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Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • LANL hosts U.S., South Korean deterrence exercise

    A joint exercise gets underway Thursday at Los Alamos National Laboratory which will look at various response scenarios to ongoing nuclear threats from North Korea.

    U.S. and South Korean defense and diplomatic experts will conduct a tabletop exercise examining nuclear deterrence on the Korean Peninsula, a Pentagon official told reporters Wednesday.

    LANL is playing host to 40 U.S. and South Korean officials for the extended exercise, which will look at deterrence methods in response to a nuclear threat scenario, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

    Lab officials were unavailable for comment on how long the joint exercises will be taking place or who the representatives are from each participating country.

    This is the second exercise of its type. The first was at U.S. Strategic Command in 2011. It is conducted under the auspices of a bilateral committee formed in late 2010 to discuss alliance response in the event of a nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, Little said.

    Exercise participants will look at concepts, crisis decision-making and the requirements of employing extended deterrence assets in response to a nuclear threat scenario, he said.

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  • Regional Coalition launches website

    The Regional Coalition of LANL Communities announced that it has launched a new website at regionalcoalition.org.
    As part of the Regional Coalition’s goal to increase transparency, the website includes the latest information regarding Regional Coalition Board members, meeting notices and minutes and news related to the Regional Coalition.
    It also has a sign-up feature where community members can be added to the Regional Coalition’s information distribution list.
     “We are excited to launch the new website to ensure that our communities are informed and engaged with the work of the Coalition and look forward to continued community input and support as we move forward,” said Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, Chair of the Regional Coalition.
     The Regional Coalition’s Board of Directors includes one representative from eight local government jurisdictions surrounding the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

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  • CWP meeting set for Wednesday

    Cold War Patriots, a non-profit organization, is hosting a town hall meeting to bring information to former Los Alamos National Lab workers. The meeting will be at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Holiday Inn Express in Los Alamos.
    The Cold War Patriots town hall meeting will focus on discussing the expansion of the Special Exposure Cohort for all LANL workers. Those who worked at the site from 1975 through 1995 can now qualify for free medical benefits and up to $400,000 in compensation through the EEOICPA.
    Cold War Patriots will hold a plaque ceremony at the beginning of the meeting to honor and thank those who have aided in the passing of the SEC petition. Representatives from Sen. Tom Udall and Congressman Ben Ray Luján’s offices, as well as Andrew Evaskovich, who was the petitioner, will be present to accept these awards.

    From a press release

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  • NNSA beats goal for nuke weapons dismantlement

    The National Nuclear Security Administration announced that it has accomplished 112 percent of its goal for planned stockpile dismantlement in FY 2012.
    “NNSA delivered on President Obama’s commitment to reduce the numbers of U.S. nuclear weapons declared excess to the stockpile and awaiting dismantlement. We exceeded our dismantlement goals for FY 2012 by a significant margin,” said NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Don Cook.
    “Our stockpile today is smaller, but the deterrent remains just as safe, secure and effective as it was. Dismantlement of legacy weapons is a key part of the Nuclear Posture Review, going hand-in-hand with the safety and security improvements in our Life Extension Programs and critical to our long-term national security.”
    NNSA successfully dismantled a number of B61 and B83-0/1 bombs and W76-0, W80-0, W84 and W78 warheads.
    Taking apart nuclear weapons is a process that involves virtually all of NNSA’s sites within the nuclear security enterprise. NNSA’s design laboratories work with Pantex Plant to identify and mitigate hazards that may arise before a particular weapon type is dismantled. NNSA’s national laboratories then apply the knowledge they gained during the original design process to each weapon in the stockpile.

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  • Administration vows to veto CMRR funding

    The White House released a statement of administrative policy regarding the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013.

    The administration made 18 objections to the defense bill proposed by the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Chemistry Metallurgy Research Replacement facility project is listed seventh on the list.

    The SASC, despite the administration decision to defer the LANL project for five years, put in $150 million in funding.

    The administration said it agrees with numerous provisions of the act, but if it makes its way to the president in its present form, the bill would get vetoed.

    The statement read: “the Administration strongly objects to section 3111, which would require construction of the CMRR facility to begin in 2013. The Departments of Defense and Energy agree that, in light of today’s fiscal environment, CMRR can be deferred for at least five years, and funds reallocated to support higher priority nuclear weapons goals.

