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58-515: The N th Country Experiment was an experiment conducted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory starting in May 1964 that sought to assess the risk of nuclear proliferation . The experiment consisted in paying three young physicists who had just received their PhDs , though they had no prior weapons experience, to develop a working nuclear weapon design , using only unclassified information, and with basic computational and technical support. "The goal of

116-530: A captain in the United States Army Reserve . Like Pipkorn and Dobson, Seldon had a physics PhD and no nuclear expertise. The experiments the physicists completed were split into three phases, each representing the "attainment of a physical level of understanding." Phase I was the understanding of basic concepts and considerations of bomb design, much like the process of creation originally undertaken by J. Robert Oppenheimer at Los Alamos . Phase II

174-467: A broad range of scientific and technical disciplines, applying current capabilities to existing programs and developing new science and technologies to meet future national needs. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has worked out several energy technologies in the field of coal gasification , shale oil extraction , geothermal energy , advanced battery research , solar energy , and fusion energy . Main oil shale processing technologies worked out by

232-487: A contractual obligation to terminate the employees only for "reasonable cause." The five plaintiffs also have pending age discrimination claims against LLNS, which will be heard by a different jury in a separate trial. There are 125 co-plaintiffs awaiting trial on similar claims against LLNS. The May 2008 layoff was the first layoff at the laboratory in nearly 40 years. On March 14, 2011, the City of Livermore officially expanded

290-426: A few minutes instead of the days to weeks previously required for DNA analysis. Today, Livermore researchers address a spectrum of threats – radiological/nuclear, chemical, biological, explosives, and cyber. They combine physical and life sciences, engineering, computations, and analysis to develop technologies that solve real-world problems. Activities are grouped into five programs: LLNL supports capabilities in

348-403: A half calendar years. According to a heavily redacted declassified version of the summary, lab weapons experts apparently judged that the team had come up with a credible design for an implosion-style nuclear weapon . It was also judged likely that they would have been able to design a simpler "gun combination"-type weapon even more quickly, although in such a case the limiting factor in developing

406-576: A long history of developing high performance computing software and systems, focusing on creating highly complex physics models, visualization codes, and other unique applications tailored to specific research requirements. LLNL-developed software projects optimize the operation and management of the computer systems, including operating systems such as NLTSS or TOSS (Tri-Laboratory Operating System Stack), software build and installation tools such as Spack , and resource management packages such as Flux and SLURM . LLNL also initiated and continues leading

464-406: A number of California State agencies, and private industry. For Fiscal Year 2009 LLNL spent $ 1.497 billion on research and laboratory operations activities: Research/Science Budget: Site Management/Operations Budget: The LLNL director is appointed by the board of governors of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) and reports to the board. The laboratory director also serves as

522-643: A result, its first three nuclear tests were unsuccessful. The lab persevered and its subsequent designs proved increasingly successful. In 1957, the Livermore Lab was selected to develop the warhead for the Navy's Polaris missile . This warhead required numerous innovations to fit a nuclear warhead into the relatively small confines of the missile nosecone. During the Cold War , many Livermore-designed warheads entered service. These were used in missiles ranging in size from

580-435: A sample at any given time. Experiments are being conducted at LLNL and elsewhere to measure the structural, electrical and chemical properties of plutonium and its alloys and to determine how these materials change over time. Such measurements will enable scientists to better model and predict plutonium's long-term behavior in the aging stockpile. The Lab's plutonium research is conducted in a specially designed facility called

638-449: A science magnet in high-energy-density (i.e., laser) physics . In addition, most of its special nuclear material would be removed and consolidated at a more central, yet-to-be-named site. On September 30, 2009, the NNSA announced that about two thirds of the special nuclear material (e.g., plutonium) at LLNL requiring the highest level of security protection had been removed from LLNL. The move

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696-448: A seventh governor who is appointed by Battelle; they are non-voting and advisory to the executive committee. The remaining board positions are known as independent governors (also referred to as outside governors), and are selected from among individuals, preferably of national stature, and can not be employees or officers of the partner companies. The University of California-appointed chair has tie-breaking authority over most decisions of

