Our battery designs have been used in all nuclear weapon systems since the mid 1950s. During the last 15 years, we have also conducted major research and development programs with industry for advanced rechargeable batteries for commercial applications. The thermally activated battery was introduced in 1955 to solve the wet-stand time limitation of the aqueous systems. Subsequently, we have used thermal battery technology as the main power source for nuclear weapon systems. Safety and environmental concerns are primary considerations in all of our research and development projects.
Reliability is also an important aspect of our battery design and development activities.
This priority stems from the stringent reliability requirements associated with nuclear weapon systems. While the emphasis on safety and reliability is directly reflected in the primary and reserve battery technologies used in weapon applications, it also carries over into the rechargeable technologies being developed for commercial energy storage applications. Lithium batteries are the most common electrochemical technology used at Sandia. Sandia started developing and evaluating ambient-temperature lithium systems in 1972 for various applications. This activity has evolved into a significant part of the Power Sources Technology Group.