The Sandia Story (1960)

With the historic first nuclear explosion [music] in the desert sands of New Mexico in 1945, the atomic age literally exploded into being. Today, men of science continue to work in plant and [music] field laboratories on some of the most exacting technical problems of our time. Engineering practical weapon systems around the atom's explosive power for our nation's and the free world's arsenal of defense. An arsenal which will provide a deterrent to aggression. Even more important, which will assist in the development of knowledge that will contribute to the scientific and industrial progress in peacetime applications of atomic energy. This then is the all-important task of the men of Sandia Laboratory, [music] and this is their story. >> [bell] [music] [music] [music] >> The Sandia Laboratory. Here at Albuquerque, New Mexico, in [music] the historic surroundings of our country's earliest settlement, and in Livermore, California, history is again being made. A new breed of pioneer blazing trails along the scientific frontiers of nuclear research and development engineering. An efficient team made up of scientists, engineers, and skilled craftsmen. Men of every conceivable background, training, and experience. [music] Men from every state in the union, from the territories, from other lands and other continents. Some from private or governmental research institutes and industrial laboratories. Veterans in the field of atomic energy dating back to the early days of the Manhattan Project in World War II. And promising young engineers such as this man, recruited by Sandia as part of the Bell System recruiting organization from universities throughout the nation. How well I remember. It was about 2 years ago and I was on the way to Albuquerque with my family trying to pretend that I was [music] anything but excited about the new job. With an engineering degree safe in my pocket the halls of ivy and the burning of midnight oil now seemed a part of the remote past. The trip west was sort of an impromptu vacation for us. As the train passed through New Mexico we could see why they call this the land of enchantment. From the moment a newcomer arrives in Albuquerque, he senses a spirit of western friendliness. And the feeling was mutual. We knew we were going to like it here. Naturally, we were eager to explore our new surroundings, but the sightseeing would have to wait. First things first. After getting the family settled, I checked in with Sandia Corporation. Perhaps I should mention that at an organization like Sandia, you just don't saunter in and go to work. It isn't that the people are unfriendly. Actually, they bend over backward to make you feel at home. It's the need for security. You see, most of the work here is highly classified and each employee, regardless of the type of work he does, must have an AEC security clearance. Take this badge, for instance. It's more than just a piece of plastic. To me, it's a sign of trust. And as I clipped it onto my lapel, I finally knew for sure that I belonged. Since security is so vital to this type of work, they gave me a thorough briefing even before I met my supervisor and the people I'd be working with. As a supervisor, I know that getting a new man off to a good start is one of the most important parts of my job. To us, he isn't just a number pulled out of a hat. He's been selected by our college representative as one of the best young engineers in his field. Of course, at this point, he feels like any other stranger in a strange place. I usually start right from the beginning, telling how Sandia used to be a branch of the University of California's Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory back in 1946. It was established in Albuquerque to be near military bases. Later in 1949, the AEC turned its operation over to the Western Electric Company under a non-profit, no-fee contract. In the early days, we were housed in temporary buildings, which are being replaced with modern permanent facilities. Today, we have over 7,000 people on the payroll. In the Bay Area, not far from San Francisco, Sandia Corporation operates another research lab for the AEC in close cooperation with the commission's University of California Ernest O. Lawrence Radiation Laboratory at Livermore, California. LRL, like Los Alamos, is a nuclear research lab. Because of the significant activities of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in the military defense field, it became necessary to establish a permanent Sandia facility at Livermore, California, next door to LRL. This new Sandia facility, created in 1956, is housed in a $6 million plant and works closely with LRL much the same way as the Sandia Laboratory at Albuquerque works with Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. We also have two ballistic ranges. One is near the old silver mining town of Tonopah, Nevada. The other is at Salton Sea, California. Here we field test the non-explosive features of systems Sandia develops. Well, that's our general setup, but explaining Sandia's operating program isn't quite as easy. Basically, our job is to take the nuclear explosive systems developed at Los Alamos and LRL and make them into deliverable weapons for the nation's defense. Of course, this complex operation is not a one-man show, far from it. Let's consider a typical project. Be it an atomic bomb or a missile warhead, it begins when a military requirement is received from the Department of Defense. Representatives