754-651: Is a research and development institution for science and technology applied to national security. Its principal responsibility is ensuring the safety, security and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons through the application of advanced science, engineering, and technology. The laboratory also applies its special expertise and multidisciplinary capabilities towards preventing the proliferation and use of weapons of mass destruction , bolstering homeland security, and solving other nationally important problems, including energy and environmental needs, scientific research and outreach, and economic competitiveness. The laboratory

812-754: Is concern that it will become increasingly difficult to maintain high confidence in the current warheads for the long term, the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration initiated the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) Program. RRW designs could reduce uncertainties, ease maintenance demands, and enhance safety and security. In March 2007, the LLNL design was chosen for the Reliable Replacement Warhead. Since that time, Congress has not allocated funding for any further development of

870-505: Is located on a 1 sq. mi.(2.6 km ) site at the eastern edge of Livermore . It also operates a 7,000 acres (28 km ) remote experimental test site known as Site 300, situated about 15 miles (24 km) southeast of the main lab site. LLNL has an annual budget of about $ 2.7 billion and a staff of nearly 9,000 employees. LLNL was established in 1952, as the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch , an offshoot of

928-537: Is organized into these functional areas/offices: The laboratory is organized into four principal directorates, each headed by a principal associate director: Three other directorates are each headed by a principal associate director who reports to the LLNL director: The LLNL director reports to the Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) board of governors, a group of key scientific, academic, national security and business leaders from

986-793: The Lance surface-to-surface tactical missile to the megaton-class Spartan antiballistic missile . Over the years, LLNL designed the following warheads: W27 (Regulus cruise missile; 1955; joint with Los Alamos), W38 (Atlas/Titan ICBM; 1959), B41 (B52 bomb; 1957), W45 (Little John/Terrier missiles; 1956), W47 (Polaris SLBM; 1957), W48 (155-mm howitzer; 1957), W55 (submarine rocket; 1959), W56 (Minuteman ICBM; 1960), W58 (Polaris SLBM; 1960), W62 (Minuteman ICBM; 1964), W68 (Poseidon SLBM; 1966), W70 (Lance missile; 1969), W71 (Spartan missile; 1968), W79 (8-in. artillery gun; 1975), W82 (155-mm howitzer; 1978), B83 (modern strategic bomb; 1979), and W87 (LGM-118 Peacekeeper/MX ICBM; 1982). The W87 and

1044-540: The University of California , Bechtel , BWX Technologies , Amentum (company) , and Battelle Memorial Institute in affiliation with the Texas A&;M University System ). In 2012, the synthetic chemical element livermorium (element 116) was named after the laboratory. The Livermore facility was co-founded by Edward Teller and Ernest Lawrence , then director of the Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley. LLNL

1102-636: The B83 are the only LLNL designs still in the U.S. nuclear stockpile. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of the Cold War , the United States began a moratorium on nuclear testing and development of new nuclear weapon designs. To sustain existing warheads for the indefinite future, a science-based Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) was defined that emphasized the development and application of greatly improved technical capabilities to assess

1160-474: The Berkeley lab until 1971. To this day, in official planning documents and records, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is designated as Site 100, Lawrence Livermore National Lab as Site 200, and LLNL's remote test location as Site 300. The laboratory was renamed Lawrence Livermore Laboratory ( LLL ) in 1971. On October 1, 2007 Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) assumed management of LLNL from

1218-620: The DOE/NNSA Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, as well as the Department of Homeland Security . LLNL also receives funding from DOE's Office of Science , Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, and Office of Nuclear Energy . In addition, LLNL conducts work-for-others research and development for various Defense Department sponsors, other federal agencies, including NASA , Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), National Institutes of Health , and Environmental Protection Agency ,

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1276-475: The LLNS partner companies that jointly own and control LLNS. The LLNS board of governors has a total of 16 positions, with six of these governors constituting an executive committee. All decisions of the board are made by the governors on the executive committee. The other governors are advisory to the executive committee and do not have voting rights. The University of California is entitled to appoint three governors to

