National Laboratory

WIPP Mine Rescue Team Train In Smoky Environment

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WIPP mine rescue team members practice emergency response activities in a simulated smoke-filled environment. Courtesy/WIPP

WIPP News:

WIPP mine rescue teams recently participated in an onsite rescue drill that tested their ability to perform emergency operations in a smoke filled environment.

Donning respiratory masks and oxygen tanks, team members entered a simulated smoke filled room and practiced emergency response procedures and actions that prepare them should a fire occur in the WIPP underground.

In a facility like WIPP, rescue teams must be prepared to handle underground Read More

In Landmark Achievement, DOE Projects Permanently Store 10 Million Metric Tons Of Carbon Dioxide

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DOE is capturing and storing CO2 from industrial plants. Courtesy/DOE

DOE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a landmark accomplishment, the U.S. Department of Energy is announcing that a group of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects supported by the Department have safely captured 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) – the equivalent of removing more than 2 million passenger vehicles from the nation’s roads for one year.

This milestone builds on the Obama administration’s goals of providing clean energy, supporting American jobs, and reducing emissions of carbon pollution. Rapid Read More

UNM-LA Hosts Second Annual Job Fair This Friday

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Image/iStock

UNM-LA News:

The University of New Mexico-Los Alamos (UNM-LA) is holding a Job Fair 1-4 p.m. this Friday, April 24, in the Student Center on the UNM-LA campus. The event is open to all job seekers in the community.

Currently, representatives from Los Alamos National Laboratory (both Human Resources and Student Programs), Zia Credit Union, Los Alamos County, Metzger’s, COMPA Industries, UNM-LA Bachelor & Graduate Programs, Los Alamos Senior Center, and Singer Support Services will be on hand to talk to those looking for work and possible summer internships.

Grace Willerton, Read More

New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge Winners Named

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Shaun Cooper, retired CIO at NMSU serves at master of ceremony at today’s 25th annual New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge awards ceremony at the Church of Christ in Los Alamos. Photo by Chris Clark/ladaily.com

Jovan Zhang of Los Alamos High School takes third place in the New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge. Courtesy/LANL

Top award winners Katelynn James, left, and Meghan Hill of Monte del Sol Charter School in Santa Fe. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

Meghan Hill and Katelynn James of Santa Fe’s Monte del Sol Charter Sol took the top prize in the 25th New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge Read More

Getting Better All The Time: JILA Strontium Atomic Clock Sets New Records

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JILA’s strontium lattice atomic clock now performs better than ever because scientists literally “take the temperature” of the atoms’ environment. Two specialized thermometers, calibrated by NIST researchers and visible in the center of the photo, are inserted into the vacuum chamber containing a cloud of ultracold strontium atoms confined by lasers. Photo by Marti/JILA

NIST News:

In another advance at the far frontiers of timekeeping by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers, the latest modification of a record-setting strontium Read More

SFI Presents: ‘Optimal Learning For Finding Minimal Peptide Substrates’

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Peter Frazier of Cornell University
SFI News:
The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) presents “Optimal Learning For Finding Minimal Peptide Substrates” 12:15 p.m. Friday, April 24 at Collins Conference Room in Santa Fe.
Abstract
Scientists use laboratory experiments to search for molecules with desirable properties, e.g., that make efficient solar cells; or that cure cancer. The success of such a search hinges on making good decisions about which experiments to perform.
We show how Bayesian statistics and value of information analysis can be used to choose good experiments,
Read More

New Mexico’s Norman C. Bay to Assume Leadership Post At Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

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Norman C. Bay

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich welcomed Norman C. Bay, a former University of New Mexico law professor and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, as the new chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

In July 2014, the Senate confirmed Bay with bipartisan support as a commissioner of FERC, and slated him to be named chairman nine months following the confirmation. Prior to serving as a FERC commissioner, Bay had served as Director of the Office of Enforcement at FERC since 2009. 

“Throughout his tenure Read More

SFI: ‘Statistical Physics Of Massive Data Acquisition’

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Marc Mezard (l’Ecole Normale Supérieure)
SFI News:
The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) presents “Statistical Physics and Massive Data Acquisition” at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, at Noyce Conference Room in Santa Fe.
The rapid increase in the amount of data that is presently being generated, acquired and processed opens new perspectives in many branches of science.
In order to take full advantage of this data revolution, and to turn it into a major tool for scientific discoveries, new concepts and methods need to be developed, thus allowing us to focus on the extraction of significant
Read More

DOE Issues WIPP Radiological Release Phase II Investigation Report

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DOE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) released Thursday the Accident Investigation Board (AIB) Phase II Report related to the Feb. 14, 2014, radiological event at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad. 

The AIB completed an exhaustive investigation at WIPP and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to examine the cause of the radiological release at WIPP and identify managerial controls and safety measures necessary to prevent or minimize the probability or severity of a recurrence of this type of accident.

Based Read More

New Awards For Advanced Nuclear Energy Development

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DOE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Building on the President’s all-of-the-above energy strategy and efforts to expand clean energy innovation, the Department of Energy today awarded more than $5 million to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing nuclear engineering degrees and other nuclear science and engineering programs relevant to nuclear energy.

The awards include 59 undergraduate scholarships and 32 graduate-level fellowships for students at American colleges and universities.

“The awards announced today will directly help support the future of the nuclear energy research Read More