Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The United States nuclear weapons enterprise must be flexible, scalable and collaborative in coming years in a world where Russia and China are rapidly modernizing their nuclear triad, officials said during a Tuesday webinar held by the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance (ANWA) Deterrence Center. Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Eric […]

The United States nuclear weapons enterprise must be flexible, scalable and collaborative in coming years in a world where Russia and China are rapidly modernizing their nuclear triad, officials said during a Tuesday webinar held by the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance (ANWA) Deterrence Center. Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Eric […]

The Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has entered into a partnership this week with the nuclear fusion startup Inertia Enterprises to explore and develop new fusion technology. According to LLNL’s Tuesday press release, the partnership consists of a cooperative research and development agreement focused on laser development and two strategic partnership projects. The […]

PHOENIX – The land-constrained Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco, Calif. must demolish decaying old buildings covering a third of its footprint over the next 16 years, Livermore manager Mark Costella said here Tuesday. Livermore’s main Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) campus takes up only one square mile, Costella said. As […]

PHOENIX – The land-constrained Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco, Calif. must demolish decaying old buildings covering a third of its footprint over the next 16 years, Livermore manager Mark Costella said here Tuesday. Livermore’s main Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) campus takes up only one square mile, Costella said. As […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) cancelled the publication of a draft environmental report for public comment on plutonium use at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a local publication reported.  According to Livermore Vine, NNSA intended to release the draft, and said so in a notice of intent January 2025, for comments and feedback from the […]

Texas A&M University professor Satish Bukkapatnam believes nuclear fusion as a reliable energy source is “a decade or more” away from being feasible, according to a press release.  Nuclear fusion is a source of clean energy that involves fusing light nuclei to create energy and helium. This fusion could create massive amounts of energy.  In […]

Texas A&M University professor Satish Bukkapatnam believes that nuclear fusion as a reliable energy source is “a decade or more” away from being feasible. Nuclear fusion is a source of clean energy that involves fusing light nuclei to create energy and helium. In 2022, a Texas A&M University team led by Bukkapatnam and researchers from […]

Work crews at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California will soon start removing the concrete slab from the site of Building 251, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said Tuesday. Once the slab is gone, Building 251 or the Heavy Elements Facility will become available for future work by DOE and its […]

MERCURY, Nev. — The next subcritical experiment in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Nimble is scheduled to fire in April, senior officials at the Nevada National Security Site site told the Exchange Monitor Wednesday. The experiment, named Nob Hill, would be the second in the three-shot series of experiments. The first experiment, called Twin Peaks, took […]

MERCURY, Nev. — The next subcritical experiment in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Nimble is scheduled to fire in April, senior officials at the Nevada National Security Site site told the Exchange Monitor Wednesday. The experiment, named Nob Hill, would be the second in the three-shot series of experiments. The first experiment, called Twin Peaks, took […]

Development of the nuclear warhead for the Air Force’s next cruise missile so far is not affected by the early parallel development of a sea-launched variant of the warhead for the Navy, the commander of the eighth Air Force said Wednesday. “I have not heard anything like that at all,” Major General Jason Armagost, commander […]

Development of the nuclear warhead for the Air Force’s next cruise missile so far is not affected by the early parallel development of a sea-launched variant of the warhead for the Navy, the commander of the eighth Air Force said Wednesday. “I have not heard anything like that at all,” Major General Jason Armagost, commander […]

Editor’s note: the election digest tracks lawmakers whose constituencies include Department of Energy nuclear sites. Most lawmakers with big nuclear constituencies look, as usual, safe to win reelection this November. However, a few are retiring and some are in tight races. The Exchange Monitor’s election digest is tracking them all. Among the expected Senate retirees […]

On May 14, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory completed the first in the Nimble series of underground subcritical experiments at the Nevada National Security Site, according to a press release. The subcritical experiment was conducted at the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation, also known as the U1a Complex.  In June 2023, a senior Livermore […]

