Sandia National Laboratories has developed a high-security mobile vault to be rapidly deployed and safeguard critical minerals in remote locations, according to a July 15 press release by the lab.
The project is in response to a request by the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Stockpile Responsiveness Program, and is led by Sandia’s Transportation Safeguards and Surety Program.
The vault is held inside a 20-foot shipping container, and the process for designing, constructing and demonstrating the first prototype took six months. Additionally, the first model is on a 1-to-14 scale of the vault in the shipping container, and includes a ramp and “miniature mock weapons.”
“Now, 15 similar models are on the desks of leaders in the U.S. Combatant Commands, the Pentagon and U.S. Strategic Command,” Sandia manager Stephen Neidigk said in the release.
