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Nuclear deterrence
First W87-1 plutonium pit backed by LLNL design leadership
As announced by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the First Production Unit (FPU) of a plutonium pit for the W87-1 Modification Program at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was verified as complete on Oct. 1. This first fully qualified plutonium pit for the W87-1 nuclear warhead was “diamond stamped” after meeting all…
Franklin Miller awarded Livermore’s 2024 John S. Foster Medal
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Director Kim Budil today announced that the 2024 John S. Foster, Jr. Medal is awarded to Franklin Miller, a principal at The Scowcroft Group. The ninth recipient of the prestigious Foster Award, Miller is recognized for his exceptional and inspirational career dedicated to national security, defense policy and international…
All ears on the Big Ideas Lab podcast
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has big ideas and is showing the world in the Big Ideas Lab weekly podcast that takes listeners behind the fences and into its heart. “This is where big ideas come to life,” said Lab Director Kim Budil. “To do this, we bring together dynamic teams of many different disciplines — laser physicists and materials scientists and…
Research confirms importance of symmetry in pre-ignition fusion experiments
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have retrospectively confirmed that implosion asymmetry was a major aspect for fusion experiments before achieving ignition for the first time at the Lab’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s most energetic laser. The findings were recently detailed in a Nature Communications paper titled “The impact of…
It’s getting hot in here: lasers deliver powerful shocking punch
Shock experiments are widely used to understand the mechanical and electronic properties of matter under extreme conditions, like planetary impacts by meteorites. However, after the shock occurs, a clear description of the post-shock thermal state and its impacts on material properties is still lacking. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists used ultra…
Fusion Power Associates honors Bruno Van Wonterghem
Bruno Van Wonterghem, operations manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF), was awarded a 2024 Distinguished Career Award by Fusion Power Associates (FPA). FPA board of directors recognized Van Wonterghem “for his decades of tenacious dedication to scientific and operational excellence in bringing both the LLNL Beamlet and…
LLNL’s Tammy Ma shares fusion energy vision with TED
What would you do with the largest laser in the world? That’s the question Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicist Tammy Ma posed to the audience on the mainstage at the influential TED conference held in April in Vancouver. In the talk, which was publicly released today, Ma shared her answer: bringing about a world powered by laser-based fusion energy,…
LLNL researchers uncover key to resolving long-standing ICF hohlraum drive deficit
A team of researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has made advancements in understanding and resolving the long-standing "drive-deficit" problem in indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. This discovery could pave the way for more accurate predictions and improved performance in fusion experiments at the National Ignition Facility…
Unravelling the chemistry of heavy elements
Molecular compounds with heavy elements, like americium, curium and others can now be synthesized in a streamlined and efficient way thanks to a new technique developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers. The new pathway can help scientists perform serial chemistry with radioactive elements and could be used to speed up R&D for nuclear waste…
When experiments go quiet: maintaining the National Ignition Facility
For two weeks last April, the lasers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility stopped firing. Experiments may have been on pause, but the facility was anything but quiet. “To do world-class science, you need a world-class facility. And you can’t just maintain that facility, you must anticipate problems and seek out improvements,” said Stanley…
LLNL delivers compact dual-band telescope for launch this summer
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) space hardware team has delivered a payload for NASA’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-R (PTD-R) satellite. LLNL developed the optical payload, called Deep Purple, that utilizes a new design for an ultra-violet (UV) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) monolithic telescope. The mission will demonstrate simultaneous monolithic UV…
DOE, LLNL take center stage at inaugural artificial-intelligence expo
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Director Kim Budil and other LLNL staff joined Department of Energy (DOE) Deputy Secretary David Turk, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator Jill Hruby, DOE Under Secretary for Science and Innovation Geraldine Richmond, DOE Director of the Office of Critical and Emerging Technologies Helena Fu, U.S…
FAA awards first approval for drone swarm testing
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Autonomous Sensors team has received the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) first and — to date — only certificate of authorization (COA) allowing autonomous drone swarming exercises on the Lab main campus. These flights will test swarm controls and sensor payloads used in a variety of national security applications…
LLNL leads successful execution of subcritical experiment in Nevada
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) recently led the successful execution of the first U.S. subcritical experiment (SCE) since 2021 at the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation (PULSE) facility, formerly known as the U1a Complex, at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The last LLNL-led SCE was in February 2019. The experiment —…
Jupiter Laser Facility gets a reboot
Fifty years ago, the first laser, Janus, was installed in Building 174 (renamed the Jupiter Laser Facility in 2006) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Additional lasers, more than 100 Ph.D.s granted time on the system and thousands of international users later, the Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF) celebrated its grand reopening Thursday after a four-year refurbishment,…
Lab scientist wins Springer Thesis Award for work in neutrino research
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) postdoc Sam Hedges has won a 2024 Springer Thesis Award for his work in searching for the elusive neutrino. “I’m honored that my thesis was nominated for this award, and was excited when I found out it had won,” Hedges said. His thesis, “Low Energy Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions at the Spallation Neutron Source," highlights the…
Comic book tells the story of ignition
A new comic book from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) illustrator John Jett tells the story of how a Lab experiment at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) made history. This 2024 issue of Ignition is an exciting sequel to Jett’s award-winning comic book, released in 2018, that made the scientific research conducted at NIF accessible to a broad range of…
Strategic Deterrence Academic Collaboration Team awards six scientists to support collaborative research
Six scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) were recently granted awards through the Lab’s 2023 Academic Collaboration Team (ACT) annual call for proposals. Awards support university research partners for up to three years to perform research in collaboration with Lab scientists and offer an important way to build long-term connections with…
Excellence recognized at NNSA Defense Programs Awards for 2022 achievements
In a virtual ceremony held Dec. 14, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recognized six teams of LLNL researchers with the Defense Programs Award of Excellence. One additional award was acknowledged following the ceremony. The awards commend outstanding contributions made in calendar year 2022. LLNL Deputy…
Watching aluminum’s reaction under extreme pressure
Understanding laser material interactions has applications that include inertial confinement fusion, material research and equation of state studies. Laser ablation, and specifically increasing the pressure that can be achieved from a laser system, is a longstanding topic of scientific research with implications ranging from damage in layered devices like solar cells and…