1334-705: The LVOC will consist of an approximately 110-acre parcel along the eastern edge of the Livermore Laboratory and Sandia sites, and will house additional conference space, collaboration facilities and a visitor center to support educational and research activities. Objectives of LVOC LLNL's principal sponsor is the Department of Energy / National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) Office of Defense Programs, which supports its stockpile stewardship and advanced scientific computing programs. Funding to support LLNL's global security and homeland security work comes from

1392-696: The Lab had four main programs: Project Sherwood (the magnetic-fusion program), Project Whitney (the weapons-design program), diagnostic weapon experiments (both for the Los Alamos and Livermore laboratories), and a basic physics program. York and the new lab embraced the Lawrence "big science" approach, tackling challenging projects with physicists, chemists, engineers, and computational scientists working together in multidisciplinary teams. Lawrence died in August 1958 and shortly after,

1450-543: The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are LLNL HRS (hot-recycled-solid), LLNL RISE ( in situ extraction technology) and LLNL radiofrequency technologies. Over its 60-year history, Lawrence Livermore has made many scientific and technological achievements, including: On July 17, 2009 LLNL announced that the Laboratory had received eight R&D 100 Awards – more than it had ever received in

1508-468: The Nth Country Experiment was declassified—though heavily excised—in 2003. In April 1964, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (then known as Livermore Radiation Laboratory) hired physicists David A. Dobson and David N. Pipkorn to design a nuclear explosive with "militarily significant yield". The next year, Pipkorn dropped out of the project and was replaced by Robert W. Seldon,

1566-452: The RRW. LLNL conducts research into the properties and behavior of plutonium to learn how plutonium performs as it ages and how it behaves under high pressure (e.g., with the impact of high explosives). Plutonium has seven temperature-dependent solid allotropes . Each possesses a different density and crystal structure . Alloys of plutonium are even more complex; multiple phases can be present in

1624-578: The SuperBlock, with emphasis on safety and security. Work with highly enriched uranium is also conducted there. In March 2008, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) presented its preferred alternative for the transformation of the nation's nuclear weapons complex. Under this plan, LLNL would be a center of excellence for nuclear design and engineering, a center of excellence for high explosive research and development, and

1682-484: The USSR the second , and so on, which would be the nth ? Due to increased publicly available resources about nuclear weapons, it is reasonable to assume that a viable weapon design could be reached with even less effort today. But in the history of nuclear weapons , the development of fission weapons was never strongly hindered by basic design questions, except in the very first nuclear weapons programs. The Summary Report of

1740-552: The University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch in 1952 in response to the detonation of the Soviet Union 's first atomic bomb during the Cold War . It later became autonomous in 1971 and was designated a national laboratory in 1981. A federally funded research and development center , Lawrence Livermore Lab is primarily funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and it is managed privately and operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (a partnership of

1798-488: The University of California, which had exclusively managed and operated the Laboratory since its inception 55 years before. The laboratory was honored in 2012 by having the synthetic chemical element livermorium named after it. The LLNS takeover of the laboratory has been controversial. In May 2013, an Alameda County jury awarded over $ 2.7 million to five former laboratory employees who were among 430 employees LLNS laid off during 2008. The jury found that LLNS breached

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1856-405: The annual competition. The previous LLNL record of seven awards was reached five times – in 1987, 1988, 1997, 1998 and 2006. Also known as the "Oscars of invention", the awards are given each year for the development of cutting-edge scientific and engineering technologies with commercial potential. The awards raise LLNL's total number of awards since 1978 to 129. On October 12, 2016, LLNL released

1914-511: The city's boundaries to annex LLNL and move it within the city limits. The unanimous vote by the Livermore city council expanded Livermore's southeastern boundaries to cover 15 land parcels covering 1,057 acres (4.28 km ) that comprise the LLNL site. The site was formerly an unincorporated area of Alameda County. The LLNL campus continues to be owned by the federal government. From its inception, Livermore focused on new weapon design concepts; as

1972-653: The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. LLNL staff have been heavily involved in the cooperative nonproliferation programs with Russia to secure at-risk weapons materials and assist former weapons workers in developing peaceful applications and self-sustaining job opportunities for their expertise and technologies. In the mid-1990s, Lab scientists began efforts to devise improved biodetection capabilities, leading to miniaturized and autonomous instruments that can detect biothreat agents in

