The longer the country relies solely on computer simulations to check for faults, rather than on the micro-explosions the NIF would make possible, the less certain the Department of Defence is that the warheads will perform as expected.But stockpile stewardship has other functions.
BTS critics are especially enraged that some of their funding comes from abroad, including from European governments either directly or indirectly through organisations such as the New Israel Fund (NIF).
The device is huge, expensive and is already five years behind schedule and three times over budget, something that seems to be true of all big fusion projects including the NIF.
The $3.5 billion site is known as the National Ignition Facility, or NIF.
The big names include Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Energy Secretary Steven Chu (whose agency finances NIF) and Charles Townes, a Nobel Laureate and laser pioneer.
Dr. Moses, who was put in charge of NIF a decade ago in an effort to right the struggling project, said that a decade from now, as NIF opened new frontiers, no one would remember the missteps.
For the NIF provides America with a way to carry out nuclear-weapons tests without actually testing any weapons.Had the NIF been a purely scientific project, it would almost certainly have been cancelled.
