists forgot how to manufacture a component of the warhead, a US congressional investigation has revealed.
The US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) “lost knowledge” of how to make a mysterious but very hazardous material codenamed Fogbank. As a result, the warhead refurbishment programme was put back by at least a year, and racked up an extra $69 million.
According to some critics, the delay could cause major problems for the UK Trident programme, which is very closely tied to the US programme and uses much of the same technology.
Slashdot is having fun with this not-very-funny topic. The US is going on 40 years or so since we’ve actually launched a nuke on a missile, even in any kind of test. I am proud of that record and our fading expertise. Others, though, are quite concerned.
