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Results for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
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Established in July 1952 when, on the advice of Edward Teller, the Atomic Energy Commission made Livermore a branch of the University of California Radiation Laboratory and located it at a former naval air station in Livermore, California. The Laboratory is responsible to the
See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.
At Lawrence Berkeley an international staff carries out fundamental research and graduate study in physics, nuclear chemistry, biology and medicine (more recently including genetic mapping), chemical biodynamics, and inorganic materials. Since most of the work is centered around the study of atomic nuclei, the greatest portion of research involves the use of four major particle accelerators. In 1971 research was also formally instituted there in environmental problems.
At Lawrence Livermore applied research is carried out on nuclear weaponry, peaceful uses of nuclear explosives, the effects of artificially produced radiation on living organisms, and controlled thermonuclear reactions. The laboratory maintains a test site for nuclear explosives near Las Vegas, Nev. Basic research, partly in support of the applied work, is conducted in chemistry, physics, biology, and computer sciences. Since the end of the cold war the research focus has increasingly diversified, with a shift toward environmental (global warming, climate simulation), energy, computer, laser, biomedical (genetic mapping), and chaos theory issues.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL), located near the University of California Berkeley campus, is operated by the University of California for the United States Department of Energy (DOE).
Founded in 1931 by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ernest Orlando Lawrence, LBL was designed to be a model for use of the interdisciplinary approach to scientific research. Initially dedicated to World War II military projects, in 1942, LBL became the first in a string of federal laboratories. Research at LBL brings scientists from a variety of disciplines to work on military and non-military funded projects. LBL scientists have developed a number of technologies related to national security interests, technology advancement, and environmental research.
LBL researchers developed a hand-held radiation detector that was able to distinguish between radioactive isotopes intended for biomedical research or clinical medical applications, and the form of isotopes most likely to be used by terrorists to construct a "dirty bomb" (a bomb that spreads radioactive materials by a non-nuclear explosion). The Cryo3 detector, developed in collaboration with researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, employs radiation spectrometry to identify radioactive materials. The battery-powered unit utilizes a high purity germanium crystal that absorbs photons emanating from isotopes. By comparing differences in charge characteristics, the detector can further characterize both quantitative and qualitative attributes of a radioactive source. The development of new generations of detectors useful in identifying radioactive, chemical, and biological weapons detection remains a research interest. LBL researchers also developed a highly portable device capable of detecting explosives.
Although LBL's early work was heavily devoted to weapons research, in addition to making direct contributions to the technology of security, LBL scientists now engage in—and as an institution emphasize—a variety of research projects that advance both basic science and industry related projects to improve the quality of life.
The scientific divisions at LBL provide evidence of the emphasis on both physical and biological sciences. As of March 2003, LBL maintained divisions in Accelerator and Fusion Research; Advanced Light Sources; Chemical Sciences; Computational Research; Computing Sciences; Earth Sciences; Engineering; Environment, Health and Safety; Environmental Energy Technologies; Genomics; Information Technologies and Services; Life Sciences; Materials Sciences; NERSC (National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center), Nuclear Sciences; Physical Biosciences; and Physics.
LBL scientists contributions to medical science and biotechnology include development of radiation therapies for treating cancer and research into HDL and LDL cholesterol physiology. LBL projects have also allowed a more complete understanding of how radon exposure increases cancer risk. Radon (usually in the form of the Radon-222 isotope) is a colorless and odorless radioactive gas formed from radioactive decay. The most common geologic source of radon derives from the decay of uranium. Radon is commonly found at low levels in widely dispersed crustal formations, soil, and water samples. Produced underground, radon moves toward the surface and eventually diffuses into the atmosphere or in groundwater. To some extent, radon can be detected throughout the United States. Specific geologic formations, however, frequently present elevated concentration of radon that may pose a significant health risk.
Scientists at LBL, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and Sandia National Laboratories California have also collaborated on the development of environmental remediation technologies useful in the cleanup of military disposal sites (e.g., the nearby Alameda Naval Air Station). LBL scientists also support the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) (hosting the most powerful computer in the U.S. used for unclassified research) and an 88-inch cyclotron used to advance basic nuclear science.
Further Reading
Electronic
Berkeley Lab. 88" Organization. 88-inch cyclotron. <http://www-nsd.lbl.gov/LBL-Programs/nsd/user88/> (March 23,2003).
Berkeley Lab Research News. "DOE's NERSC Center deploys 10 teraflops per second IBM supercomputer." March 10, 2003. <http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/NERSC-10-teraflop-IBM.html.> (March 23, 2003).
United States Department of Energy, Office of Science. National Laboratories and User Facilities. <http://www.sc.doe.gov/Sub/Organization/Map/national_labs_and_userfacilities.htm> (March 23, 2003).
United States Department of Homeland Security. Research & Technology. <http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=27&content=374> (March 23, 2003).
University of California. Department of Energy National Laboratories. <http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/labs/>(March 22, 2003).
