National Laboratory

County Issues Community Update as LANL Enters Stage III Fire Restrictions

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COUNTY News Alert:

The Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) would like to ask the public for their continued support and assistance during Extreme Fire Danger.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory properties have entered Stage III Fire Restrictions effective July 3 and the LAFD supports their actions.

Therefore, the Los Alamos Fire Department has implemented the attached restrictions to all County owned or forested areas within Los Alamos County effective at 8 a.m. today, Tuesday July 3. 

Patrols of these areas will be conducted by the LAFD and LAPD throughout the County and residents Read More

LASO, LANL Increase Fire Restrictions

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The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos Site Office (LASO) has upgraded fire restrictions on Department of Energy property to prohibit all outside recreational and off-road driving activities.

The upgrade to Stage III fire restrictions coincides with that of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Both organizations imposed Stage II fire restrictions last week, and are now increasing their postures to Stage III.

“We are not seeing any near-term relief in the hot and dry weather,” LASO Manager Kevin Smith said. “Fire-fighting resources are spread out across the Southwest, Read More

NNSA, Euratom Conclude Second Joint Steering Committee Meeting

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NNSA News:

NNSA and Euratom meet in Brussels. Courtesy/NNSA

BRUSSELS – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) have concluded the second Joint Steering Committee meeting under a 2010 Agreement in the field of nuclear material safeguards and security research and development.

The Agreement provides a framework for technical cooperation in nuclear safeguards, border monitoring, nuclear forensics, export controls, and physical protection of nuclear materials and facilities.

The meeting served as an opportunity to reinforce Read More

Human Cooperation (1+1=2.7): Superlinear Group Production in Open-Source Source Software Collaborations and Evolutionary Feedback Selection

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Didier Sornette of the Department of Management, Technology and Economics (D-MTEC), ETH Zurich will present a talk at 12:15 p.m., Thursday July 5 in the Noyce  Conference Room at the Santa Fe Institute.

Sornette’s talk is entitled, “Human Cooperation (1+1=2.7): Superlinear Group Production in Open-Source Source Software Collaborations and Evolutionary Feedback Selection.”

Abstract: In the first part of the seminar, we present a new analysis of a representative sample 254 open source software (OSS) projects that show how development activity of successful Read More

U.S. Releases Updated Plutonium Inventory Report

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NNSA News:

Plutonium pellet. Courtesy photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Friday the public release of a report that details the current plutonium inventory of the U.S.

Titled The United States Plutonium Balance, 1944-2009, the document serves as an update to Plutonium: the First 50 Years, which was first released by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 1996.

The report provides the U.S. inventory of plutonium owned by DOE and includes material in the possession of the Department of Defense (DoD).

It can be found online at https:////nnsa.energy.gov/plutoniuminventory. Read More

LANL Honors its Employee and Retiree Volunteers

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Virginia Stovall, volunteer with the Los Alamos Retired and Senior Organization, listens to Los Alamos National Laboratory Deputy Director Beth Sellers deliver the keynote speech at the annual LANL Volunteer Recognition Awards ceremony Thursday morning at Fuller Lodge. Photo by Salvador Zapien/ladailypost.com

LANL Deputy Director Beth Sellers commends the many Laboratory employees who perform community volunteer service. Photo by Salvador Zapien/ladailypost.com

More than 120 people attended the LANL Volunteer Recognition Awards ceremony held Thursday on the lawn at Fuller Read More

Los Alamos Site Office Takes Fire Prevention Measures

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NNSA News:

As a result of the region’s high fire potential, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos Site Office (LASO) has imposed fire prevention restrictions on the government-leased Sportsmen’s Club property in Los Alamos to match those for the Forest Service, Park Service, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory property.

“We are very concerned about the severe drought and weather conditions that are affecting the southwest,” LASO Manager Kevin Smith said. “We just can’t afford to take a chance right now on causing a fire that could rapidly spread to other areas.”

In Read More

Officials Break Ground on Interagency Fire Center at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s TA-49

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Dignitaries broke ground Tuesday morning on an Interagency Fire Center at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Technical Area-49. The 6,400 square foot facility will serve as a joint coordination and response center for fire events around the area. From left, Ray Todd, associate regional director for Facilities and Lands for National Park Service Intermountain Region; Rebecca Montoya, field representative for Sen. Jeff Bingaman; Kevin Smith, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos Site Office; Sharon Stover, chair of the Los Alamos County Council; Read More

Celebration Marks 1,000th TRU Waste Shipment

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Employees of the Transuranic (TRU) Waste processing facility are joined by local and state officials to celebrate the 1,000th (1,014th) shipment of TRU waste to WIPP. Photo by Greg Kendall/ladailypost.com

By Greg Kendall

New Mexico’s governor and other dignitaries gathered at Los Alamos National Laboratory Tuesday for a special event marking the 1,000th shipment of nuclear waste to a permanent repository at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad.

“I am pleased we continue to make progress on our environmental cleanup commitment to protect this beautiful place where Read More

Drumheads Tuned to Make Quantum Dots

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NIST researchers showed that straining graphene membrane creates pseudomagnetic fields that confines the graphene’s electrons and creates quantized quantum dot-like energy levels. The background is a false color image of the graphene drumheads made from a single layer of graphene over 1 micron-sized pits etched in a silicon dioxide substrate.Credit: N. Klimov and T. Li, NIST/UMD

NIST News:

Tightening or relaxing the tension on a drumhead will change the way the drum sounds.

The same goes for drumheads made from graphene, only instead of changing the sound, stretching graphene Read More