ane
20
18
Equip. & Utilities
INVESTMENT IN PLANT
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
Bldgs. & Structures
Community Facilities
16 =
Salton Sea
Bldgs. & Equipment
149
129
1950
1951
1952
1953
The primary objective of Sandia Laboratory research is to contribute to the design
of weapons that basic understanding of weapons systems which will provide optimum military worth.
More specifically, it is to understand thoroughly the effects of atomic bombs
and the methods of delivering them in order to determine the basic requirements of bomb
design. In achieving such an understanding, special emphasis is directed toward the fuzing system; toward knowledge of realistic requirements of accuracy and reliability which
will in turn permit an intelligent choice to be made between types of fuzing systems. Two
related factors have had a marked effect on all aspects of the research program: the in-
creased supply of nuclear material, and the increased yield which can be obtained from a
given size of nuclear system. Together they have made possible the economical use of
nuclear weapons in tactical applications and the employment of a wider variety of delivery
methods. The scope of research problemsis extensive as a consequence of the numberof
tactical weapons involved.
ALGS
One base for weapon design is an understanding of the destructive effects of atomic
bombs. These effects are far from being completely understood by physicists. They are
- being investigated by Sandia Laboratory which supplies instrumentation for measuring
blast, heat, and nuclear radiation effects in full-scale atomic weapon tests and analyzes
resulting data. Studies of small-scale high explosive blasts at Coyote Canyon have contributed additional data, and laboratory shock tube studies have supplied information about the
fundamental mechanisms involved in shock wave transmission through the atmosphere.
DORA
“pews
Ie
60