HILL AIR FORCE BASE -- A unit at Hill Air Force Base is playing a major role in a massive Air Force effort to demilitarize more than 100,000 nuclear weapons components by next fall.
Under a $35 million, five-year plan funded by the Air Force Chief of Staff, Air Force Materiel Command sites are removing excess nuclear assets from the Air Force inventory to save the Department of Defense money and keep sensitive material from falling into the wrong hands.
As of July 31, officials have successfully disposed of 45,000 nuclear weapon components in 2009.
Their goal is to eliminate a large backlog of nuclear weapons components by destroying another 52,000 by Sept. 30, 2010.
The base's 526th Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Group is responsible for storing, handling, transporting, and in some cases, destroying these excess components.
"(Components) are deemed excess when authorities phase out a weapon system from the active inventory," said Dawn Sutton, deputy director of the 526th ICBM Group.
"Age of the system, cost of maintenance, spare parts availability, applicability of the system's missions and a system's safety record, are all consideration in making that decision."
Sutton said the demilitarization program saves money that would otherwise be spent to store, secure, inventory, and maintain the components.
"It also allows the Air Force to manage remaining nuclear weapons-related material with greater reliability and security," she said.
The ICBM unit has nearly 400 civilians and 70 active-duty military personnel dedicated to the mission.
"In the case of classified assets, we perform the actions required to prevent reverse-engineering of the designs," Sutton said. "All nuclear weapons-related materiel is tightly controlled throughout the demilitarization process."
Sutton said the demilitarization work includes more than just destroying the components.
"Demilitarization doesn't always mean disposal," she said. "It can also mean redistributing, transferring or donating.
For example, some of our former assets, such as the Peacekeeper Missile system, have become helpful historical references and are on display in museums throughout the world."
The Air Force News contributed to this story.
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