2030-465: The deputy laboratory director. Federally funded research and development center During World War II scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and other specialists became part of the massive United States war effort—leading to evolutions in radar, aircraft, computing and, most famously, the development of nuclear weapons through the Manhattan Project . The end of armed conflict did not end

2088-559: The development of ZFS on Linux, the official port of ZFS to the Linux operating system. In August 2009, a joint venture was announced between Sandia National Laboratories /California campus and LLNL to create an open, unclassified research and development space called the Livermore Valley Open Campus (LVOC). The motivation for the LVOC stems from current and future national security challenges that require increased coupling to

2146-538: The executive committee, including the chair. Bechtel is also entitled to appoint three governors to the executive committee, including the vice chair. One of the Bechtel governors must be a representative of Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) or the Washington Division of URS Corporation (URS), who is nominated jointly by B&W and URS each year, and who must be approved and appointed by Bechtel. The executive committee has

2204-429: The executive committee. The board of governors is the ultimate governing body of LLNS and is charged with overseeing the affairs of LLNS in its operations and management of LLNL. LLNS managers and employees who work at LLNL, up to and including the president and laboratory director, are generally referred to as laboratory employees. All laboratory employees report directly or indirectly to the LLNS president. While most of

2262-502: The existing University of California Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley . The lab at Livermore was intended to spur innovation and provide competition to the nuclear weapon design laboratory at Los Alamos in New Mexico , home of the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic weapons . The Livermore facility was co-founded by Edward Teller and Ernest Lawrence , director of the Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley. The new laboratory

2320-415: The first fusion reactor to achieve breakeven on December 5, 2022, with an experiment producing 3.15 megajoules of energy from a 2.05 megajoule input of laser light for an energy gain of about 1.5. Throughout its history, LLNL has been a leader in computers and scientific computing. Even before the Livermore Lab opened its doors, E.O. Lawrence and Edward Teller recognized the importance of computing and

2378-467: The government—free of organizational conflicts of interest and with a stable workforce of highly trained technical talent. The U.S. Air Force created the first FFRDC, the RAND Corporation , in 1947. Others grew directly out of their wartime roles. For example, MIT Lincoln Laboratory , founded in 1951, originated as the Radiation Laboratory at MIT, and the Navy's Operation Research Group evolved into

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2436-469: The need for organized research and development in support of the government. As the Cold War became the new reality, government officials and their scientific advisors advanced the idea of a systematic approach to research, development, and acquisitions—one independent of the ups and downs of the marketplace and free of the restrictions on civil service. From this idea arose the concept of FFRDCs—private entities that would work almost exclusively on behalf of

2494-420: The parent companies. The LLNS executive committee is free to appoint officers or other managers of LLNS and LLNL, and may delegate its authorities as it deems appropriate to such officers, employees, or other representatives of LLNS/LLNL. The executive committee may also retain auditors, attorneys, or other professionals as necessary. For the most part the executive committee has appointed senior managers at LLNL as

2552-435: The participants should be to design an explosive with a militarily significant yield", the report on the experiment read, "A working context for the experiment might be that the participants have been asked to design a nuclear explosive which, if built in small numbers, would give a small nation a significant effect on their foreign relations." The experiment ended on April 10, 1967, after three person-years of work over two and

2610-568: The potential of computational simulation. Their purchase of one of the first UNIVAC computers set the precedent for LLNL's history of acquiring and exploiting the fastest and most capable supercomputers in the world. A succession of increasingly powerful and fast computers have been used at the Lab over the years in support of the stockpile stewardship mission. LLNL researchers also use supercomputers to answer questions about subjects such as materials science simulations, climate change, reactions to natural disasters, and other physical phenomena. LLNL has

2668-409: The president of LLNS. Over the course of its history, the following scientists have served as LLNL director: The LLNL director is supported by a senior executive team consisting of the deputy director, the deputy director for science and technology, principal associate directors, and other senior executives who manage areas/functions directly reporting to the laboratory director. The director's office

