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Lab garners five technology commercialization grants

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have posted another banner year securing major grants through the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). “I think the Laboratory did very well again, reflecting a variety of types and approaches to our research and development projects,” said Rich Rankin, the director of…

R-cubed: Revolutionizing the present, anticipating the future

The Post-Detonation Rapid Response Research Venture — also known as R-cubed or R3 — is combining basic research and development of emergent technologies, predictive capabilities and systems assessment to revolutionize the speed and flexibility of technical nuclear forensic (TNF) response to nuclear events. The venture is a multi-laboratory collaboration led by Lawrence…

Lawrence Livermore develops promising antidote for nerve agent exposure

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a new, versatile antidote to counteract exposure to nerve agent poisoning. The work, appearing in the journal Scientific Reports, was the result of a highly iterative process built in collaboration between LLNL’s Global Security Directorate, its Forensic Science Center and the U.S. Army Medical…

The institutional response to 9/11 – with 'our track shoes on'

Editor's note: The following is part of a series of articles looking back at the Lab's response immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks and our contributions since that day 20 years ago. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) “response” to the tragic events on Sept. 11, 2001, actually began in July 1992 with the formation of the Nonproliferation, Arms Control…

NARAC at forefront in a post-9/11 world

Editor’s note: The following is part of a series of articles looking back at the Lab's response immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks and our contributions since that day 20 years ago. From keeping Americans safe at national events to assisting with international disasters, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center …

How BASIS grew into the BioWatch system

Editor's note: The following is part of a series of articles looking back at the Lab's response immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks and our contributions since that day 20 years ago. Less than a month after 9/11, 14 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) employees received calls at their homes at 1 a.m. on a Saturday morning (Oct. 6, 2001) and were asked to…

Diagnostic capability allows scientists to create X-ray movies

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are working on a new diagnostic capability that will provide, for the first time, the ability to make X-ray radiographic movies. The first experiment testing the principle, dubbed the Bipolar Reset Experiment (BIRX), was conducted at LLNL’s Flash X-Ray (FXR) deep-penetration radiographic facility at Site 300. The…

Lawrence Livermore team captures data from unarmed Minuteman III test launch

A team from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) successfully collected data from the recent operational test of an Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The purpose of the ICBM test launch program is to validate and verify the safety, security, effectiveness and…

Lawrence Livermore team captures data from unarmed Minuteman III test launch

Simulating nuclear cloud rise anywhere, anytime

For decades, understanding the behavior of a nuclear mushroom cloud was done with careful analysis of observations made during the testing era. Old photos, outdated film and incomplete weather data made precise calculations difficult. Now, with results published in Atmospheric Environment, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are improving our…

LLNL earn 'A' grade in OPCW biomedical proficiency test

It wasn’t an easy road, but Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Forensic Science Center scientists earned an “A” grade in the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) recent biomedical proficiency test. In addition to the usual complexity of the sample preparations and analysis, the Livermore scientists received their proficiency test samples…

Bradley Wallin selected to lead Weapons and Complex Integration

Bradley Wallin has been named Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) principal associate director (PAD) for Weapons and Complex Integration (WCI), Lab Director Kimberly Budil announced today. In this role, Wallin will lead the Laboratory's nuclear weapons program in its responsibilities to support U.S. strategic deterrence by assuring the safety, security and…

LLNL and KCNSC team up to accelerate design-to-deployment with new polymer production enclave

A polymer production enclave, in partnership with the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is on budget and on schedule to bring modern technology into the Nuclear Security Enterprise. The enclave will enable rapid development of design and production processes of polymer parts for modernization programs. This…

LLNL and KCNSC team up to accelerate design-to-deployment with new polymer production enclave

Nuclear forensics international group holds 25th anniversary meeting

Several Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists played key roles in the 25th annual meeting of the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group (ITWG), which met last month. The event, which was conducted in a virtual setting for the first time, was attended by more than 100 experts from 30 countries and highlighted the group’s notable…

LLNL’s Tactically Responsive Launch-2 payload launched into orbit

When the U.S. Space Force’s Tactically Responsive Launch-2 (TacRL-2) mission launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 13, it carried a payload designed and built in record time by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). LLNL provided a three-mirror reflective telescope and sensor for the payload, which they designed, integrated, tested and delivered within…

LLNL/Tyvak space telescope goes into orbit

Thousands of images of Earth and space have been taken by a compact space imaging payload developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers and its collaborator Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems. Known as GEOStare2, the payload has two space telescopes that together have taken more than 4,500 pictures for space domain awareness, astronomy and Earth…

Army reservists a vital part of Lab’s workforce

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) joins in the celebration of the U.S. Army birthday on June 14. Created in 1775, the army originally consisted of volunteer soldiers with roots to the Continental Army — and was formed to fight the Revolutionary War. Today, as the largest branch of the country’s military, the proud men and women of the U.S. Army continue to…

Advanced Data Analytics for Proliferation Detection shares technical advances during two-day meeting

The Advanced Data Analytics for Proliferation Detection (ADAPD) program held a two-day virtual technical exchange meeting recently. The goal of the meeting was to highlight the science-based and data-driven analysis work conducted by ADAPD to advance the state-of-the-art to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and develop AI-enabled systems to enhance the…

Lawrence Livermore takes part in international planetary defense conference

Ten scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) last week took part in the 7th IAA Planetary Defense Conference (PDC), hosted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in cooperation with the European Space Agency. Megan Bruck Syal, who helped lead the Lab’s participation in the event and who also was a conference session chair, said this year…