The Department of Energy plans to use Aptim, one of nine companies selected in a national solicitation in 2020, as its decommissioning and demolition contractor for Building 281 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. DOE published a justification for not doing additional competitive bidding for the work, worth up to $22.1 million, in […]

The Department of Energy plans to use Aptim, one of nine companies selected in a national solicitation in 2020, as its decommissioning and demolition contractor for Building 281 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. DOE published a justification for not doing additional competitive bidding for the work, worth up to $22.1 million, in […]

The portion of Simi Valley where the Santa Susana Field Laboratory cleanup site is located could be subject to flash flooding through Tuesday as a so-called atmospheric river produces unusually heavy rains in Southern California, according to the National Weather Service. It rained heavily over the weekend and there is a 100% chance of rain […]

WASHINGTON — A tech-industry downturn and a federal permission to boost worker compensation helped with hiring at U.S. nuclear-weapons labs, but hanging on to recruits is still tough, the lab directors said here Wednesday. “We’re actually in quite a good place right now,” Kimberly Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, […]

The prime contractor of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is being investigated for an April incident in which radioactive contamination from the nuclear weapons lab was found on and off-site. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Enterprise Assessments announced its intent to investigate Lawrence Livermore National Security on Jan. 26. Anthony Pierpoint, director […]

WASHINGTON — A tech-industry downturn and a federal permission to boost worker compensation helped with hiring at U.S. nuclear-weapons labs, but hanging on to recruits is still tough, the lab directors said here Wednesday. “We’re actually in quite a good place right now,” Kimberly Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, […]

The prime contractor of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is being investigated for an April incident in which radioactive contamination from the nuclear weapons lab was found on and off-site.  The NNSA’s Office of Enterprise Assessments announced its intent to investigate Lawrence Livermore National Security on Jan. 26. Anthony Pierpoint, director of the Office of […]

The annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, hosted by the Exchange Monitor, kicks off in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday with more than 60 speakers from the top ranks of the U.S.  nuclear security enterprise.  Expect much discussion of the National Nuclear Security Administration striving to produce at least 80 plutonium pits for use in modernizing nuclear weapons […]

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory developed a new tool to model how blowing up a nuclear might stop an asteroid from slamming into Earth. Published in December in the Planetary Science Journal, the Livermore research introduces a new way of digitally simulating the energy deposition from a nuclear device on an asteroid’s surface, the […]

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory developed a new tool to model how blowing up a nuclear  weapon might stop an asteroid from slamming into Earth. Published in December in the Planetary Science Journal, the Livermore research introduces a new way of digitally simulating the energy deposition from a nuclear device on an asteroid’s surface, […]

The NNSA’s preferred option for continuing operations at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory involves building more than three million square feet of new facilities at various sites in California through 2035.  Two options for future operations at the lab, and their potential environmental impacts, are laid out in a new site-wide environmental impact statement covering the […]

Lockheed Martin wants to build solid rocket motors to compete with the military’s two current main suppliers,  Northrop Grumman’s Orbital ATK and L3Harris’ Aerojet Rocketdyne. “We are endeavoring as a defense company to create another supplier,” James Taiclet, the president of Lockheed Martin, testified at a Sept. 20 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s […]

Linda Bauer, former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory deputy director, will lead a new effort to write a “blueprint” for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s production and science & technology infrastructure.  NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby announced the campaign to “keep pace with the dynamic global environment” in an internal email seen by the Exchange Monitor on […]

The W87-1 warhead modification program recently moved into development engineering, also called Phase 6.3, following approval from the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Defense and the Nuclear Weapons Council.  During this phase of the nuclear weapons lifecycle process, NNSA will continue to work closely with the Defense Department to conduct experiments, tests and […]

Released midday Tuesday, the Senate Armed Service’s version of the 2024 defense policy bill boosts spending on nuclear weapons by $276 million and increases overall funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration, compared with the agency’s funding request.  Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Ranking Member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) jointly […]