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General Information

Structural &
Seismic Eng.

Evaluates the safety of complex structures and structural components when subjected to severe loads

Nuclear
Analysis

Uses state-of-the-art computer tools to analyze nuclear reactor and fuel cycle designs.

Systems
Engineering

Research in the design and operations of complex systems, including their hardware, software, and human elements.

Risk &
Reliabilty Analysis

Conducts risk and reliability assessments of commercial nuclear power plants and other complex technological systems.

Advanced Materials for Energy Systems

Conducts research on materials in extreme environments for advanced energy systems.

Provides information services in the fields of low and medium energy nuclear physics to users in the United States and Canada. Provides information on neutron, charged-particle, and photonuclear reactions, nuclear structure, and decay data.

Radiation Detector R&D

Research in the forefront of technological advances that may allow law enforcement and Homeland Security personnel to detect and locate sources of radiation.

Safeguards and Verification

Manages and coordinates support to international programs on behalf of U.S. government agencies including the International Safeguards Project Office, the Technical Survey Team, the Insider Threat Working Group, and Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention.

Nonproliferation
and Safeguards

Works to mitigate the threat posed by radiological materials

Nonproliferation and Homeland Security Field Support

Develops and tests radiation detectors for nonproliferation, treaty verification and homeland security applications.

Energy Storage

Basic electrochemical research to improve the efficiency and reliability of fuel cells and batteries.

Renewable Energy

Develops solutions to key issues facing the deployment, grid integration, and life-cycle assessment of renewable energy technologies in the U.S.

Energy Conversion

Offers advanced technical solutions to reduced fossil fuel use in geothermal power and building energy applications.

Energy Policy and Technology Analysis

Conducts long-term integrated energy, environmental, and economic analysis using the MARKAL family of models.

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Nonproliferation and National Security Department

Radiation Detector R&D Group

Brookhaven scientists are in the forefront of technological advances that may allow law enforcement and Homeland Security personnel to detect and locate sources of radiation, such as the so-called “dirty bombs” that terrorists may attempt to deploy in U.S cities. Work is ongoing for the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency to create new and more effective radiation detector systems. Work includes:

Directional Neutron Imaging (both fast and thermal neutrons)
Gas ionization chambers (high pressure xenon, gamma ray detectors), and
Semi-conductor crystal detectors with intensive research on improving Cadmium Zinc Telluride semiconductor crystals using the National Synchrotron Light Source at BNL

Precise isotope identification will help law enforcement differentiate between potentially dangerous radioactive materials and otherwise harmless radiation sources.. Detectors based on scintillators, which convert x-ray energy into visible light, operate at room temperature, but they have poor ability to identify isotopes. Brookhaven is working to combine the advantages of both minus their drawbacks by developing detectors based on cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) crystals. The CZT detectors meet the need for portable devices that can detect and image radiation without the false alarms characteristic of many conventional systems. They are now being deployed in niche applications but fat greater standoff distances, they begin to lose performance ability. The group has been exploring a “fast” neutron double scatter camera and are extensively testing it in collaboration with other DOE laboratories and countries.