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Defense

Gioconda receives NNSA Gold Award

In recognition of more than 40 years of service to the U.S. Air Force, Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration, Tom Gioconda has been awarded the NNSA Administrator’s Gold Medal. Gioconda, who recently stepped down as deputy director of the Lab, received his award from NNSA Administrator Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty in early December in Washington, D.C…

Join the largest online wargaming event ever

The Project on Nuclear Gaming (PoNG) is hosting an online playfest for its first game, SIGNAL, a video game focused on understanding the issues surrounding nuclear deterrence and strategic stability. Thousands have signed up to play SIGNAL since the public launch in May 2019 and the experimental wargaming concept has been featured in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists…

Lab director names UC Vice President Kim Budil to lead Weapons and Complex Integration

Kim Budil has been named Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s new principal associate director for Weapons & Complex Integration (WCI), Director Bill Goldstein announced on Tuesday. The appointment is effective Feb. 4. Budil will lead the Laboratory’s nuclear weapons program in its responsibilities to ensure the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s…

Harold Brown: Nuclear deterrence pioneer and former Lab director leaves indelible legacy

An intellectual giant who led development of technologies that modernized nuclear deterrence and played integral roles during the most dramatic moments of the Cold War while serving under four U.S. presidents, Harold Brown’s life was indelibly intertwined with national security. The physicist, former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory director and secretary of Defense…

Scientists design conceptual asteroid deflector and evaluate it against massive potential threat

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are part of a national planetary defense team that designed a conceptual spacecraft to deflect Earth-bound asteroids and evaluated whether it would be able to nudge a massive asteroid – which has a remote chance to hitting Earth in 2135 – off course. The design and case study are outlined in a paper published…

Foster Medal awarded to Victor H. Reis, 'architect' of Stockpile Stewardship Program

It was 1993. The Cold War was over. The U.S. had declared a moratorium on nuclear testing, and a new strategy of ensuring the safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear deterrent would soon be needed. Victor "Vic" Reis, then the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary of Defense Programs, added the phrase "science-based" to what Congress had begun calling "stockpile…

Victor H. Reis to be awarded John S. Foster Jr. Medal for contributions to nuclear security

For more than 50 years, Victor Reis has dedicated his career to advancing science and technology in support of U.S. national security. In recognition of his outstanding leadership and service to the nation, he has been named the third recipient of the John S. Foster Jr. Medal. Established by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) and bestowed on an annual basis…

Lab physicist's sensor work wins DARPA award

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) named Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory engineer and physicist Vincent Tang as a Program Manager of the Year for 2016, recognizing him for leading a program involving multiple agencies to develop and deploy networked sensors for dynamic, real-time radiological and nuclear threat detection over large urban areas…

Lab helps field source physics experiment

A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) team played a key role in fielding the recent Source Physics Experiment (SPE-6) detonated at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). This SPE-6 test, was conducted Oct. 12 and was the last of a series of six underground, high-explosive tests conducted in a borehole in hard rock. The SPE is a set of experiments designed to…

Lab physicist receives DoD award

Lab employee Craig Wuest has received one of the top civilian awards from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). A citation accompanying the award - the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service – highlights Wuest’s work to strengthen DoD’s nuclear survivability posture and his role as executive secretary for the Defense Science Board Task…

The art of shaping experimental design

A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers was honored with the Neill Griffiths Award this month, recognizing the most significant contribution to shaped charge technology. The award was presented at the annual International Symposium on Ballistics.The research helped solve a challenge Shell International Exploration and Production faced: how to…

From grassland to 21st century science

Sixty years ago, the UC Radiation Laboratory began testing high explosives at what would become one of the nation’s most sophisticated non-nuclear weapons testing sites, an 11 square-mile plot of rural grassland tucked away in the steep ravines and tawny rolling hills near the Alameda-San Joaquin County line.On Thursday, Site 300 celebrated its 60th anniversary, with a…

Lawrence Livermore receives prestigious defense industry recognition

LIVERMORE, Calif. - The Precision Strike Association (PSA) has awarded the 18th annual William J. Perry Award to the BLU-129/B team, which includes researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The award honors the immediate and long-term impact the BLU-129/B has had and will have on combat operations. The team includes contributors from LLNL, United…

Livermore team successfully leads important test of a conventional warhead for the DoD

LLNL served as technical lead and integrator on an important test to assess a new conventional warhead designed by the Lab. Dave Hare, Livermore's program manager of the test, called it an "unequivocal success." Below is the press release from the Department of Defense Defense Department successfully conducts warhead sled test The Defense Department announced recently the…