from Sandia's Albuquerque or Livermore Laboratories and Los Alamos or the Lawrence Radiation Lab meet to outline a design approach and set up development schedules and divisions of responsibility. Nuclear explosive systems to be developed by Los Alamos are weaponized by Sandia Laboratory at Albuquerque. Systems to be developed by LRL are in most instances handled by Sandia at Livermore. With divisions of responsibility established, we start rolling. Now, for obvious reasons, most of the components that make up a complete system are not available on the open market. We have to design and build them practically from scratch. Of course, this poses a wide variety of research and engineering problems. And therein lies the real challenge. These problems are unique and require lots of ingenuity, imagination, and all the creative effort we can muster. One of the first requirements involves the design of the ballistic shape. Here we're concerned with many factors such as the method of delivery and the size and design of the components it will house. Scale models of proposed shapes are then constructed for aerodynamic testing in Sandia's high-speed wind tunnel. These tests provide accurate in-flight measurements of drag, lift, pitch, and yaw. Also, several different designs may be tested at a fraction of the cost and time of a full-scale prototype. After many other tests, the non-nuclear components of a system are assembled inside an experimental ballistic shape for drop testing at the Salton Sea Test Base. >> [music] [music] >> While the shape drops, every aspect of its performance is captured for later evaluation in the laboratory. The test results in the form of recorded and photographed data are flown back to Albuquerque or Livermore and carefully studied. Since most of the data are on magnetic tape, long hours of painstaking analysis are required for evaluation. Electronic computers of various types refine the data into the cold, hard facts of how a given ballistic shape and its components behave. But when it comes to judgments and decisions, the machine must give way to the human brain. After it is finally determined that a system meets military requirements, the weapon design is released for production and subsequent stockpiling. But Sandia is not a manufacturing facility, so we call upon American industry for quantity production of the many items which make up a complex nuclear weapon. Careful on-the-spot engineering liaison is maintained with both small and large manufacturers. This is because of the rigid specifications and quality control requirements we place upon our subcontractors. Even after a weapon is placed in stockpile, our job is not complete. We must train military instructor personnel to operate and maintain it, so that they in turn can train the large body of service personnel. We also keep a constant surveillance on all stockpiled items to ensure that they will function as expected when and if necessary. Well, so much for the history and purpose of Sandia. There's a limit to what a man can absorb through conversation, so I suggested we look at the labs, which are similar to those at Livermore, and meet some of the men working on these projects. First, my supervisor took me into the most completely equipped model shop I'd ever seen. Here the design engineers' ideas and draftsmen's drawings are translated into components and full-scale prototype devices. Whether you work with your bare hands at room temperature or wear asbestos gloves working with 1,400° [music] molten metals, the requirement of skill is the same in every shop at Sandia. The strange materials and shapes of nuclear weapon components sometimes baffle the newcomer. But, be it miniature electronic parts or huge castings for test equipment, the jobs here are always a challenge to a man's imagination. This spirit of creating is found everywhere you go at Sandia, especially in the electronic shops. I would be working closely with this group, and until I'd actually seen the layout, I thought I knew my chosen field. However, one look around pretty well convinced me that I still had plenty to learn. For it is here that experimental electronic circuits, the nerve centers of nuclear weapons and related electronic gadgetry of all types are fabricated. New designs sometimes call for parts [music] like certain types of vacuum tubes that cannot be purchased. Until a tube is finished, it exists only as a sketch on a piece of paper or as a dream in the mind of an engineer. Even the prosaic coil gets special consideration here. I found that the model shops will turn out big coils like this one which will handle a good sized wallop of current or little rascals no bigger than a pencil eraser. When completed, this tiny coil will have 4,000 turns of copper wire thinner than a human hair. In many cases, the smaller and lighter components can be made, the better. Transistors and printed circuits are among the chief tools in the art of miniaturization. Here I watch the process that turns a plain sheet of copper coated plastic into a replacement for yards of bulky wire. The designer at Sandia also has access to a well-staffed materials laboratory to help him determine what material will serve his purposes best under any given conditions. It's fascinating to watch a carefully measured batch of green powder as it's transformed into something entirely different. >> [clears throat] >> The stuff is poured into special molds made in our own machine shops then placed in powerful