Under certain stress conditions, the WPS may sustain various degrees of damage, usually from external sources, and much of this may be repaired to bring the systems back to flight status. Complete, irreparable, and rapid failure of one or more WPS components, however, constitutes a catastrophic failure. Standard procedures for dealing with major vehicle damage apply to WPS destruction and include but are not limited to safing any systems that could pose further danger to the ship, assessing WPS damage and collateral damage to the ship structures and systems, and sealing off hull breaches and other interior areas that are no longer habitable.

            Fuel and power supplies are automatically valved off at points upstream from the affected systems, according to computer and crew damage control assessments. Where feasible, crews will enter damaged areas in pressure suits to assure that damaged systems are rendered totally inert, and perform repairs on related systems as necessary. If the WPS is damaged in combat, crews can augment their normal pressure suits with additional flexible multiplayer armor for protection against unpredictable energy releases. Engineering personnel may elect to delay effecting system inerting until the ship can avoid further danger. Exact repair actions dealing with damaged WPS hardware will depend on the specifics of the situation.

            In some cases, damaged hardware is jettisoned, although security considerations will require the retention of the equipment whenever possible. In the event that all normal emergency procedures fail to contain massive WPS damage, including a multiplayer safety forcefield around the core, two final actions are possible. Both involve the ejection of the entire central WPS core, with the added possible ejection of the antimatter storage pod assembly. The first option is deliberate manual sequence initiation; the second, automatic computer activation.

            Core ejection will occur when pressure vessel damage is severe enough to breach the safety forcefield. Ejection will also occur if the damage threatens to overwhelm the structural integrity field system enough to prevent the safe retention of the core, whether or not the WPS continues to provide propulsive energy. The survival of the crew and the remainder of the starship is deemed in most cases to take priority over continued vessel operations. If the impulse propulsion system is operable, vessel movement may be possible to enhance survival prospects. Scenario-specific procedures within the main computer will suggest the proper actions leading to personnel rescue. During combat operations, the core will be commanded to self-destruct once a safe distance has been achieved.

            Damage sustained by the antimatter storage pod assembly may require its rapid ejection from the Engineering Hull. Since the antimatter reactant supply possesses the energy potential to vaporize the entire starship, multiply-redundant safety systems are in place to minimize the failure conditions of the pod containment devices. Structural or system failures the complete pod assembly would be propelled away from the ship. A manual ejection option, while retained in the emergency computer routines, is not generally regarded as workable in a crisis situation, due mainly to timing constraints related to magnetic valve and transfer piping purge events.