The Material So Classified We Forgot How to Make It

Summary by Krater

This video explores Fogbank, a classified material used in thermonuclear warheads, detailing its history, production challenges, and how the National Nuclear Security Administration spent eight years and $92 million to successfully reverse-engineer and recertify it.

From the video

Answers: What is Fogbank and why did it cost the US government millions to recreate?

• Fogbank
• thermonuclear warheads
• National Nuclear Security Administration
• aerogels
• reverse engineering

What it concludes

• Fogbank is an aerogel used as an interstage between the fission and fusion parts of a thermonuclear bomb.
• The NNSA spent eight years and $92 million attempting to reverse-engineer Fogbank after historical manufacturing knowledge was lost.
• The initial failure to reproduce Fogbank in 2007 was caused by lower impurity levels resulting from a modern cleaning process.
• In 2008, the NNSA recertified the Fogbank production process after adding back the specific chemical impurity.