NNSA Blog
The NNSA quarterly summary of experiments conducted as part of its science-based stockpile stewardship program is now available. The summary presents descriptions of key NNSA facilities that have been recently conducted stockpile stewardship experiments.
The quarterly summary prepared by NNSA’s Office of Defense Programs provides descriptions of key NNSA facilities that conduct stockpile stewardship experiments. These include the Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories.
The U.S. Stockpile Stewardship Program is a robust program of scientific inquiry used to sustain and assess the nuclear weapons stockpile without the use of underground nuclear tests. The experiments carried out within the program are used in combination with complex computational models and NNSA’s Advanced Simulation and Computing Program to assess the safety, security and effectiveness of the stockpile.
Y-12’s Direct-Hire Construction team was recently honored for achieving more than one million hours worked without a lost-time accident and zero recordable injuries throughout 2012.
The Y-12 team achieved the one million-hour milestone in June 2012, and in January 2013, attained 1.4 million hours (more than 800 days) without a lost-time accident. The team’s last lost workday occurred in September 2010.
See more.
About the photo:
Tom Morris, B&W Y-12 vice president of projects, presents Construction’s safety awards to Monica Lewis, Y-12 craft safety lead representative, and Kevin Adkisson, Knoxville Building and Construction Trades Council president.
NNSA Acting Administrator Neile Miller today hosted Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson.
The engagement provided Miller the opportunity to thank the County Commissioner for his active interest in the Sandia National Laboratories and for his leadership in the community. NNSA recognizes the value of a strong and collaborative relationship with the leadership of the communities in which NNSA has labs, plants and sites and appreciates the opportunity to advance the national nuclear security agenda through their partnership.
Hyde Park Middle School - Blue Team emerged from nine hours of academic competition undefeated as they captured first place in the 2013 Nevada Science Bowl for middle schools recently. Hyde Park won $1000 for their math/science department and an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to represent Nevada in the National Science Bowl in April.
Thousands of students across the country square off in regional science bowl competitions to qualify for the finals of DOE’s annual National Science Bowl, the largest and most prestigious science competition in the U.S.
The competition started with 29 middle school teams squaring off in a fast-paced Jeopardy-style format. 2013 prize winning schools included:
Hyde Park Middle School - Blue – 1st place - $1000 & expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C.
Roy Martin Middle School – 2nd place - $600
Faith Lutheran Junior High – 3rd place - $350
Hyde Park Middle School - Green – 4th place - $250
About the photo:
(left to right) Daniel Burns (NSTec), Jay Desai, Anish Devati, Lyle Carrera, Ben Hand, Simran Shah, Edward Patricks-Teacher/Coach (Hyde Park Middle School)
Students from Albuquerque Academy’s Team 1 are headed to the DOE National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., after taking the top spot at the New Mexico Regional Middle School Science Bowl at Albuquerque Academy last Saturday.
More than 130 students from 29 teams representing 12 New Mexico middle schools participated in the annual event. A fast-paced question-and-answer tournament tests students’ knowledge in biology, chemistry, physics and math.
The winning team received an all-expenses-paid trip to the nation’s capital to compete against top teams from across the country in late April.
The students representing the first-place team are Harrison Bay, Eric Swiler, Henry Luo, Mark Swiler and team captain Thor Larson, coached by Barbara Gilbert. Second place went to Team 1 from Los Alamos Middle School and third place went to Team 2 from Albuquerque Academy.
About the photos:
(Above) Albuquerque Academy Team 1, left to right: Thor Larson, Harrison Bay, Eric Swiler, Henry Luo, Mark Swiler
(Below) Los Alamos Middle School, left to right: Wilbur Wang, Robert Zhu, Brandon Bao, David Gao
NNSA Acting Administrator Neile Miller this week hosted Los Alamos County Council Chair Geoffrey Rodgers, County Councilor Peter Sheehey and County Administrator Harry Burgess.
Miller thanked the county officials for their active interest in Los Alamos National Laboratory and for their leadership in the community. NNSA recognizes the value of a strong and collaborative relationship with the leadership of its laboratories’ and plants’ communities and appreciates the opportunity to advance the national nuclear security agenda through their partnership.
About the photo:
County Administrator Harry Burgess, Los Alamos County Council Chair Geoffrey Rodgers, Acting Administrator Neile Miller, County Councilor Peter Sheehey.
More than 150 high school students converged on West Texas A&M University for the annual Pantex Science Bowl competition. The competition consisted of 32 teams from schools across the Texas Panhandle and High Plains.
The competition featured teams of four students answering science and math questions in a Jeopardy-style round-robin format, followed by a double elimination tournament. The winner will travel to Washington, D.C., in April to compete with other teams from across the U.S. for the national title.
Around 150 Pantex employees and community volunteers will be on hand to help run the Science Bowl.
Read more.
About the photos:
First place: Amarillo High Black team.
Second: Canyon High White team.
Third: Randall High Black team.
Sandia National Laboratories has become a pioneer in large-scale passive optical networks, building the largest fiber optical local area network in the world.
The Sandia network pulls together 265 buildings and 13,000 computer network ports and brings high-speed communication to some of the labs’ most remote technical areas for the first time. The network will save an estimated $20 million over five years through energy and other savings and not having to buy replacement equipment. Sandia expects to reduce energy costs by 65 percent once the network is fully operational.
Sandia, which will spend about $15 million on the project, needs superb computing capability for the problems it tackles as part of its support for the mission for NNSA.
Read more.
Using equipment that expands on technology funded by NNSA's Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, an international team has achieved the first successful measurement of the spin rate of a supermassive black hole. The team included scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In addition, Livermore’s High Energy Focusing Telescope served as the predecessor to NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, which was used to complete the study. The findings are significant because they enhance scientists' understanding of how black holes and galaxies evolve.
Read more here.
About the photo:
Above is an artist’s rendering of a supermassive black hole. Matter flowing into the center forms an accretion disk around it and the black hole’s spin creates an outflowing jet of energetic particles.
NNSA Acting Administrator Neile Miller last week hosted New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam while the governors were in Washington, D.C., to attend the National Governors Association winter meeting.
The engagements provided Miller the opportunity to thank the governors for their active and steadfast support of NNSA’s laboratories and plants in their states. NNSA recognizes the central leadership role the governors play in support of the NNSA mission and appreciates the opportunity to advance the national nuclear security agenda to a broader cross-section of the nation.