2726-422: The primary officers of LLNS. As a practical matter most operational decisions are delegated to the president of LLNS, who is also the laboratory director. The positions of president laboratory director and deputy laboratory director are filled by joint action of the chair and vice chair of the executive committee, with the University of California nominating the president and laboratory director and Bechtel nominating

2784-572: The private sector to understand threats and deploy solutions in areas such as high performance computing, energy and environmental security, cyber security, economic security, and non-proliferation. The LVOC is modeled after research and development campuses found at major industrial research parks and other U.S. Department of Energy laboratories with campus-like security, a set of business and operating rules devised to enhance and accelerate international scientific collaboration and partnerships with U.S. government agencies, industry and academia. Ultimately,

2842-542: The report. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ( LLNL ) is a federally funded research and development center in California , United States . Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and administered privately by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC. The lab was originally established as

2900-467: The results of computerized modeling of Mars's moon Phobos , finding that it has a connection with keeping the Earth safe from asteroids. In December, 2022 scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced, in a breakthrough for fusion power technology, that they have used the technique of inertial confinement fusion to achieve a net gain of energy. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) became

2958-705: The safety, security, and reliability of existing nuclear warheads without the use of nuclear testing. Confidence in the performance of weapons, without nuclear testing, is maintained through an ongoing process of stockpile surveillance, assessment and certification, and refurbishment or weapon replacement. With no new designs of nuclear weapons, the warheads in the U.S. stockpile must continue to function far past their original expected lifetimes. As components and materials age, problems can arise. Stockpile Life Extension Programs can extend system lifetimes, but they also can introduce performance uncertainties and require maintenance of outdated technologies and materials. Because there

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3016-472: The university's board of regents named both laboratories for him, as the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory . Historically, the Berkeley and Livermore laboratories have had very close relationships on research projects, business operations, and staff. The Livermore Lab was established initially as a branch of the Berkeley laboratory. The Livermore lab was not officially severed administratively from

3074-417: The weapon is not usually design difficulty but rather procurement of material ( enriched uranium ). The term " Nth Country" referred to the goal to assess the difficulty of developing basic weapons design (not the development of the weapons themselves) for any country with a relatively small amount of technical infrastructure—if the United States was the first country to develop nuclear weapons, and

3132-415: The work performed by LLNL is funded by the federal government, laboratory employees are paid by LLNS, which is responsible for all aspects of their employment, including providing health care benefits and retirement programs. Within the board of governors, authority resides in the executive committee to exercise all rights, powers, and authorities of LLNS, excepting only certain decisions that are reserved to

3190-423: Was 2014. NNSA and LLNL developed a timeline to remove this material as early as possible, accelerating the target completion date to 2012. The Lab's work in global security aims to reduce and mitigate the dangers posed by the spread or use of weapons of mass destruction and by threats to energy and environmental security. Livermore has been working on global security and homeland security for decades, predating both

3248-633: Was part of NNSA's efforts initiated in October 2006 to consolidate special nuclear material at five sites by 2012, with significantly reduced square footage at those sites by 2017. The federally mandated project intends to improve security and reduce security costs, and is part of NNSA's overall effort to transform the Cold War era "nuclear weapons" enterprise into a 21st-century "nuclear security" enterprise. The original date to remove all high-security nuclear material from LLNL, based on equipment capability and capacity,

3306-700: Was sited at a former naval air station from World War II . It was already home to several University of California Radiation Laboratory projects that were too large for its location in the Berkeley Hills above the UC campus, including one of the first experiments in the magnetic approach to confined thermonuclear reactions (i.e. fusion). About half an hour southeast of Berkeley, the Livermore site provided much greater security for classified projects than an urban university campus. Lawrence tapped his former graduate student Herbert York , age 32, to run Livermore. Under York,

3364-479: Was the quantitative expansion of those basic concepts into practical application by calculating core mass, hole size, explosive thickness, etc., which are essential to the careful design of atomic weapons. Finally, Phase III was an "extension of Phase II" that involved actual implosion and fission calculations. Plutonium implosion-style designs were then formulated. Certain aspects of the UCRL-50239 have been omitted from

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