Los Alamos National Laboratory

Two new exhibits open July 26 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Bradbury Science Museum as part of the laboratory’s 70th Anniversary celebration.

One is a nanotechnology exhibit featuring the lab’s Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) and the other is an algae biofuel exhibit from the laboratory and the New Mexico Consortium.

An opening reception for the two exhibits is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the downtown museum.

“We’re pleased to open two new exhibits, on some of the Laboratory’s latest research, as part of our 70th anniversary year. I’m sure these exhibits will broaden the public’s knowledge and appreciation of Los Alamos National Laboratory,” Bradbury Science Museum Director Linda Deck said.

“Nanotechnology—The Science of the Small,” demonstrates the importance of understanding how nanoparticles work, while “Algae to Biofuels: Squeezing Power from Pond Scum,” gives visitors an overview of algae biofuels.

More details became available this week about the stand-down of activities in the Plutonium Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory last month that was ordered by lab director Charlie McMillan.

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board sent a letter and report to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, detailing some of the criticality issues surrounding the work being done at PF-4.

“The current pause at PF-4 is aimed at addressing the concerns in the letter and others identified by lab employees and managers,” lab spokesman Fred DeSousa said. “However, the letter is addressed to Secretary Moniz and Acting Administrator (Bruce) Held, so we would respectfully ask that you direct your questions to DOE and NNSA.”

DOE and NNSA officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The report, meanwhile, pointed to a number of issues including a lack of safety personnel and lax control of operating procedures.

The biggest issue is a significant shortage of Los Alamos National Security criticality safety staff has hindered the ability of LANS to address deficiencies at the facility, and the backlog of unresolved criticality safety issues continues to grow.

An international team of information scientists has begun a two-year study to investigate how web links in scientific and other academic articles fail to lead to the resources being referenced.
This is the focus of the Hiberlink project in which the team from Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Edinburgh will assess the extent of “reference rot” using a vast corpus of online scholarly work. It is funded by a grant of $500,000 from the US-based Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, coordinated by EDINA, the designated online services center at the University of Edinburg, which serves the needs of universities and colleges across the UK.
“Increasingly, scientific papers contain links to web pages containing, for example, project descriptions, demonstrations, and software. But, as we all know, web pages change or disappear,” said Herbert Van de Sompel, the Los Alamos principal investigator on the project. “Currently, there is no archival infrastructure to safeguard such pages and hence revisiting them some time after they were linked from a paper is many times impossible. The result is a broken scholarly record.”

Los Alamos National Laboratory at the direction of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos Field Office will restrict access on Pajarito Road to only laboratory badge holders effective Monday, Aug. 12.

This means that laboratory personnel and subcontractors will no longer be able to “vouch” for non-laboratory personnel such as family members.

“Our laboratory and security access procedures are continually reviewed and updated to ensure we provide a secure working environment for our employees and visitors,” said Michael Lansing, the laboratory’s Associate Director for Security and Safeguards. “Entry to the Pajarito Corridor provides access to our most sensitive areas and now is restricted to those with a valid reason and badge to enter this area.”

Pajarito Road has been access controlled for several years. Only individuals who have federal or Laboratory issued badges can travel this road, which traverses through several Laboratory technical areas and intersects with N.M. 4 on the east end and Diamond Drive on the west end near the main Technical Area 3.

The laboratory and the Los Alamos Field Office of the NNSA are in the process of notifying local government and school officials, about the planned changes to access on Pajarito Road.