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| Motto | "Science in the national interest" |
|---|---|
| Established | 1952 by the University of California |
| Research Type | National security and basic science |
| Budget | $1.6 billion/year |
| Director | George H. Miller |
| Staff | 9,600 |
| Location | Livermore, CA |
| Campus | 800 acres (3.2 km²) |
| Operating Agency | Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC www.llnsllc.com |
| Website | www.llnl.gov |
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore,
California is a United States Department of Energy (DOE)
national laboratory, managed and operated by
Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS), a
limited liability consortium comprised of
Along with Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, LLNL is one of the two United States laboratories whose founding mission was the science and physics underlying the design of nuclear weapons.
LLNL is self-described as "a premier research and development institution for science and technology applied to national security."[1] It is responsible for ensuring that the nation’s nuclear weapons remain "safe, secure, and reliable" through application of advances in science, engineering, and technology. The laboratory also applies its special expertise and multidisciplinary capabilities to preventing the proliferation and use of weapons of mass destruction, and to bolstering homeland security. Those capabilities are also utilized in programs in non-defense areas such as basic science, energy, environmental science, and biosciences.
LLNL is home to many of the most powerful computer systems in the world, according to the TOP500 list, including Blue Gene/L, the world's fastest computer as of 2005. Since 1978 the laboratory has received a total of 113 prestigious R&D 100 Awards, including seven in 2006, the most for any institution.[2] The awards are given annually by the editors of R&D Magazine to the most innovative ideas of the year.
LLNL's main facility is located on a one-square-mile (2.6 km2) site at the eastern outskirts of Livermore, California. Site 300, a 7,000-acre (28.3 km2) remote explosive/experiment testing site, is situated about 15 miles (24 km) to the southeast. Lawrence Livermore has an annual budget of about $1.6 billion and a staff of over 8,000 LLNS LLC employees, as well as 1,500 contract employees. Additionally, there are approximately 100 DOE employees stationed at the laboratory to provide federal oversight of LLNL's work for the DOE.
The main site, at the location of a former World War II Naval Training Station, was originally used to house projects of the University of California Radiation Laboratory which were too large for its location on the hills of Berkeley, California. In 1949, Edward Teller suggested to Ernest Lawrence, head of the Berkeley lab (now known as the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)), that a second weapons lab be created as "competition" with the lab which sprung up to create the first nuclear weapon, Los Alamos National Laboratory. Teller's advocacy for the lab was also in response to his frustrations with the low priority he felt his idea of a hydrogen bomb was getting at Los Alamos. In 1951, Teller formally appealed to the Atomic Energy Commission for the creation of the laboratory, and in September 1952 the lab was formally founded as the Livermore branch of the University of California Radiation Laboratory (Lawrence's lab in Berkeley). Despite Teller's original motivation, however, the hydrogen bomb was invented and designed at Los Alamos.
Thirty-two-year-old Herbert York was appointed the first director of the Lab. York set out to develop the Lab's program and created four main elements: Project Sherwood (the Magnetic Fusion Program), diagnostic weapon experiments (both for Los Alamos and Livermore), the design of thermonuclear weapons, and a basic physics program. The first two facilities were a building to house the latest electronic computer, a UNIVAC I, and a technology building with a large central bay for lifting heavy equipment. It its early years, Livermore attempted to distinguish itself by investigating radical weapons designs that had not been proven; as a result, its first three nuclear tests were unsuccessful fizzles, much to the amusement of their new "rivals" at Los Alamos.
In 1958, after the death of Ernest O. Lawrence, the lab was renamed Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. It would later be renamed to its current name of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1979. Throughout the Cold War, Lawrence Livermore competed with Los Alamos to design the nation's nuclear arsenal, as well as perform other science and technology related tasks (some classified, some not). Warheads designed at Livermore include the Mk 27, the W38, the W45, the W56, the W62, the W70, the B83, and the W84, and the W87. Of these, four are currently in the U.S. "enduring stockpile".[3] In the early 1990s their weapons work shifted into stockpile stewardship. In March 2007, a Livermore weapons design was chosen for the Reliable Replacement Warhead.[4]
Historically the two national laboratories in Berkeley and Livermore named after Ernest O. Lawrence, have had very close relationships on research projects, business operations, and staff. In fact, LLNL was not officially severed administratively from LBNL until the early 1970s. To this day, in official planning documents and records, LBNL is designated as "Site 100", LLNL as "Site 200", and LLNL's experimental testing area located near Tracy, California as "Site 300".
On October 1, 2007 the Alameda County Fire Department (ACFD) began providing fire, medical and hazardous material emergency services to the Laboratory. Alameda County hired all 41 LLNL fire department personnel, who remained assigned to fire stations at the main Laboratory site as well as Site 300.
The contract allowed the Laboratory fire department to continue providing services it provided as a University of California public fire department, but which could no longer be provided under LLNS, a private entity. Laboratory fire department staffing levels, security clearance requirements, response schedules, and training requirements did not change. Working through Alameda County, LLNL continues to manage the Alameda County Regional Communication Center.
With the addition of LLNL, the ACFD is comprised of 26 fire companies and 21 fire stations that serve the unincorporated areas of Alameda County, the City of San Leandro, the City of Dublin and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).
