Ignition experiment advances stockpile stewardship mission

Third in a series of articles describing the elements of the National Ignition Facility’s fusion breakthrough. When scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved fusion ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) on Dec. 5, 2022 — an extraordinary scientific breakthrough that was decades in the making — the primary mission and driving goal behind the experiment...

LLNL team demonstrates anisotropic explosive properties in key weapon safety study

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers led a multi-institutional team in executing a series of high explosives tests that successfully demonstrated fundamental principles of anisotropy, a possible enabler for improved weapon and munition safety. Working under snowy and frigid conditions on Idaho’s Snake River Plain, a 13-member team from LLNL carried out...

W80-4 program achieves key review milestone

The W80-4 Life Extension Program team in November successfully executed the Preliminary Design Review and Acceptance Group (PDRAAG) review at the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center on Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Review by the PDRAAG is a critical mid-program review with the Department of Defense to show the warhead baseline design complies with DOD requirements...

LLNL researchers observe that ions behave differently in fusion reactions

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have discovered that ions behave differently in fusion reactions than previously expected, thus providing important insights for the future design of a laser­–fusion energy source. The findings are featured in a new paper in the Nov. 14 issue of Nature Physics and is titled “Evidence for suprathermal ion distribution in...

Lab’s DART team members recollect asteroid impact as NASA confirms mission altered the asteroid’s orbit

It was a scene right out of the movies. NASA’s DART spacecraft successfully impacted its asteroid target in the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration at 4:14 p.m. (PDT) on Sept. 26. Two weeks after impact, NASA has confirmed the mission changed the asteroid’s motion in space. “We were anxiously awaiting the spacecraft’s final hours with the DART Investigation Team...

Lab’s Tom Ramos reflects on ‘From Berkeley to Berlin’

Physicist Tom Ramos has had several roles for the past 40 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He served as a member of the nuclear team that developed the X-ray laser for President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, he supported United States arms control negotiations for START, and over a span of seventeen years he created and ran a program for the Department of Defense...

The people of stockpile stewardship are the key to LLNL’s success

The last nuclear test, code-named Divider, took place 30 years ago, on Sept. 23, 1992. That year, President Bush declared a temporary moratorium on nuclear testing, which became permanent during the Clinton administration. This ending of the era of nuclear testing was also the beginning of stockpile stewardship. Leaders from the Department of Energy (DOE), and Lawrence Livermore, Los...

Scientific discovery for stockpile stewardship

Scientific discovery during the Stockpile Stewardship Program maintains confidence in the nuclear deterrent without testing, brings other benefits The last nuclear test, code-named Divider, took place 30 years ago, on September 23, 1992. That year, President Bush declared a temporary moratorium on nuclear testing, which became permanent during the Clinton administration. This...

Developing technology to keep the nuclear stockpile safe, secure and reliable

The last nuclear test, code-named Divider, took place 30 years ago, on Sept. 23, 1992. That year, President Bush declared a temporary moratorium on nuclear testing, which became permanent in 1995, during the Clinton administration. This ending of the era of nuclear testing coincided with a Presidential announcement of the beginning of stockpile stewardship. As the decision to...

30 years later, Hunters Trophy participants recall LLNL’s final underground nuclear test

The year was 1992. At 10 a.m. on a balmy September morning in the desolate Nevada desert, a countdown began. And for a few brief moments, the ground violently shook. In a NASA-esque control room at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineer Jack Cutting watched as monitors and oscilloscopes began sending back data collected on the blast, the result...

Researchers successfully execute Miramar experiment to support U.S. stockpile modernization efforts

A multi-institutional team of researchers and collaborators successfully executed an integrated vessel confinement system (VCS) experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), as part of an experimental campaign to study how nuclear materials react to high explosives without conducting a traditional nuclear test. The experiment — dubbed Miramar — was an extensive collaboration...

EMC: Celebrating three decades of explosive innovation

For 30 years, the Laboratory’s Energetic Materials Center (EMC) has built critical expertise, enabling scientific investigation in support of the nuclear deterrent and keeping the nation safe from emerging explosives and nuclear proliferation.  On June 23, the EMC will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its founding. Recognizing that expertise in high explosives (HEs) — a type of...

Polymer Production Enclave fully operational

Through a strong partnership between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), a new concept of concurrent engineering and accelerated development became a reality with the start of an enclave designed to deliver key components for the U.S. nuclear warhead modernization programs.  Completed in 2021 as a state-of-the-art design and...

LLNL garners 'A' grade in OPCW environmental test

Even after taking highly stressful exams in college, grades can still be important. Just ask researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Forensic Science Center (FSC). Every fall, chemists and other researchers from the FSC spend two weeks of long days undertaking the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) environmental proficiency test. Livermore...

LLNL and Y-12 partner to accelerate production, innovation for U.S. nuclear deterrent

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Y-12 National Security Complex have teamed up to rapidly modernize legacy technology and production methods of crucial components for the U.S. nuclear deterrent.   A leading example of this collaboration is the recent successful installation and testing of the electron beam cold hearth melter (EBCHM) – a machine that can melt and cast...

Lab’s ACT-UP awards focus on collaborative university research

With a focus on increasing joint research efforts between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and universities, the Lab’s Weapon Physics and Design (WPD) Academic Collaboration Team University Program (ACT-UP) has presented this year’s ACT-UP awards. Now in its third year, the ACT-UP awards were created to encourage and advance strategic partnerships among universities with a focus on...

Radiation to cancer patients in a ‘FLASH’

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have shown for the first time the potential for linear induction accelerators (LIAs) to deliver effective, targeted doses of “FLASH” radiation to cancer patients. The new technique selectively kills cancer cells with minimal damage to healthy cells. The approach is outlined in a Scientific Reports paper. For decades, cancer...

Nuclear weapons technology for a new generation of policymakers

Policymaking for nuclear security requires a strong grasp of the associated technical matters. That grasp came naturally in the early decades of the nuclear era, when scientists and engineers were deeply engaged in policymaking. Yet in the last few decades, the scientists and engineers who conceived, built and executed the programs that created the existing U.S. nuclear deterrent faded...

Lawrence Livermore’s pressing operations with high explosives reach new milestones

High explosive (HE) research, development, test and evaluation work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) continues to meet the needs of the nation on behalf of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). One specific effort is the HE pressing capability, which is a critical component of the LLNL’s national security mission. The scope of the Lab’s HE mission...

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 team has been...