US firm helps Pak in advanced N-tests

Designed in, and by, the US firm Holmes amp; Narver, the Pakistani CFF shares its blueprints with a similar, but smaller, facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory LLNL in California, the premier US nuclear weapons manufactory. The construction is being supervised by scientists of Pakistani origin who have worked in the seismic division at LLNL. The seismic division is responsible for the detection of underground tests. The 50-mn CFF in Livermore, at its Site 300, was also conceptually designed by Holmes amp; Narver.

A CFF, say nuclear specialists here, is designed to withstand repetitive high explosive testing of all non-nuclear components of nuclear weapons. At itscore is a roughly squash-court sized firing chamber designed in a manner to mask 8220;the blast overpressure and fragmentation effects from detonations of cased explosive charges up to about 100 kg8221;, said a South Block source.The CFF, therefore, ensures that all such tests are not detectable from outside the building.

All nuclear weapons have a triggering mechanism to make the fissile core super critical to enable the chain reaction, thus setting off the nuclear explosion. Therefore, in this entire process there are numerous non-nuclear elements that need to be tested in order for the weapon to perform efficaciously.

The data produced by the repetitive firing of these non-nuclear devices in the CFF firing chamber is picked up by the various sensors fitted into the diagnostic and optics ports, and the Gamma-ray camera. The data is then used to refine the nuclear weapons, whether bombs or missile warheads.

The surfaces inside the firing chamber are protected from the high-velocity shrapnel that results fromdetonating cased explosives. The CFF is, thus, the testing bed for finalising the design and construction of nuclear weapons by putting their non-nuclear components through repeated firing experiments.

Pakistan Ordnance Factory POF, Wah, has issued specifications with regard to the performance of the CFF. The CFF is 8220;to permit repetitive firing, all main structural elements of the firing chamber are required to remain elastic when subjected to blast. Detonations will be conducted above a 150-mm-thick steel firing surface embedded in the floor8221;.

The CFF, once commissioned and fully functional, will enable the Pakistani armed forces to design and develop nuclear devices with full confidence in the reliability of the systems.

Specialists here also believe that with the installation of the CFF, Pakistan is progressing to the stage of missile and artillery delivery of their nuclear weapons. 8220;With the participation of the POF, Wah, it is very obvious that Islamabad has gone beyond the rudimentaryair-dropped stage, to be able to plan the manufacture of much more highly developed munitions. Pakistan Ordnance Factory is, after all, a production agency8221;, commented a nuclear specialists here. Holmes amp; Narver is a 65-year-old corporation engaged in engineering, architectural, construction and programme management, environmental, operations and maintenance organisation. The corporate headquarters are in Orange, California and has offices around the world, including Saudi Arabia.

On its web site Holmes amp; Narver claims to have 8220;completed projects on all seven continents, on time and within budget, and its finished product stands the test of time8221;.

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