A current project is the "small, sealed, transportable, autonomous reactor" or "SSTAR". It is designed to be a "world" nuclear reactor, that can give countries with smaller or less-well-developed electricity grids a self-contained reactor that would operate for 30 years without refueling and then be retrieved - thus preventing the host nation from accessing any plutonium created as a by-product of the nuclear reaction.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a partner in the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) located in Walnut Creek, California. JGI was founded in 1997 to unite the expertise and resources in genome mapping, DNA sequencing, technology development, and information sciences pioneered at the three genome centers at UC's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has worked out several energy technologies in the field of coal gasification, oil shale retorting, geothermal energy, advanced battery research, solar energy, and fusion energy. Main oil shale processing technologies worked out by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are LLNL HRS (hot-recycled-solid), LLNL RISE and LLNL radiofrequency technologies.
LLNL has been the leader in licensing and royalty income among the Department of Energy's national laboratories. During FY 2006 the Lab's Industrial Partnerships & Commercialization Office (IPAC) reported that LLNL received $6.4 million in licensing revenue, of which $6.1 million was from royalties. This was the highest among the DOE funded national laboratories.
Also, during FY 2006, LLNL had 158 invention disclosures, filed 72 patent applications and received 72 patents.
Most licensing income comes from the sale of products based on Lab technologies and licensed by IPAC. LLNL's cumulative licensing revenue for 1996 to 2006 was $40 million - the most in the DOE sponsored national laboratory system. The bulk of the net proceeds were distributed back to the Lab's directorates, with most of the remainder going to the inventors and a smaller amount going to the institution covering some administrative costs, technology maturation and other technology transfer-related activities.
IPAC licenses LLNL technology to industry to enhance U.S. economic competitiveness in world markets, promote economic development both locally and throughout the United States, and to help improve the quality of life for all Americans.
LLNL's funding comes from the DOE Office of Defense Programs for nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship activities. Funds to support LLNL's national security and homeland security work also comes from the DOE Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, the Department of Homeland Security, various Department of Defense sponsors, and other federal agencies.
LLNL also receives funding to perform work for other DOE programs, principally the Offices of Science, Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, and Nuclear Energy. Non-DOE sponsors include NASA, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), National Institutes of Health, and United States Environmental Protection Agency, State of California agencies, and private industry.
The first computer the laboratory possessed was a UNIVAC I, ordered in July through September 1952 and delivered in April 1953. The June 2006 release of the 27th TOP500 list of the 500 most powerful computer systems in the world, has LLNL computers in the #1 (BlueGene/L) and #3 (ASC Purple) spots. A total of 12 LLNL computer systems appeared in the June 2006 TOP500 list, tying the number at Sandia National Laboratories for the most at any one site.
On June 22, 2006, University of California researchers at LLNL announced that they had devised the world's most powerful software — a scientific application that sustained 207.3 trillion operations per second. This was the equivalent of an online game capable of handling 300 million simultaneous players. The record performance was made at LLNL on the IBM Corp's BlueGene/L, the world's fastest supercomputer, which has 131,072 processors. The record was a milestone in the evolution of predictive science, a field in which researchers use supercomputers to answer questions about such subjects as; materials science simulations, global warming, and reactions to natural disasters.
Over the years other computers were installed, including:
A great deal of software has been written by LLNL personnel to operate, monitor, and manage the computer systems at LLNL, including operating system extension such as CHAOS (Linux Clustering), resource management packages such as SLURM, and others[6] The requirement for lab programmers to write the software is due to the unique, one-of-a-kind nature of the systems — this had prevented commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software from being available. It wasn't until the Peloton[7] systems procurements in late 2006 that a commercial resource management package, Moab, was to be used to manage the clusters purchased under the RFP.
According to published reports the lab has about 880 pounds of plutonium and is allowed to have up to about 3,080 pounds. However, it is not allowed to have actual nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices at its sites. Plutonium at the lab is stored in a fortified research facility guarded by a large force of heavily armed and specially trained security police officers. These officers are equipped with vehicle mounted and fixed location M134 Gatling guns that fire 7.62mm bullets from six barrels at up to 4,000 rounds per minute, powerful enough to take down an enemy aircraft or helicopter.
At Livermore and at two facilities in Nevada, the lab uses plutonium for nuclear weapons research. It conducts experiments to learn how plutonium performs as it ages; how it behaves under high pressure, such as with the impact of high explosives; and how to dismantle nuclear weapons safely, without causing contamination.
In early 2006 the United States Department of Energy announced plans to move all the plutonium from Lawrence Livermore Laboratory by 2014, though transfers of the material could start sooner. By 2022, all U.S. work involving plutonium would be consolidated at a single new facility whose location has not been determined.
The LLNL Director is appointed by the Board of Governors of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC and reports to the Board. Supporting the LLNL Director is a Deputy Director, a Chief of Staff, and the Laboratory Executive Officer. The current Director is also the President of LLNS LLC.
Also reporting to the Director are several key functional managers - Safeguards & Security, Environment, Safety, Health & Quality, Contract Assurance, Chief Financial Officer, and Laboratory Counsel.
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 | US Military Dictionary. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more |
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| Intelligence Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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