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Nuclear deterrence
NNSA Administrator Williams visits LLNL to discuss stockpile modernization, AI and future deterrence
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Brandon Williams visited Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Feb. 9 for briefings and tours focused on stockpile modernization, AI, supercomputing and the future of deterrence. During the visit, Williams met with LLNL…
National Academy of Engineering elects LLNL Director Kim Budil to 2026 class
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Director Kim Budil has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional distinctions in the field. Recognized for “advancing nuclear deterrence through technical contributions, laboratory leadership and advice to the government,” Budil joins only 2,890 NAE members worldwide…
LLNL researchers discover new way to ‘cage’ plutonium
Plutonium (Pu) exhibits one of the most diverse and complex chemistries of any element in the periodic table. Since its discovery in 1940, scientists have synthesized and studied many different types of plutonium-containing compounds using tools that reveal both their atomic structures and how they interact with light. Not only does plutonium have numerous alloys and…
The Big Ideas Lab podcast learns to create a supernova on Earth
The planets, stars and distant galaxies have long captured our imaginations. Our curiosity about these distant realms has led us to send humans into space, land robots on Mars and create enormous telescopes with unprecedented reach. Here on Earth, scientists are exploring astrophysical phenomena in a special lab — Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition…
When lasers cross: LLNL finds a brighter way to measure plasma
Measuring conditions in volatile clouds of superheated gases known as plasmas are central to pursuing greater scientific understanding of how stars, nuclear detonations and fusion energy work. For decades, scientists have relied on a technique called Thomson scattering, which uses a single laser beam to scatter from plasma waves as a way to measure critical information…
Lab physicist receives Sylvie Jacquemot Early Career Prize
Staff scientist Elizabeth Grace of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been awarded the 2026 European Physical Society-Plasma Physics Division (EPS-PPCF) Sylvie Jacquemot Early Career Prize. “I am very honored to receive this award,” Grace said. “I appreciate the support from my mentors and the opportunities at LLNL, which made this work possible.” She was…
Fusion Power Associates honor NIF target innovator Abbas Nikroo
Abbas Nikroo, deputy director for physics integration at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF), received the 2025 Distinguished Career Award by Fusion Power Associates (FPA). The FPA board of directors honored Nikroo for his “outstanding decades of unwavering commitment and leadership in scientific and management of the…
New code connects microscopic insights to the macroscopic world
In inertial confinement fusion, a capsule of fuel begins at temperatures near zero and pressures close to vacuum. When lasers compress that fuel to trigger fusion, the material heats up to millions of degrees and reaches pressures similar to the core of the sun. That process happens within a miniscule amount of space and time. To understand this process, scientists need to…
Two LLNL scientists elected as 2026 Optica fellows
Optica recently elected 121 members from 23 countries to the society’s 2026 fellow class. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists Mark Henesian and Brent Stuart were among those honored by the scientific society. Optica fellows are selected based on outstanding contributions to research, business, education, engineering and service to Optica and the optics…
Measuring nuclear reactions found inside stars
Radiochemistry experts at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) recently made the first experimental measurements of nuclear reactions in high-energy-density plasma environments, which are similar to conditions found in stars, as well as thermonuclear explosions. According to John Despotopulos, an LLNL radiochemist who leads the research team, the ability to…
LLNL and Fraunhofer ILT partner on next-generation fusion lasers
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) are joining forces to transition laser-ignited inertial fusion from experiments to industrial applications in a collaboration called ICONIC-FL (International Cooperation on Next-gen Inertial Confinement Fusion Lasers). Through a Cooperative Research and Development…
LLNL conducts milestone nuclear survivability experiment at NIF, moving weapons modernization forward
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has conducted an experiment at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to assess the ability of U.S. nuclear weapons to survive encounters with adversary missile defenses and reach their targets. This experiment demonstrated a new capability to analyze nuclear materials under extreme conditions, advancing stockpile modernization…
From inception to ignition and beyond: Suhas Bhandarkar’s target fabrication career
Tiny parts and absolute meticulousness define Suhas Bhandarkar’s award-winning 20-year career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). As group leader for Target Fabrication Science and Technology (S&T), he leads a team that helps transform LLNL’s physicists’ bold ideas into reality at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Bhandarkar’s path began with a B.S…
LLNL’s designs enable delivery of W80-4 subassembly First Production Unit ahead of schedule
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently announced the diamond stamping of the first production unit (FPU) of a canned subassembly (CSA) for the W80-4 Life Extension Program, achieved 18 months ahead of schedule at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As design agency for the W80-4, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)…
Gordon Bell finalist team pushes scale of rocket simulation on El Capitan
Researchers used Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) exascale supercomputer El Capitan to perform the largest fluid dynamics simulation ever — surpassing one quadrillion degrees of freedom in a single computational fluid dynamics (CFD) problem. The team focused the effort on rocket–rocket plume interactions. El Capitan is funded by the National Nuclear Security…
Michael Anastasio awarded Livermore’s 2025 John S. Foster Medal
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Director Kim Budil today announced that the 2025 John S. Foster, Jr. Medal is awarded to Michael R. Anastasio, former director of both Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national laboratories. The 10th recipient of the prestigious Foster Medal, Anastasio is recognized for his extraordinary career in nuclear weapons science, his…
LLNL physicist Cole Pruitt honored with early-career achievement award
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicist Cole Pruitt has been awarded the 2025 Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) Achievement Award for Early Career Researchers in theoretical nuclear physics. The national honor recognizes early-career scientists who have made significant contributions to nuclear physics research at or in connection with FRIB. Pruitt, a…
Livermore teams honored with Defense Programs Awards of Excellence
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) recently recognized three teams with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Defense Programs Awards of Excellence (DPAE) for work completed during calendar year 2023. In total, 93 LLNL employees were honored for their exceptional contributions to Defense Programs. Established in 1982, the Defense Programs Awards…
LLNL pushes frontier of fusion target design with AI
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have reached a milestone in combining AI with fusion target design by deploying AI agents on two of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to automate and accelerate inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. Part of an AI framework called the Multi-Agent Design Assistant (MADA), LLNL scientists and…
Big Ideas Lab podcast examines collaborative manufacturing at Polymer Enclave
The latest episode of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Big Ideas Lab podcast explores how engineers and scientists are reducing the time it takes to design and deliver critical components for the U.S. nuclear deterrent — by rethinking how design and manufacturing teams work together. Listen here on Spotify or Apple. The episode features LLNL’s Polymer…
