Back
Defense
Defense Programs Awards of Excellence recognize innovation and achievements in 2021
In virtual ceremonies held May 4 and June 26, Marvin Adams, deputy administrator for Defense Programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), honored individuals and teams at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and partner sites for their outstanding contributions to nuclear security. The Defense Programs Awards of Excellence recognition events…
Sandia and LLNL team successfully execute second W80-4 abnormal thermal environment test
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) recently successfully executed the second joint abnormal thermal environment (ATE-2) test for the W80-4 Life Extension Program (LEP). Carried out at Sandia’s Cross Wind Test Facility in New Mexico, ATE-2 was a fast-heat, fully engulfing system-level fuel fire test, the first for LLNL in…
W80-4 Life Extension Program enters Phase 6.4, production engineering
In March, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration's Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs approved the W80-4 Life Extension Program (LEP) to transition into Phase 6.4, Production Engineering. The W80-4 LEP achieved Phase 6.4 entry following successful execution of the Preliminary Design Review and Acceptance Group Review and the System…
#YourPlaceInSpace: LLNL planetary defender promotes career opportunities in the federal space workforce
Planetary defense physicist Megan Bruck Syal on Wednesday represented Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) at “Space STEM Task Force Pathways to the Federal Space Workforce,” an outreach event hosted by the National Science Foundation. Multiple federal government agencies came together in a virtual interactive session to provide information for students, early…
Study looks at velocity impact to asteroid Dimorphos
The first peer-reviewed results from NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission were published Wednesday by Nature, including contributions from LLNL’s planetary defense team. The DART spacecraft executed a successful hypervelocity impact of 150-meter asteroid Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022. Analysis by Earth-based telescopes determined that the impact…
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…
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…
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…
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…
National security community honors Miriam John as 2022 Foster Medal recipient
Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary for Nuclear Security Jill Hruby joined fellow luminaries in the national nuclear security community at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) on Sept. 8 to honor Miriam “Mim” John, recipient of the 2022 John S. Foster, Jr. Medal. John, vice president emerita of Sandia National Laboratories, became the first woman awarded…
Lab internship program bridges gap between degree and military service
Justin Witkowski came to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for a unique internship opportunity, one that would allow him to gain some practical experience during the gap between completing his undergraduate degree and starting his military career in the Navy. Witkowski started his LLNL internship in February under the Academic Cooperation Program (ACP). ACP…
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…
Two LLNL scientists chosen for 2022 DOE Project Leadership Institute
The Department of Energy (DOE) Project Leadership Institute (PLI) has selected Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Lara Leininger and Al Churby as 2022 cohort participants. Members of the PLI cohort have demonstrated their expertise as technical, business systems or project leaders, with significant experience and responsibility for project or organization performance…
Lawrence Livermore takes part in NASA’s first planetary defense test
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is taking part in NASA’s first-ever planetary defense test, which deliberately collides a spacecraft into an asteroid called Dimorphos. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will examine technologies that will prevent an impact of Earth by a hazardous asteroid. DART is the first demonstration of the kinetic impactor…
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…
Lab veterans share perspectives of 9/11
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 (LLNL) has always been a place for veterans looking for a rewarding career, during or after their military service has ended. Many don’t realize…
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…
