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Nuclear deterrence
Franklin Miller awarded Foster Medal for national security contributions
In an award ceremony held recently at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Franklin Miller was presented with the 2024 John S. Foster Jr. Medal, recognizing his extensive contributions to national security, defense policy and international relations. The Foster Medal, established in 2015, honors individuals who embody the qualities of John S. Foster Jr., including…
Big Ideas Lab introduces El Capitan, the world’s most powerful supercomputer
On the newest episode of the Big Ideas Lab podcast, listeners will go behind the scenes of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) latest groundbreaking achievement: El Capitan, the world’s most powerful supercomputer. Listen on Apple or Spotify. Built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) with AMD’s new Instinct MI300A Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), El Capitan…
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s El Capitan verified as world's fastest supercomputer
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in collaboration with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and AMD, have officially unveiled El Capitan as the world's most powerful supercomputer and first exascale system dedicated to national security. Verified at 1.742 exaFLOPs (1.742 quintillion calculations per second) on…
LLNL leadership engages in global fusion energy efforts
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) leadership is engaging with world leaders to make fusion energy a reality. Last week, LLNL Director Kim Budil joined the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) inaugural meeting of leading fusion energy experts and high-level policymakers from 35 countries in Rome. “In the face of growing global competition and a…
LLNL researchers explore next-gen 3D printing to harness fusion energy
When Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved fusion ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in December 2022, the world’s attention turned to the prospect of how that breakthrough experiment — designed to secure the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile — might also pave the way for virtually limitless, safe and carbon-free fusion energy. Advanced 3D…
First W87-1 plutonium pit backed by LLNL design leadership
As announced by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the First Production Unit (FPU) of a plutonium pit for the W87-1 Modification Program at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was verified as complete on Oct. 1. This first fully qualified plutonium pit for the W87-1 nuclear warhead was “diamond stamped” after meeting all…
Franklin Miller awarded Livermore’s 2024 John S. Foster Medal
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Director Kim Budil today announced that the 2024 John S. Foster, Jr. Medal is awarded to Franklin Miller, a principal at The Scowcroft Group. The ninth recipient of the prestigious Foster Award, Miller is recognized for his exceptional and inspirational career dedicated to national security, defense policy and international…
All ears on the Big Ideas Lab podcast
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has big ideas and is showing the world in the Big Ideas Lab weekly podcast that takes listeners behind the fences and into its heart. “This is where big ideas come to life,” said Lab Director Kim Budil. “To do this, we bring together dynamic teams of many different disciplines — laser physicists and materials scientists and…
Research confirms importance of symmetry in pre-ignition fusion experiments
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have retrospectively confirmed that implosion asymmetry was a major aspect for fusion experiments before achieving ignition for the first time at the Lab’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s most energetic laser. The findings were recently detailed in a Nature Communications paper titled “The impact of…
It’s getting hot in here: lasers deliver powerful shocking punch
Shock experiments are widely used to understand the mechanical and electronic properties of matter under extreme conditions, like planetary impacts by meteorites. However, after the shock occurs, a clear description of the post-shock thermal state and its impacts on material properties is still lacking. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists used ultra…
Fusion Power Associates honors Bruno Van Wonterghem
Bruno Van Wonterghem, operations manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF), was awarded a 2024 Distinguished Career Award by Fusion Power Associates (FPA). FPA board of directors recognized Van Wonterghem “for his decades of tenacious dedication to scientific and operational excellence in bringing both the LLNL Beamlet and…
LLNL’s Tammy Ma shares fusion energy vision with TED
What would you do with the largest laser in the world? That’s the question Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicist Tammy Ma posed to the audience on the mainstage at the influential TED conference held in April in Vancouver. In the talk, which was publicly released today, Ma shared her answer: bringing about a world powered by laser-based fusion energy,…
LLNL researchers uncover key to resolving long-standing ICF hohlraum drive deficit
A team of researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has made advancements in understanding and resolving the long-standing "drive-deficit" problem in indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. This discovery could pave the way for more accurate predictions and improved performance in fusion experiments at the National Ignition Facility…
Unravelling the chemistry of heavy elements
Molecular compounds with heavy elements, like americium, curium and others can now be synthesized in a streamlined and efficient way thanks to a new technique developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers. The new pathway can help scientists perform serial chemistry with radioactive elements and could be used to speed up R&D for nuclear waste…
When experiments go quiet: maintaining the National Ignition Facility
For two weeks last April, the lasers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility stopped firing. Experiments may have been on pause, but the facility was anything but quiet. “To do world-class science, you need a world-class facility. And you can’t just maintain that facility, you must anticipate problems and seek out improvements,” said Stanley…
LLNL delivers compact dual-band telescope for launch this summer
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) space hardware team has delivered a payload for NASA’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-R (PTD-R) satellite. LLNL developed the optical payload, called Deep Purple, that utilizes a new design for an ultra-violet (UV) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) monolithic telescope. The mission will demonstrate simultaneous monolithic UV…
DOE, LLNL take center stage at inaugural artificial-intelligence expo
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Director Kim Budil and other LLNL staff joined Department of Energy (DOE) Deputy Secretary David Turk, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator Jill Hruby, DOE Under Secretary for Science and Innovation Geraldine Richmond, DOE Director of the Office of Critical and Emerging Technologies Helena Fu, U.S…
FAA awards first approval for drone swarm testing
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Autonomous Sensors team has received the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) first and — to date — only certificate of authorization (COA) allowing autonomous drone swarming exercises on the Lab main campus. These flights will test swarm controls and sensor payloads used in a variety of national security applications…
LLNL leads successful execution of subcritical experiment in Nevada
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) recently led the successful execution of the first U.S. subcritical experiment (SCE) since 2021 at the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation (PULSE) facility, formerly known as the U1a Complex, at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The last LLNL-led SCE was in February 2019. The experiment —…
Jupiter Laser Facility gets a reboot
Fifty years ago, the first laser, Janus, was installed in Building 174 (renamed the Jupiter Laser Facility in 2006) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Additional lasers, more than 100 Ph.D.s granted time on the system and thousands of international users later, the Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF) celebrated its grand reopening Thursday after a four-year refurbishment,…
