Yesterday's cautiously worded National Nuclear Security Administration response to the new JASON report has a nuance to it that I didn't quite capture accurately in my story in this morning's newspaper.

The JASONs, as I reported, conclude that the current stockpile stewardship program is working well, and that there is no need to design new weapons to ensure the long term reliability of the U.S. stockpile. NNSA in principle seems to like the report, but with a caveat that has some of us scratching our heads:

While we endorse the recommendations and consider them well-aligned with NNSA's long-term stockpile management strategy, certain findings in the unclassified Executive Summary convey a different perspective on key findings when viewed without the context of the full classified report.  The full report addresses them comprehensively and validates our basic scientific approach to warhead life extension programs, specifically our commitment to evaluating each weapon system on a case-by-case basis and applying the best technological approach from a spectrum of options. (emphasis added)

I wrote in my story that NNSA "issued a statement endorsing the study's findings." That is not correct. They endorses the report's recommendations, a number of specific steps regarding improvements in the weapons science and surveillance programs the panel thought would be useful in extending the life of existing weapons.

While the details over the disagreement over findings remains classified, it appears to relate to an assertion that the agency does not agree with the unclassified summary of the group's work included in the publicly released version of the report. I'm told the full report, which is classified, runs to more than 100 pages. The apparent difference between NNSA and the JASON's involves the following unclassified summary: "JASON finds no evidence that accumulation of changes incurred from aging and LEPs have increased risk to certification of today's deployed nuclear warheads." The NNSA seems to be saying that the full classified version tells a somewhat different story. But how different and in what ways?

(Report executive summary, courtesy Jeffrey Lewis)

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