National Laboratory

LANL Shatters Records in Year One Shipping Effort

Los Alamos National Laboratory set a record for transuranic waste shipments from the Laboratory to permanent disposal facilities, sending nearly 60 more shipments than originally planned. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

  • Volume, Number of Shipments Surpass Goals

In the first year of an effort to accelerate shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), Los Alamos National Laboratory shattered its own record with 59 more shipments than planned, and became one of the largest shippers of this type of nuclear waste in the country.

“Our goal this fiscal year was to send Read More

DOE Awards Regional Coalition of LANL Communities $100K

NNSA’s Kevin Smith, Manager of the Los Alamos Site Office. Courtesy photo

NNSA News:

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos Site Office has awarded the State of New Mexico $100,000 in funding for the Regional Coalition of Los Alamos National Laboratory Communities to help address environmental and other related issues at LANL that affect the Regional Coalition’s members.

Under the grant funding, one of the key roles of the Regional Coalition will be to understand and help address the various issues regarding the cleanup and long-term management Read More

Asteroid’s Troughs Suggest Stunted Planet

An image taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on July 24, 2011, shows troughs along the equator of the asteroid Vesta, including Divalia Fossa, which is larger than the Grand Canyon. A new study analyzing these troughs finds that they are probably graben – a dip in the surface with faults on either side that would indicate that Vesta has characteristics much like a planet or large moon. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

AGU News:

WASHINGTON—Enormous troughs that reach across the asteroid Vesta may actually be stretch marks that hint of a complexity beyond most asteroids.

Scientists Read More

SFI: Three Lectures, Three Nights…

The Santa Fe Institute presents the Stanislaw Ulam Memorial Lecture Series

Three lectures, three nights … The Many Faces of Complexity

Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2, 3, & 4.

James A. Little Theater, 1060 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe.

Lectures are free and open to the public, but seating is limited.

Lord Robert May

Baron May of Oxford; professor, zoology, Oxford University and Imperial College; former president of Britain’s Royal Society and former chief scientific advisor to the UK Government; member, Santa Fe Institute Science Board.

Abstract: Renowned Read More

LANL Director Hosts R&D 100 Awards Ceremony

Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan addresses attendants at the R&D 100 Awards Recognition Ceremony held Wednesday evening at the Hilltop House Hotel on Trinity Drive. Photo by Salvador Zapien/ladailypost.com

Staff report

Technology innovations at Los Alamos National Laboratory have been recognized with four of R&D Magazine’s 2012 “R&D 100” awards. These awards honor the top 100 proven technological advances of the year, as selected by a group of R&D Magazine’s chosen judges.

“Congratulations to this year’s R&D Read More

Military Control of U.S. Nuclear Security if Bill Passes

Anti-nuclear arms protesters display a banner during the April 2011 Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA) rally at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA.  Photo Credit: Brian Stansberry under CCA 3.0 Unported license.

Staff Report

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), Chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, has submitted legislation that would station American troops at the Defense Department’s atomic weapons facilities and at nuclear installations controlled by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Read More

SFI Colloquium: Algorithms, Equations and Logic

Martin Davis
Professor Emeritus, Courant-NYU; Visiting Scholar, UC Berkeley

Wednesday, Sept. 26 • 3:30 p.m. • Noyce Conference Room

Abstract: In this talk, meant for a general audience, surprising relationships, will be explored among the three concepts listed in the title, including unsolvable problems and Gödel undecidability.

The discussion will include philosophical considerations.

Note: We are unable to accommodate members of the public for SFI’s limited lunch service; you’re welcome to bring your own.

SFI Host: Cris Moore

https:////www.santafe.edu/gevent/detail/science/827/ Read More

NNSA Completes Removal of High Security Special Nuclear Material from LLNL

Research at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory supports the nation’s nuclear weapon Stockpile Stewardship Program as well as studies high energy density physics and astrophysical phenomena. Courtesy/NNSA

NNSA News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Friday that the last of the Security Category I/II special nuclear material items that required the highest level of security at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have been removed.

LLNL’s primary mission will continue to be to Read More

U.S. Marks 20 Years Without Underground Nuclear Explosive Testing

Technicians are installing a piece of tooling in the workstand for further dismantlement operations during W56 dismantlement training. Courtesy/NNSA

NNSA News:

Science-based Stockpile Stewardship Program Ensures Safety, Security, Reliability of American Nuclear Weapons

WASHINGTON, D.C. Twenty years ago, on Sept. 23, 1992, the United States conducted its last underground nuclear explosive test.

Since then, the United States has developed the capability to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of its stockpile through the use of state-of-the-art technology and research Read More

Manhattan Project National Historical Park Fails to Pass House

Staff report

Earlier this afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Resolution 5987. 

A 2/3 vote was require to pass the “Yeas and Nays” vote. The Park received 257 Yeas and 158 Nays, however, 276 Yea votes were needed to pass the park through the House and on to the Senate for consideration.

H.R. 5987 is titled, “To establish the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington, and for other purposes.”

Los Alamos Historical Read More