National Laboratory

WIPP: Tests Begin in Preparation for Filter Change Out

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WIPP News:

Workers began Friday the process to test underground ventilation fans to verify that airflow can be safely reduced during the filter replacement process. New filters are required to replace those that have been capturing material since the Feb. 5 fire and Feb. 14 radiation event.

Workers are replacing the filters in phases so that exhaust air leaving the underground facility will continue to be filtered during the activity. This is the first filter replacement to be done at WIPP, and workers will be assisted by experts from the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. Replacement Read More

LANL Scientist Discusses Integrative Biosurveillance At Bio Symposium

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Harshini Mukundan

LANL News:

  • Los Alamos National Laboratory research used in National Biosurveillance Strategy

Harshini Mukundan, of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Physical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy group, will talk about her team’s innovative research on integrative biosurveillance at the third annual Biosurveillance Symposium sponsored by Oak Ridge National Laboratory June 12 in Baltimore.

Biosurveillance requires the integration of complex data from a variety of sources. Mukundan, along with Ben McMahon, of the Laboratory’s Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Read More

LANL: Desert Scientists Turn to Rainforest for Climate Answers

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Heath-Powers: Los Alamos scientist Heath Powers, foreground, and on-site technician Vagner Castro work on field equipment for measuring carbon dioxide and water vapor near areas of human habitation in Brazil.Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

  • Work in Brazil’s Amazon Basin Should Improve Climate Prediction

Nearly a quarter of the way through their two-year project, a team of scientists deployed to Brazil’s Amazon Basin is unraveling the mysteries of how land and atmospheric processes affect tropical hydrology and climate. Their work will go far toward improving the climate-prediction computer Read More

SFI Seminar: Whiskey is for Drinking … Water is for Fighting Over

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SFI News:
 
Christa Brelsford
Arizona State University; SFI Graduate Fellow 

Santa Fe Institute Seminar – Whiskey is for Drinking: Water is for Fighting Over

12:15 p.m. • Monday, June  2 • Santa Fe Institute Collins Conference Room, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe.

Abstract: The phrase “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over,” often misattributed to Mark Twain, succinctly describes how water is thought about in the western United States. As urban populations grow, water managers are becoming increasingly concerned about water scarcity because Read More

DOE Issues Update On WIPP Repairs

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WIPP personnel conduct visual inspections of the underground facilities at WIPP. Courtesy/DOE

DOE News:

The Department of Energy Field Office in Carlsbad has announced that on May 28, WIPP workers entered the underground facility to adjust the ventilation system. While underground, they adjusted a regulator on a bulkhead door and closed and taped doors at another underground location to allow more air flow through Panel 7 and better ventilation control in preparation for the planned filter change.

Geotechnical experts also conducted underground inspections at several locations to Read More

WIPP: Waste Control Specialists Continues Precautionary Measures

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An employee with Waste Control Specialists examines modular concrete casks, similar to those that are being used to overpack waste containers from LANL. Courtesy/WIPP

WIPP News:

Waste Control Specialists (WCS) in Andrews, Texas, continues implementing precautionary measures this week to ensure the safety of the public, environment and workers.

WCS is loading standard waste boxes from the suspect waste stream originating from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) into modular concrete casks.

Prior to loading, thermal readings are taken of each  standard waste box container Read More

PEEC Hosts Free Program on LANL Environmental Stewardship Thursday

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Phillip Noll

PEEC News:

Los Alamos National Laboratory representatives Phillip Noll, Jennifer Payne and LeAnn Purtzer will discuss ongoing environmental stewardship projects at the Laboratory at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 29 at the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC). The event is free and no advance registration is required.

The trio will talk about LANL’s efforts to evaluate impacts of Laboratory activities on cultural resources, assess ecological risks, and prepare environmental assessments, cultural resources reports, and mitigation plans. They will also Read More

US Air Force Launches Satellite Carrying NNSA-provided Nuclear Detonation Detection Sensors

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NNSA News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Friday, May 16, with the support of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a U.S. Air Force Delta IV rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral.

Hosted onboard was a GPS IIF navigation satellite and a Global Burst Detector (GBD) payload designed to detect, identify and precisely locate nuclear explosions.

The 300-pound GBD payload, supported by NNSA’s Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development Program and built by Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories, is the latest space-based sensor addition to the United States Nuclear Read More

UNM-LA Tech Frontiers 2014 Application Deadline Extended

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UNM-LA News:

The application deadline for Tech Frontiers 2014, the joint venture between the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos (UNM-LA), and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), has been extended to June 9.

Tech Frontiers 2014 will offer two, one-week sessions providing participants the opportunity to learn about careers in environmental science or about projects that involve both engineering and science. Students will earn one hour of college credit for each session they attend.

The first session, Environmental Science: The Science Behind the Headlines, runs 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Read More

Planetary Scientist to Discuss Curiosity Rover’s Visit to Mars

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Curiosity rover on Mars. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

  • May 28 lecture examines data collected from Gale Crater

Agnes Cousin-Pilleri, a post-doctoral researcher in Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Chemistry Division, will discuss the trailblazing discoveries made by the ChemCam instrument on the Curiosity rover on Mars from noon to 1 p.m. May 28 at the Bradbury Science Museum.

“ChemCam is providing one of the largest and most powerful datasets in Martian exploration,” Cousin-Pilleri said. “In its first year on Mars, Curiosity and ChemCam have made many ground-breaking discoveries.”

In the Read More