presses and soon a special purpose plastic cylinder emerges to become part of an important piece of equipment. Perhaps a special mix of an elastic compound is needed. Okay, they'll make up a batch. And mold it into any shape that a specific design calls for. Many of these things are not commercially available, so once again, it's a do-it-yourself proposition. To the uninitiated, it's somewhat of a shock to watch a technician take a valuable and delicate electronic circuit and pour a syrupy liquid all over it. The liquid is a casting resin and will harden into a semi-rigid form that protects these fragile parts from shock, weather, and other stresses. They call this a potted system, and it serves another purpose in that entire systems can be made into plug-in replacement units, simplifying maintenance. Often, metal parts must be electroplated with precious or semi-precious metals. The baser metals give the necessary strength, but they are sometimes not too resistant to corrosion or have other undesirable surface characteristics. [music] So, tests are made on the widest possible range of plating materials. To the layman, paint is paint, and that's that. However, today's variety of paints and the jobs they'll do is strictly a special study. In this section of the materials lab, experts in organic finishes work hand in hand with a design engineer. Every design must meet the stiff requirements laid down by the military. So, all of the development tests are devised to exceed these requirements in every way. This sort of functional testing is meant to expose components to extreme field conditions. To simulate these conditions, certain components must be dropped in this large drop tester and still perform satisfactorily after the test. >> [music] >> To test both quality and reliability, completed models and components are subjected to all kinds of exposure factors. Every possible example of environmental extremes is simulated in a deliberate attempt to find the weak link, if any, in a given design. >> [music] >> I was quite surprised to learn that Sandia is also conducting parallel research studies into the effects of radiation on various materials. If a designer works on a device that could conceivably be subjected to an environment of radiation while in operation, then the knowledge of how materials act under these conditions is valuable. This is an important part of design work in the nuclear age, and from the design engineer's standpoint, I'm glad to know this information is so handy. A more familiar kind of radiation is in constant use to check various assemblies for hidden flaws. This industrial X-ray equipment can be a lifesaver to the designer. [music] For after a device has been finally buttoned up, there's often no way of checking some of the inaccessible parts and connections. The x-ray pictures allow the engineer to spot these flaws, if any, and gives him a clue as to how they can be prevented next time. The metrology lab provides the designer with his yardstick. Or perhaps yardstick is too crude a term to use. Since science began dealing with the atom and its potent nucleus, it has become necessary to establish new primary standards of measurement for both physical and electrical phenomena. This room is dust-free and especially constructed [music] to damp vibration. Also, the temperature and humidity are rigidly controlled. These surgical standards >> [music] >> are necessary to get the precision measurements needed in this type of work. For instance, there is no margin of error in the exact calibration of a precision timing gear, or in checking the accuracy of a model ballistic shape. Since the work at Sandia has no counterpart in the industry, the proof testing of designs and components must be done here also. The object is to duplicate certain natural stresses and strains to [music] which devices will be subjected when they are actually put to work in the field. Sometimes, in order to get a straight answer, it's necessary to go in circles. >> [music] >> For acceleration tests on objects weighing up to 10,000 lb, Sandia constructed this huge centrifuge, the largest of its kind in the world. This super merry-go-round is hydraulically operated and capable of producing forces up to 200 Gs on a 2200 lb load. >> [music] >> It is used to test components that must be able to function perfectly before and after such tremendous accelerations. To finish the cycle of torture for a given design, Sandia has erected this 300-ft drop tower. Tests like these give the answers to problems of shock and its effect on weapon components. Continuous [music] testing through every phase of design and construction gives a high degree of reliability and product integrity where it counts. Out in service, where failure might well mean disaster. To wind up the tour, my supervisor introduced me to the man I'd be working with. It wasn't long before I was given my first assignment. This was a design team. And our job was to come up with a better instrument for recording test data. You start a process like this with ideas. Good ones, bad ones, and even wild ones. With the preliminary design established, it was now necessary [music] to check with our Livermore Laboratory to determine if the design also met their requirements. Since my trip to Livermore spanned a weekend, I was given the opportunity to take a trip around Livermore and the Bay Area. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> With the design of the recorder approved, the Sandia laboratory in Albuquerque was ready to take our drawings and fabricate the maze of specialized components we'd asked for. >> [music] >> You get a feeling of real accomplishment as you work alongside the various departments developing your ideas to the point where they take on form and substance. As these parts arrive from the various shops and labs, the design engineering team starts assembly of the pilot model. >> [music] [music] >> Bit by bit, all the work of many skilled brains and hands will come into focus in the finished model of the new recorder. >> [bell] >> We were now at one of the most important stages of development. Testing the performance characteristics of the various components as a single operating unit. When the testing is successful, carefully prepared specifications and drawings will be made >> [music] >> and our purchasing department will send out bid requests to electronic manufacturers. Well, developing the recorder was certainly an absorbing job, but I didn't work on it 7 days a week. There was a lot to do and see, so we turned weekends into little vacations and went exploring like true tourists. As a place to live and work, Albuquerque is pretty hard to beat. It combines the easy-going atmosphere of a little Spanish town with a surging vitality of a modern metropolis. And underneath it all is a liberal measure of sophistication and culture. The Civic Auditorium in Albuquerque compares with that of many a larger city. We're looking forward to concerts, plays, and other events. Speaking of culture, the University of New Mexico is practically on our doorstep. This is very important to many of us who work at Sandia, since the company not only encourages you to take graduate work in your field, but also pays part of the cost. 70 years before the Declaration of Independence was signed, the governor of New Spain gave this town its name. He christened it La Villa de San Felipe de Neri de Albuquerque. But that proved too big a mouthful for the early settlers to handle. All that remains of the original village is a charming little spot called Old Town. Here the centuries-old traditions of the Spanish people met and mingled with the culture of the new West. Shops that once featured buckskins, muskets, and saddles now cater to the souvenir hunter. [music] I've been warned about taking women of any age window shopping, especially when it comes to dolls. In Zuni Indian lore, the Kachina doll is older than Albuquerque itself, yet has irresistible appeal for today's little girl. Many people, some famous, some notorious, came this [music] way. Billy the Kid, Jim Bridger, and Kit Carson to name a few. Some, like Kit Carson, stayed to build and spend their declining years, remaining part of the Southwest >> [music] >> forever. Preceding the adventurers into this land were the padres who left a permanent mark in the form of missions and churches. These structures were the center of community life for Spaniard and Indian alike. Typical of these communities is the Pueblo of Taos, almost the same today as it was 200 years ago. The ancient traditions and culture of the original inhabitants have been carefully preserved through the years, unchanging and timeless. As we visited other pueblos and reservations, we had the feeling of having stepped back into another era. >> A few miles away from the Pueblo Indians are other Americans performing ceremonies of another kind. They are the snow worshipers. Some less skillful at travel customs than others. Sometimes it's nice to just watch the scenery. Ah, well, back to work. The first production models of our data recorder were coming in and had to be checked out. The prototype model had survived the tests, but production models were something else again and had to be tested all over. The recorder came through all the lab checks in good order. It was now ready for use as an important research and development tool recording the performance characteristics of the electronic components mounted in this test vehicle to be fired on Sandia's >> [music] >> rocket sled track. We checked every circuit and connection. When final calibration was completed, everyone returned to the control point to wait for shot time. The time is now X minus 15 seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The test is successful and another important phase of research and development has been completed. Though the shape and its components no longer exist, a detailed record of the event has been captured on film and tape for later evaluation. From this and similar tests will come the information needed to verify or modify the design for a new weapon system. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> But the job is never really finished. Be it the design of nuclear warheads for missiles or developing methods for the prospective use of explosive power of nuclear detonations to blast and develop new harbors and canals for commerce. Or harnessing the energy of underground detonations for generating power, producing isotopes, or facilitating mining or oil production. The scientists and engineers of Sandia in cooperation with Los Alamos and the Lawrence Radiation Lab will continue to research and develop, to design and refine. Their goal, to obtain the necessary scientific technical knowledge which will assist in providing the foundation for the free world's nuclear defense today and to contribute to the scientific and industrial for the of [music] tomorrow. This is the Sandia story. >> [music] [music] [music] [music]