Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
An NNSA national laboratory in Livermore, California, responsible for nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship and home to the National Ignition Facility.
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
NIF achieved fusion ignition at Livermore, lab says
The National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used its bank of high-powered lasers on Dec. 5 to ignite a fusion reaction that produced more energy from a small pellet than the lasers put into the pellet, the lab said. The long-hoped for achievement marked “a new chapter in NNSA’s [National Nuclear Security […]
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Advanced Nuclear & SMRs
NIF achieved fusion ignition at Livermore, lab says
The National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used its bank of high-powered lasers on Dec. 5 to ignite a fusion reaction that produced more energy from a small pellet than the lasers put into the pellet, the lab said. The long-hoped for achievement marked “a new chapter in NNSA’s [National Nuclear Security […]
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National Laboratories
Draft environmental review details 15 years of upgrades, demolitions, change at LLNL
The Department of Energy on Friday released a draft environmental impact statement covering the next 15 years of operations at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The public may comment on the draft through Jan. 03, according to a Federal Register notice. For the period spanning 2023-2035, the DOE has proposed 75 projects at the younger […]
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National Laboratories
Draft environmental review details 15 years of upgrades, demolitions, change at LLNL
The Department of Energy on Friday released a draft environmental impact statement covering the next 15 years of operations at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The public may comment on the draft through Jan. 03, according to a Federal Register notice. For the period spanning 2023-2035, the DOE has proposed 75 projects at […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Livermore lab director Budil arrested for driving under the influence, speeding
Kimberly Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, admitted last week to all hands at the California nuclear-weapons design lab that she had been arrested for driving under the influence and speeding. Budil, the first woman to run Livermore, has been director of the younger of the two U.S. weapon-design labs for about a […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Editorial: if Dr. Kimberly Budil deserves the NNSA’s confidence, so do others
Dr. Kimberly Budil broke the law and put herself and others in danger by driving under the influence and speeding, but she also did what a leader should do and admitted her mistake to all hands at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Budil, who has been the director at the California lab for about a […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Livermore lab director Budil arrested for driving under the influence, speeding
Kimberly Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, admitted last week to all hands at the California nuclear-weapons design lab that she had been arrested for driving under the influence and speeding. Budil, the first woman to run Livermore, has been director of the younger of the two U.S. weapon-design labs for about a […]
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Nuclear Weapons & Stockpile
Zerkle to be No. 2 at Livermore
Longtime Los Alamos National Laboratory manager Carolyn Zerkle will become deputy director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory effective Sept. 12, the California nuclear-weapon design lab announced Monday. Zerkle spent more than 30 years at Los Alamos, most recently as senior director for project execution. In that job, she was responsible for the entire portfolio […]
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Transuranic Waste
Livermore queuing up review that sets stage for more waste shipments to WIPP
The Department of Energy could start a federal readiness assessment this month at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory facilities in California that prepare transuranic waste for shipment to the agency’s underground disposal site in New Mexico, according to a government safety board. On May 31, 2022, the lab began the contractor readiness assessment for restarting operations […]
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Transuranic Waste
Livermore queuing up review that sets stage for more waste shipments to WIPP
The Department of Energy could start a federal readiness assessment sometime this month at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory facilities in California that prepare transuranic waste for shipment to the agency’s underground disposal site in New Mexico, according to a government safety board. On May 31, 2022, the lab began the contractor readiness assessment for restarting […]
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National Laboratories
Livermore, DOE EM attack demolition of old contaminated facilities
Thanks to more than a quarter-billion dollars of congressional funds since 2018, the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is tearing down some of the most contaminated facilities in the weapons complex and “making bad things go away,” a manager at the California nuclear-weapons design lab said recently. Much progress has happened since the […]
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National Laboratories
Livermore, EM attack demolition of old contaminated facilities
Thanks to more than a quarter-billion dollars of congressional funds since 2018, the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is tearing down some of the most contaminated facilities in the weapons complex and “making bad things go away,” a manager at the California nuclear-weapons design lab said recently. Much progress has happened since the […]
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Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad
Joint chiefs chairman boosts SLCM-N again in House Armed Services hearing
The top-ranked U.S. general again touted his support for the low-yield, nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missile the Joe Biden administration wants to cancel, this time at the invitation of House Republicans during Tuesday’s Armed Services Committee hearing. Gen. Mark Milley’s position on the nuclear sea-launched cruise missile, SLCM-N, “has not changed,” the chairman of the Joint […]
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Stockpile Stewardship
Livermore’s Nimble Series of Subcritical Experiments on Deck at NNSS
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Nimble series of subcritical experiments, the next in line at the test site after Los Alamos’ Nightshade Series, was scheduled to run at least through Sept. 30, a lab official said last week. “We’re targeting Nimble to be done by the end of FY22 or the beginning of FY23,” Bradley […]
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Stockpile Stewardship
Livermore’s Nimble Series of Subcritical Experiments on Deck at NNSS
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Nimble series of subcritical experiments, the next in line at the test site after Los Alamos’ Nightshade Series, was scheduled to run at least through Sept. 30, a lab official said last week. “We’re targeting Nimble to be done by the end of FY22 or the beginning of FY23,” Bradley […]
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Stockpile Stewardship
