National Laboratory

NNSA Continues to Assist Vietnam in Enhancing its Nuclear/Radiological Emergency Program

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Joseph J. Krol. Courtesy/NNSA

NNSA News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is conducting emergency management workshops in Vietnam to help enhance the nuclear/radiological emergency program of Vietnam emergency response personnel.

The workshops hosted by the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (VARANS) were conducted in Ninh Thuan this week and in Hanoi last week. The workshop in Ninh Thuan included 60 participants representing the Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Management Board; Headquarters and Ninh Thuan regional representatives Read More

WIPP Workers Establish Access to North Experimental Area

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WIPP News:

Entry teams established access to the north experimental area of the WIPP underground facility this week. Geotechnical engineers, accompanied by radiological control technicians (RCT), first conducted visual inspections of the north area of the mine to ensure stability and safety.

As expected, no radiological contamination was detected during the entry; however, soot from the Feb. 5 underground truck fire was visibly present.

Additional entries will be needed to further evaluate the condition of the equipment and experimental apparatus used for basic scientific research Read More

SFI Seminar: ‘The Secret Life of Active Colloids’

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Gabriel Redner

SFI News:

The Santa Fe Institute will host a seminar at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2 in the Collins Conference Room, 1399 Hyde Park Road. Gabriel Redner, Brandeis University, will speak on “The Secret Life of Active Colloids.”

Abstract

Active systems are composed of self-propelled units which interact to produce a wide range of complex behaviors. In this talk I will describe a minimalist active system comprised of self-propelled spheres immersed in a fluid and confined to two dimensions, interacting through hard-core repulsion alone. I will describe an unusual type Read More

LANL: MagRay Scanning Technology Could Enhance Airport Security, Benefit Passengers

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LANL News:

For most people, the upcoming Labor Day holiday marks the end of summer travel season.

But for those already thinking about the headaches involved in air travel for fall and winter vacations, take heart! Thanks to a piece of technology developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, one element of the onerous airport security screening process may soon be a thing of the past.

Los Alamos scientists have advanced a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology that may provide a breakthrough for screening liquids at airport security. They’ve added low-power X-ray data to the mix, Read More

Alert: Traffic Impact Expected As C-130 Airplane Travels by Flatbed to LANL Today

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LANL News:

  • Traffic to be impacted during transport

Los Alamos National Laboratory will receive a C-130 airplane from Kirtland Air Force Base today and motorists traveling along the expected route from Albuquerque to Los Alamos should be aware that this transportation could cause traffic delays and adjust their schedules, or take an alternate route.

The plane, which is surplus from Kirtland Air Force Base, has been demilitarized and will be located at the Laboratory’s emergency response training area at Technical Area 49. The fuselage of the plane will be used for emergency response training Read More

LANL: Breakthrough Antibacterial Approach Could Resolve Serious Skin Infections

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Artist’s rendition of a cross section of skin layers (stratum corneum, epidermis and dermis) showing topical application of an ionic liquid for combating a skin-borne bacterial infection. The ionic liquid can be formulated with antibiotics for transdermal drug delivery or it can directly kill the bacteria infesting the skin surface. Image by Peter Allen/ UCSB

LANL News:

  • Los Alamos and partners test ionic liquids to break bacterial biofilm layer and save lives

Like a protective tent over a colony of harmful bacteria, biofilms make the treatment of skin infections especially difficult. Read More

JILA Team Finds First Direct Evidence Of ‘Spin Symmetry’ In Atoms

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Illustration of symmetry in the magnetic properties—or nuclear spins—of strontium atoms. JILA researchers observed that if two atoms have the same nuclear spin state (top), they interact weakly, and the interaction strength does not depend on which of the 10 possible nuclear spin states are involved. If the atoms have different nuclear spin states (bottom), they interact much more strongly, and, again, always with the same strength. Image by Ye and Rey groups and Steve Burrows/JILA

NIST News:

Just as diamonds with perfect symmetry may be unusually brilliant jewels, the quantum world has Read More

DOE Dedicates New National Security Campus

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National Security Campus in Kansas City. Courtesy/NNSA

DOE News:

  • New Facilities Are Part of NNSA’s Effort to Transform Cold War Era Infrastructure into a 21st Century Nuclear Security Enterprise

KANSAS CITY – Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz was joined by the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, United States Air Force (Ret), U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver II and Vicky Hartzler, and other local officials Friday to officially dedicate the new National Security Campus in Kansas City.

As the manufacturer of non-nuclear Read More