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Strategic Deterrence

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…

Laboratory's role in underground explosives tests will help nation's detection capabilities

A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) team played a leading role in fielding the recent Source Physics Experiment (SPE-4 Prime) detonated at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The SPE tests, including the most recent one on May 21, consist of a series of seven underground, high-explosive field tests in hard rock that are designed to improve the United…

Lara Leininger named director of Laboratory's Energetic Materials Center

Lara Leininger has been selected to lead Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Energetic Materials Center (EMC).Created 25 years ago, the EMC’s mission is to integrate state-of-the-art capabilities in high explosives, propellants, thermites and pyrotechnics for the benefit of the Stockpile Stewardship Program and other National Nuclear Security Administration…

Lawrence Livermore scientist develops uncrackable code for nuclear weapons

Mark Hart, a scientist and engineer in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Defense Technologies Division, has been awarded the 2015 Surety Transformation Initiative (STI) Award from the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Enhanced Surety Program.The STI award aims to stimulate and encourage the development of potentially transformational nuclear…

Lab engineer receives Air Force award

Lab engineer Scott Couture has received an award for Meritorious Civilian Service from the U.S. Air Force for his work as principal adviser for Nuclear Plans and Policies to the Under Secretary of the Air Force.Under Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning presented the award to Couture during a Lab ceremony on Friday, Oct. 24."Scott has done a good job of teeing up the…

STEM women part of tri-lab team cutting boundaries

The Department of Energy's 17 national laboratories employ brilliant minds, addressing the greatest science and technology issues facing our planet from climate change and energy solutions to space exploration to national security. Amid these are three nuclear weapons laboratories that share the critical responsibilities of ensuring the safety, security and effectiveness…

Laboratory publishes national security book

LLNL has published its first electronic book, or e-book. The 139-page book, "Strategic Latency and World Power: How Technology is Changing Our Concepts of Security," has been published by the Lab through its Center for Global Security Research (CGSR). Book editors are Zachary Davis, a senior fellow at CGSR; Ron Lehman, a former CGSR director and an adviser to the director;…

Celebrating 25 years of high explosive research

This year, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) High Explosives Applications Facility (HEAF) celebrates a milestone - 25 years as a center of excellence for the research, development, synthesis, formulation and characterization of explosives. The creation of HEAF stemmed from the recognition that the high explosives (HE) facilities at the Lab were old and…

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…

White captures second award for nuclear forensics work

For the second time, Lab physicist Roger White, a designer in B-Division from the Weapons and Complex Integration (WCI) Directorate, has received an award from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for his work in post-detonation nuclear forensics.White was named the "top contributor of the quarter" for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2013 (April-June, 2013) for…

Physicist Jim Hammer receives prestigious Edward Teller Award

Jim Hammer, a physicist in the Weapons and Complex Integration Directorate (WCI) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is a recipient of the 2013 Edward Teller Medal.The Fusion Energy Division of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) presented the award recently during the International Inertial Fusion Science Applications (IFSA) conference in Nara, Japan. Hammer was…

Laser fusion experiment yields record energy at LLNL's National Ignition Facility

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- In the early morning hours of Aug.13, Lawrence Livermore's National Ignition Facility (NIF) focused all 192 of its ultra-powerful laser beams on a tiny deuterium-tritium filled capsule. In the nanoseconds that followed, the capsule imploded and released a neutron yield of nearly 3x10 15 , or approximately 8,000 joules of neutron energy -- approximately…

Charles Verdon selected as Lawrence Livermore principal associate director for Weapons & Complex Integration

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Parney Albright has selected Charles Verdon as principal associate director for Weapons & Complex Integration . Verdon has served in this position in an acting capacity since April 2013."Charlie brings an extraordinarily broad national security technical leadership background and expertise to this…

'Route 66 to the Atomic West' class visits the Lab

It's the road trip of a lifetime. One professor and 19 students traveling through 11 states in 27 days across the American West to develop an in-depth understanding of western Cold War, urban and cultural history."Route 66 to the Atomic West" is a class offered by the University of West Florida (UWF) in Pensacola, Fla. Taught by Patrick Moore, UWF public history program…

Lab scientist and engineers train to be inspectors for Test Ban Treaty Organization

The Laboratory's Don Felske, Walter Dekin and Sean Ford have traveled to the corners of the globe to train as on-site surrogate inspectors for the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). Training has been held in Austria, Jordan, South Korea and, most recently, Hungary. Of the five U.S. surrogate inspectors selected for…

Nine scientists named Distinguished Members of Technical Staff

Nine Laboratory scientists have joined the ranks of 14 other researchers by being named members of the Lab's Distinguished Members of Technical Staff (DMTS) for their extraordinary scientific and technical contributions to the Laboratory and its missions as acknowledged by their professional peers and the larger community. Maya Gokhale of the Computation Directorate, Ernst…

Plutonium at 150 years

The article below presents a summary of ongoing work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The work is to assess how radioactive decay in plutonium affects its material properties as they relate to the performance of nuclear weapons. This work is a continuation of the joint plutonium aging study done by Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National laboratories. That…

LLNL technology wins award

A new technology developed by LLNL researchers for detecting nuclear materials has won a first place award in Government Security News magazine's fourth annual Homeland Security Awards competition. The Livermore technology -- the first plastic material capable of efficiently distinguishing neutrons from gamma rays -- was honored in the "best nuclear/radiation detection"…

Iraq strengthens commitment to safeguards agreement

Iraqi Ambassador to Austria Surood Rashid Najib has submitted an official letter from the Iraqi Foreign Minister to Yukiyo Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), announcing the ratification and entry into force of the Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement. For LLNL's Jonathan Essner of Global Security, this is…