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  • Lab co-sponsors Resource Fair

    Business owners who want to learn more about doing business with LANL or other government agencies are encouraged to attend the Northern New Mexico Resource Fair from 8-11 a.m. Dec. 5 at the Ohkay Owingeh Convention Center, north of Española.
    At the resource fair, attendees can
    • get up-to-date information on how to register their business with various state government agencies
    • learn how to become more successful in bidding for contracts from LANL and other government agencies
    • learn how to certify their business as a small business
    • connect with available business resources
    • network with other businesses
    • learn about the WorkKeys skills assessment program.
    “This resource fair is designed to give businesses more knowledge about procurement processes and upcoming opportunities from LANL, LANL subcontractors, the state of New Mexico, local governments and other large organizations in need of goods and services in 2013,” said Kathy Keith, executive director of the Regional Development Corporation. “We encourage local businesses to come and learn about available resources.”

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  • Cobalt could replace precious metals as industrial catalyst

    Cobalt, a relatively common mineral, may hold promise as an industrial catalyst with potential applications in such energy-related technologies as the production of biofuels and the reduction of carbon dioxide.
    That is, provided the cobalt is captured in a complex molecule so it mimics the precious metals that normally serve this industrial role.
    In work published Nov. 26 in the international edition of the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists report the possibility of replacing the normally used noble metal catalysts with cobalt.
    Catalysts are the parallel of the Philosopher’s Stone for chemistry. They cannot change lead to gold, but they do transform one chemical substance into another, while remaining unchanged themselves. Perhaps the most familiar example of catalysis comes from automobile exhaust systems that change toxic fumes into more benign gases, but catalysts are also integral to thousands of industrial, synthetic and renewable energy processes where they accelerate or optimize a mind-boggling array of chemical reactions.
    It’s not an exaggeration to say that without catalysts, there would be no modern industry.

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  • 'Unauthorized visitors' spur SOC firings

    More details have emerged concerning the five members of the Los Alamos National Laboratory security force that were terminated two weeks ago for the improper use of the live fire shooting range located at Technical Area 72.

    The lab security force is called Securing Our Country or SOC.

    The lab was asked if it could provide any more background about what the inappropriate conduct was and it responded, “Unauthorized visitors were allowed access to the shooting range and allowed to operate a variety of firearms.”

    The lab said the incident was discovered when it received information from an anonymous source, that was then verified by LANL and SOC.

    As far as the contract between the lab and SOC and whether there would be any further action or otherwise, the response was, “The inquiry is ongoing and we will determine what further actions are needed, if any.”

    The lab said it is not identifying the guards involved because it is a personnel action and that it would not characterize the relationships between the involved parties who were on the shooting range.

    NNSA spokesperson Josh McConaha said, “We’ve been closely involved with LANL as they have investigated the incident and taken corrective action.”

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  • Cleanroom inventor dies at 92

    ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Willis Whitfield, an award-winning physicist known for inventing the modern-day cleanroom, has died. He was 92.

    Sandia National Laboratories, where Whitfield worked for three decades, announced Monday that Whitfield died in Albuquerque on Nov. 12.

    Lab President Paul Hommert says Whitfield’s concept for a new kind of cleanroom came at the right time during the early 1960s to usher in a new era of electronics, health care and scientific research.

    Dubbed Mr. Clean, Whitfield was born in Rosedale, Okla. He was the son of a cotton farmer.

    Whitfield had his initial drawings for the new cleanroom by the end of 1960. His solution for dealing with the turbulent airflow and particles found in cleanrooms of the day was to constantly flush out the room with highly filtered air.

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  • Researchers test power system for space travel

    A team of researchers, including engineers from Los Alamos National Laboratory, has demonstrated a new concept for a reliable nuclear reactor that could be used on space flights.

    The research team recently demonstrated the first use of a heat pipe to cool a small nuclear reactor and power a Stirling engine at the Nevada National Security Site’s Device Assembly Facility near Las Vegas. The Demonstration Using Flattop Fissions experiment produced 24 watts of electricity. A team of engineers from Los Alamos, the NASA Glenn Research Center and National Security Technologies LLC conducted the experiment.

    Heat pipe technology was invented at Los Alamos in 1963. A heat pipe is a sealed tube with an internal fluid that can efficiently transfer heat produced by a reactor with no moving parts. A Stirling engine is a relatively simple closed-loop engine that converts heat energy into electrical power using a pressurized gas to move a piston. Using the two devices in tandem allowed for creation of a simple, reliable electric power supply that can be adapted for space applications.

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