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Nuclear deterrence
Looking into the void to cancel out material instabilities
Picture two materials sandwiched together. The boundary between them may appear flat, but, in reality, it is full of tiny bumps and dents. Suddenly, the materials are hit with a shockwave. If that wave hits a bump in the material interface, it slows down. If it hits a dent, it accelerates forward. This imbalance creates fast, narrow jets of material — called the Richtmyer…
Weapons Physics & Design ACT awards drive university partnerships and research
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has announced five research teams selected for awards through the Lab’s FY26 Academic Collaboration Team (ACT) annual call for proposals. Awards support university research partners for up to three years to perform research in collaboration with Lab scientists and offer an important way to build long-term connections with…
All 50 episodes of the Big Ideas Lab now available on LLNL podcast page
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Big Ideas Lab podcast marks a new milestone with the release of its 50th episode. The latest episode, delving into high-performance computing for energy innovation, can be found alongside the entire series on the new LLNL podcast page. Since its debut in September 2024, the Big Ideas Lab has aimed to rethink how science…
LLNL partners with Inertia to develop fusion energy technology
Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are partnering with San Francisco Bay Area fusion energy startup Inertia Enterprises Inc. to advance fusion laser technology, as well as inertial fusion target manufacturing and designs. This collaboration is an expansive and integrated private sector-led partnership, unique in the history of LLNL and the DOE…
NNSA and LLNL advance laser upgrade for nuclear stockpile mission ahead of schedule
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have approved a path forward for a project that will increase the laser energy available to the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). This advancement was expedited by key regulatory changes made in March 2025 by U.S. Secretary of Energy…
Cryogenic micro-calorimetry offers a novel material-dating method for nuclear forensics and safeguards
The moment nuclear material is produced, processed or purified, it sets off a hidden countdown, marked by the half-life of its radioactive atoms as they begin to decay. For scientists tracking the origins of these substances, decoding this natural clock is crucial for verifying material histories in support of global security efforts. In a new study published in the…
LLNL’s Robert Maxwell selected as 2025 AAAS Fellow
Robert S. Maxwell, Strategic Deterrence (SD) program director for Materials and Manufacturing Transformation, was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in recognition of nearly three decades of leadership and significant contributions in materials chemistry related to national security. “I am incredibly honored and humbled by…
Big Ideas Lab podcast explores energetic materials and the science behind explosive performance
In less than a millionth of a second, a high explosive can release its energy, generating pressures and temperatures that push materials to their limits. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), scientists in the Energetic Materials Center (EMC) study these extreme conditions using experiments, computation and specialized facilities. The latest episode of the Big…
LLNL optics expert Wren Carr named SPIE Fellow
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Wren Carr was recently selected as a Fellow of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. He is the science and technology group leader for National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser-induced damage and mitigation science. “I feel honored to be recognized by SPIE for my leadership, mentorship and technical…
LLNL honors 36 as 2026 Distinguished Members of Technical Staff
Thirty-six Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have been named Distinguished Members of Technical Staff (DMTS) in recognition of their extraordinary scientific and technical contributions, as affirmed by their professional peers and the broader scientific community. As distinguished citizens of the Laboratory and their respective fields, DMTS honorees…
Big Ideas Lab podcast zooms in on tiny targets
At the end of an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), the target, measuring just two centimeters, is mostly obliterated. The gold plating, the high-density carbon and months of meticulous assembly vanish in an instant. That’s the point. In that flash, the target becomes what NIF is built…
Advanced Radiographic Capability achievements featured in Physics of Plasmas
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the hottest place on earth for the briefest of moments during an experiment. Now, it can be one of the brightest places thanks to the Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC), NIF’s laser-within-the-laser. How this is possible and how it’s measured is detailed in the cover paper of the December 2025…
Mission challenge ideas day turns bold concepts into space security capabilities
Exploring new frontiers of space requires innovative approaches to anticipate and identify paths for integrating space domain awareness capabilities. To deliver solutions for these emergent challenges, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Global Security Directorate recently hosted a “Space LDRD Ideas Day.” Researchers from a broad range of disciplines attended…
Americium, curium and californium — oh my! Crystallizing the rarest elements at LLNL
Actinides are a group of heavy, radioactive elements that include uranium, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium and californium. Understanding how these elements bond with other atoms (known as coordination chemistry), how they behave in water and how they can be separated from one another is crucial for safer nuclear waste management, new reactor technologies and…
NNSA Administrator Williams visits LLNL to discuss stockpile modernization, AI and future deterrence
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Brandon Williams visited Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Feb. 9 for briefings and tours focused on stockpile modernization, AI, supercomputing and the future of deterrence. During the visit, Williams met with LLNL…
National Academy of Engineering elects LLNL Director Kim Budil to 2026 class
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Director Kim Budil has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional distinctions in the field. Recognized for “advancing nuclear deterrence through technical contributions, laboratory leadership and advice to the government,” Budil joins only 2,890 NAE members worldwide…
LLNL researchers discover new way to ‘cage’ plutonium
Plutonium (Pu) exhibits one of the most diverse and complex chemistries of any element in the periodic table. Since its discovery in 1940, scientists have synthesized and studied many different types of plutonium-containing compounds using tools that reveal both their atomic structures and how they interact with light. Not only does plutonium have numerous alloys and…
The Big Ideas Lab podcast learns to create a supernova on Earth
The planets, stars and distant galaxies have long captured our imaginations. Our curiosity about these distant realms has led us to send humans into space, land robots on Mars and create enormous telescopes with unprecedented reach. Here on Earth, scientists are exploring astrophysical phenomena in a special lab — Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition…
When lasers cross: LLNL finds a brighter way to measure plasma
Measuring conditions in volatile clouds of superheated gases known as plasmas are central to pursuing greater scientific understanding of how stars, nuclear detonations and fusion energy work. For decades, scientists have relied on a technique called Thomson scattering, which uses a single laser beam to scatter from plasma waves as a way to measure critical information…
Lab physicist receives Sylvie Jacquemot Early Career Prize
Staff scientist Elizabeth Grace of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been awarded the 2026 European Physical Society-Plasma Physics Division (EPS-PPCF) Sylvie Jacquemot Early Career Prize. “I am very honored to receive this award,” Grace said. “I appreciate the support from my mentors and the opportunities at LLNL, which made this work possible.” She was…