Stockpile Stewardship Tools Today ‘Far Outstrip’ What Creators Thought Possible, LLNL Director Says
Todays’ computing, modeling and simulation tools, plus the National Ignition Facility that unlocks physics “not accessible in the laboratory,” have given nuclear-weapon stewards capabilities unimaginable almost 30 years ago, when the U.S. ceased explosive tests, the director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said this week. “On all of those fronts, the capabilities we have […]
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Stockpile Stewardship
Stockpile Stewardship Tools Today ‘Far Outstrip’ What Creators Thought Possible, LLNL Director Says
Todays’ computing, modeling and simulation tools, plus the National Ignition Facility that unlocks physics “not accessible in the laboratory,” have given nuclear-weapon stewards capabilities unimaginable almost 30 years ago, when the U.S. ceased explosive tests, the director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said Tuesday. “On all of those fronts, the capabilities we have in […]
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Stockpile Stewardship
August Experiment at NIF Set New Fusion Output Record for Facility
Shortly after the House and Senate united to protect the Department of Energy’s inertial confinement fusion program from some proposed austerity next fiscal year, the program’s emblematic National Ignition Facility shattered its own record for neutron yield. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced the milestone this week, about a week after the Aug. 8 shot […]
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Stockpile Stewardship
August Experiment at NIF Set New Fusion Output Record for Facility
Shortly after the House and Senate united to protect the Department of Energy’s inertial confinement fusion program from some proposed austerity next fiscal year, the program’s emblematic National Ignition Facility shattered its own record for neutron yield. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced the milestone Tuesday, about a week after the Aug. 8 shot in […]
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National Laboratories
Personnel: Wallin Moving Up at Livermore, Harrell Moving Out at Sandia
Bradley Wallin will lead Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s nuclear weapons programs, settling a succession that began when Kim Budil was promoted to lab director earlier this year, the design lab announced this week. Separately, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that Jeff Harrell, the federal manager for the agency’s Sandia Field Office, retired in […]
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National Laboratories
Personnel: Wallin Moving Up at Livermore, Harrell Moving Out at Sandia
Bradley Wallin will lead Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s nuclear weapons programs, settling a succession that began when Kim Budil was promoted to lab director earlier this year, the design lab announced Monday. Separately, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that Jeff Harrell, the federal manager for the agency’s Sandia Field Office, retired in July. […]
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Plutonium Pit Production
Los Alamos Pit Directorate Staffs Up With 5 New Managers
Five new-to-the-organization faces will join the new Los Alamos directorate in charge of turning the lab into the first national center for plutonium pit production since Rocky Flats ceased production in 1989. Three of these five managers were to be on the job Monday, with two colleagues to follow later this month and next, according […]
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National Laboratories
Craft Strike Ends at Livermore
Some 200 craft workers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California wrapped up a three-day strike on Thursday to protest what they called the lab management contractor’s unwillingness to bargain over a mandatory on-call policy. The Society of Professionals, Scientists and Engineers (SPSE) Local 11 – University Professional and Technical Employees, Communications Workers of […]
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National Laboratories
Craft Worker Strike for Three Days at LLNL Starting Tuesday
Some 200 members of the Society of Professionals, Scientists and Engineers were scheduled to begin a three-day strike Tuesday at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California to protest what they call unfair labor practices, the union said Monday. “The 200 strikers will spread out across the lab’s gates,” the union wrote in a press […]
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National Laboratories
Craft Workers Strike at Livermore
While nobody had walked off the job at deadline for Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, some 240 people were set to go on strike at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California over what the union called the management’s refusal to negotiate terms of a mandatory on-call policy for some craft workers. The Society of Professionals, […]
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National Laboratories
Craft Workers Strike at Livermore
Some 240 people were set to go on strike at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California over what the union called the management’s refusal to negotiate terms of a mandatory on-call policy for some craft workers. The Society of Professionals, Scientists and Engineers Local 11 – University Professional and Technical Employees, Communications Workers of […]
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National Laboratories
Livermore Publishes Findings About Near Surface Detonations Based on Old Film
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published new research about how near-surface detonations can affect nuclear-weapon yields, the California-based design lab said Monday. The findings, summarized in a paper titled “the reflection of a blast wave by a very intense explosion,” were published last week in Proceedings A of the Royal Society Publishing. The authors are […]
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National Laboratories
Livermore Publish Findings About Near Surface Detonations Based on Old Film
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published new research about how near-surface detonations can affect nuclear-weapon yields, the California-based design lab said Monday. The findings, summarized in a paper titled “the reflection of a blast wave by a very intense explosion,” were published last week in Proceedings A of the Royal Society Publishing. The authors are […]
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Budget & Policy
Nuclear Cleanup Spending Would Rise at NNSA Sites Under White House Request
The Department of Energy spending request put forward Friday by the Joe Biden administration for fiscal 2022 would increase funding for environmental cleanup of past weapons work at several National Nuclear Security Administration sites. The DOE Office of Environmental Management budget for physical cleanup of this legacy contamination would rise by about a third, to […]
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National Laboratories
Wrap Up: Burns & McDonnell Taps Federal Strategy Director
Kansas City, Mo.-based Burns & McDonnell recently named Willie Clark as its federal strategy director, the company announced this week. For the previous almost nine years, Clark had been the giant engineering corporation’s federal business development manager, according to the company’s Wednesday news release. He held positions with the National Nuclear Security Administration from 1987 […]








