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Strategic Deterrence
The Sierra Era
Lawrence Livermore’s high-performance computing (HPC) facilities house some of the fastest supercomputers in the world, including the flagship Sierra machine. Online for more than a year, Sierra primarily runs simulations for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Program. Sierra substantially increases the…
LLNL delivers ‘Scorpius’ pulsers amidst the pandemic
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers completed assembly and qualification of 16 prototype high-voltage solid state pulsed-power drivers (pulsers) in July, enabling the project to still meet the delivery schedule for the Scorpius radiography project, despite COVID-19 workplace restrictions. Eight of those pulsers were shipped to Sandia National…
Warhead replacement program passes first key milestone
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers passed their first program level key milestone in the W87-1 Modification Program (W87-1 Mod) on Sept. 24, keeping the program on schedule despite work stoppages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The W87-1 Mod will replace the W78 thermonuclear warhead with a modified design of the W87 warhead. The W78 is nearing the end…
Lab stands tall on bi-annual list of Top500 supercomputers
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) can lay claim to housing four of the world’s 100 most powerful supercomputers, more than any other institution according to the TOP500 List announced Monday during the virtual Supercomputing 2020 conference (SC20). The 125-petaFLOP peak Sierra, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s flagship supercomputer, remained…
Corona supercomputer gets funding for COVID-19 work
With funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), chipmaker AMD and information technology company Supermicro have upgraded the supercomputing cluster Corona, providing additional resources to scientists for COVID-19 drug discovery and vaccine research. The recent addition of nearly 1,000 AMD…
Work resumes in support of stockpile modernization
The effort to resume hands-on work in support of stockpile modernization programs reached a major milestone May 7 with the successful execution of a focused experiment at the High Explosives Applications Facility (HEAF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The experiment is the first using high explosives at the Laboratory since Alameda County issued a shelter…
Lecture explores planetary defense capabilities
WHO: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists Megan Bruck Syal and Mary Burkey, along with retired Los Gatos High School teacher Dan Burns, will present "Planetary Defense: Avoiding a Cosmic Catastrophe.” This is the third lecture in the 2020 Science on Saturday series that delves into the mysteries of space. WHAT: This talk will cover several scenarios…
Budil shares ‘unconventional lessons’ in new book
Kim Budil, principal associate director for Weapons and Complex Integration at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is one of 36 scientists and engineers to be featured in a new book titled, “Find Your Path: Unconventional Lessons from 36 Leading Scientists and Engineers.” The book offers personal accounts of challenges, struggles, successes, U-turns and…
Open for business: NNSA, LLNL celebrate the dedication of new Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory
Officials from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) gathered with elected leaders and industry professionals recently to dedicate and tour the Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory, a new collaborative hub intended to spur public-private partnerships. The $10 million, 14,000-square-foot facility, located in the…
Budil honored for her work in national security
Kim Budil, principal associate director for Weapons and Complex Integration at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has made a career of advancing national security science and strengthening the partnership between the national laboratory and the University of California (UC) system. In recognition of outstanding achievements in both academia and public service,…
DOE/NNSA, Lab announce partnership with Cray to develop NNSA's first exascale supercomputer
The Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) today announced the signing of contracts with Cray Inc. to build the NNSA’s first exascale supercomputer, "El Capitan." El Capitan will have a peak performance of more than 1.5 exaflops (1.5 quintillion calculations per second) and an…
New facilities to support stockpile stewardship
Leadership from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Livermore Field Office (LFO) and contractor Hensel Phelps broke ground earlier this month on the Applied Materials and Engineering (AME) campus at LLNL. The groundbreaking was for the start of new building construction in the 2200 block of the Laboratory and…
Subcritical experiment captures scientific measurements to advance stockpile safety
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) successfully executed its first subcritical experiment since 2003 on Feb. 13 at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) U1a facility. The experiment — dubbed "Ediza" — took place deep below the desert floor and was the culmination of a five-year campaign aimed at capturing high-fidelity plutonium data in support of nuclear…
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…
NIF experiments support warhead life extension
It was a normal morning for design physicist Madison Martin at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). At 7:45 a.m., she settled into her classified workstation with a cup of tea to check the results of a numerical calculation she ran overnight. If the calculations proved correct, the experiment she was designing on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) would deliver…
Uncovering secret structure to safer explosives
A team of scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has shown that the structure of microscopic pores in high explosive materials can significantly impact performance and safety. These findings -- published recently as the cover article in the journal Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics -- open the door to the possibility of tuning high explosives by…
Energy Secretary honors Lab scientist's contributions to stockpile stewardship
Secretary of Energy Rick Perry recognized Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) chemist Bill McLean with a Secretary’s Achievement Award Wednesday in recognition of "pioneering technical contributions that have led to significant advancements in science-based stockpile stewardship." The Secretary’s Honor Awards are bestowed on individuals who have a singular…
Warhead life extension passes key milestone
The program to extend the life of the W80 nuclear warhead recently achieved a significant milestone when the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) gave passing grades to the plans to refurbish certain components and the proposed approach to developing component cost estimates. Passing the milestone confirms that the life extension program (LEP), dubbed the W80-4…
LLNL scientist named ASME fellow
Fady Najjar, a design physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has been elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Najjar was recognized for "significant contributions and innovations in computational techniques for fluid flows, for advances in understanding of high-speed gas particle flows including shock physics, for…
Concussion study may 'change the game'
Researchers have identified evidence of early chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) brain pathology after head impact -- even in the absence of signs of concussion. Early indicators of CTE pathology not only persisted long after injury but also spread through the brain, providing the best evidence to date that head impact, not concussion, causes CTE. The findings,…
