US new nuke testing accelerator is 2.44 million pound, 400-foot long [Video]

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has begun assembly of a groundbreaking machine that will allow researchers to use real plutonium in experiments for studying the conditions immediately before the nuclear phase of a weapon’s functioning.

Upon completion, it will weigh an astonishing 2.44 million pounds. The machine is being built as part of the Scorpius Advanced Sources and Detection (ASD) project – which is aimed at understanding the behavior of the elements in nuclear weapons. Scorpius accelerator will play a key role in maintaining the nuclear stockpile.

Work that began on March 7 aims to build two accelerator modules for the Scorpius system, consisting of a 400-foot-long-linear accelerator being built at the Nevada National Security Site. Though a lengthy and complicated process, the …