"Last
month we marked 20 years since the United States last conducted an underground
nuclear test. The National Ignition Facility is an investment in the future --
one where we never again have to perform explosive testing on nuclear weapons,
one where we have a greater scientific understanding of fusion and one where
the president has no doubt that our nuclear weapons will work when needed.
"The
consistent support the facility has seen from the Obama administration and
Congress represents a shared belief in that vision for the future. To abandon
it now after only a few years of effort, even while the facility is already
paying dividends, would be an irresponsible disservice to national security and
scientific discovery."
NNSA has 93 videos posted on YouTube, including a 30 second clip of the Pollux experiment that shows a containment vessel in which a very brief explosion occurs out of sight.
The agency also maintains a presence on its blog, as well as on Facebook ("NNSA is responsible for the management and security of the nation's nuclear weapons, nuclear nonproliferation, and naval reactor programs. It also responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the United States and abroad." -- 5,657 likes), Twitter ("Pantexans assist in gathering food for families @PantexPlant "), Tumblr ("Supercomputer simulations of blast waves on the brain are being compared with clinical studies of veterans suffering from mild traumatic brain injuries""), and Flickr .
According to its website, NNSA has about 3,000
employees and more than 30,000 contractors. NNSA has asked for a 4.9% budget increase, to a total of
$11.5 billion for fiscal year 2013.
Although the agency's mission is primarily military, its expenditures
are not counted as part of the defense budget --
" Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; works to reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad."
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