NNSA Final Poster
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Appelhans, Leah [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL↗
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Results for “NNSA”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
NNSA-MSIIP Intern Final Poster
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Mason, Samaiyah K.A. [Sandia National Laboratories↗
Briefing on Sandia Canyon Use Attainability Analysis (Rev 1) for NNSA, February 7, 2024
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Environmental monitoring and surveillance↗
NNSA Model 435-B & 380-B Type B (U) Packaging
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Bauer, Todd J.↗
NNSA Office of Radiological Security Project to Replace Gamma Irradiators with X-Ray in the Western Cape of South Africa
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Lieberman, Jodi Beth↗
Advanced Simulation and Computing: ASC FY24 Implementation Plan
The DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) is an integrated technical program for maintaining the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. The SSP incorporates nuclear test data, computational modeling and simulation, and experimental facilities to advance understanding of nuclear weapons. The suite of data analyzed comes from activities including previous nuclear tests, stockpile surveillance, experimental research, and development and engineering programs. This integrated national program requires the continued use of experimental facilities and the computational capabilities to support the SSP missions. These component parts, in addition to an appropriately scaled production capability, enable NNSA to support stockpile requirements. The ultimate goal of the SSP, and thus of the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program, is to ensure that the U.S. maintains a safe, secure, and effective strategic deterrent. The ASC program is a cornerstone of the SSP, providing simulation capabilities and computational resources to support the annual stockpile assessment and certification process, study advanced nuclear weapons design and manufacturing processes, analyze accident scenarios and weapons aging, and provide the tools to enable stockpile Life Extension Programs (LEPs) and the resolution of Significant Finding Investigations (SFIs). This work requires a balance of resources, including technical staff, hardware, simulation software, and computer science solutions. The ASC program focuses on increasing the predictive capabilities in a three-dimensional (3D) simulation environment while maintaining support to the SSP. The Program continues to improve its unique tools for understanding and solving progressively more difficult stockpile problems (sufficient resolution, dimensionality, and scientific details), and quantifying critical margins and uncertainties. Resolving each issue requires increasingly difficult analyses because the aging process has progressively moved the stockpile further from the original test base. While the focus remains on the U.S. nuclear weapons program, where possible, the Program also enables the use of high-performance computing (HPC) and simulation tools to address broader national security needs, such as foreign nuclear weapon assessments and nuclear counterterrorism. The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) calls for NNSA to “deliver a modern, adaptive nuclear security enterprise based on an integrated strategy for risk management, production-based resilience, science and technology innovation, and workforce initiatives.” Furthermore, “NNSA will establish a Science and Technology Innovation Initiative to accelerate the integration of science and technology (S&T) throughout its activities.” Executing this strategy necessitates the continued emphasis on developing and sustaining high-quality scientific and engineering staff, as well as supporting computational and experimental capabilities. These components constitute the foundation of the nuclear weapons program. The continued success of the SSP and LEPs is predicated upon the ability to credibly certify the stockpile, without a return to underground nuclear tests (UGTs). Shortly after the nuclear test moratorium entered into force in 1992, the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) was established to provide an extensive simulation capability to underpin stockpile certification. While computing and simulation have always been essential to the success of the nuclear weapons program, the program goal of ASCI was to execute NNSA’s vision of using these tools in support of the stockpile stewardship mission. The ASCI program was essential to the successful demonstration of the SSP, providing critical nuclear weapons simulation and modeling capabilities. ASCI officially evolved into the ASC program in fiscal year (FY) 2005, but the mission remains essentially the same: provide the simulation and computational capabilities that underpin the ability to maintain a safe, secure, effective nuclear weapon stockpile, without returning to underground nuclear testing. The capabilities that the ASC program provides at the national laboratories play a vital role in the nuclear security enterprise and are necessary for fulfilling the stockpile stewardship and life extension requirements outlined for NNSA. The Program develops modern simulation tools that provide insights into stockpile aging issues, provide the computational and simulation tools that enable designers and analysts to certify the current stockpile and life-extended nuclear weapons, and inform the decision-making process when any modifications in nuclear warheads or the associated manufacturing processes are deemed necessary. Furthermore, ASC is enhancing the predictive simulation capabilities that are essential to evaluate weapons effects, design experiments, and ensure test readiness. The ASC program continues to improve its unique tools to solve stockpile problems— with a focus on sufficient resolution, dimensionality, and scientific detail—to enable Quantification of Margins and Uncertainties (QMU) and to resolve the increasingly difficult analyses needed for stockpile stewardship. The needs of the Stockpile Management and Production Modernization programs (formerly Directed Stockpile Work) also drive the requirements for simulation and computational resources. These requirements include planned LEPs, stockpile support activities, and mitigation efforts against the potential for technical surprise. All of the weapons within the current stockpile are in some stage of the life extension process. The simulation and computational capabilities are crucial for successful execution of these life extensions and for ensuring NNSA can certify these life-extended weapons without conducting a UGT.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
The Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility Capability eXpansion (DCX) Strategy
This document details the strategy proposed to meet the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) requirement for the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) Facility Sustainment and Modernization projects identified in multiple NNSA Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan (SSMP) reports to Congress [NNSA, 2020; 2021; 2022; 2023; 2024]. DARHT has become indispensable for the certification of the primaries of U.S. nuclear weapons since the current U.S. moratorium halted underground nuclear testing more than 30 years ago. However, aging facilities, evolving technology, and other issues are limiting or threatening the capability of DARHT to meet NNSA’s expanding mission needs now and into the future. This DARHT Capability eXpansion (DCX) strategy was developed to address NNSA needs by extending DARHT’s reliability and resilience, increasing the quality and quantity of DARHT data, and enabling hydrodynamic measurements in complex environments. The strategy can be implemented through integration of line-item projects, acquisition of major items of equipment, and other actions coordinated with the execution of the SSMP. This strategy document is intended for U.S. Government officials, particularly authorizers, appropriators, and program leaders. It may also be furnished to DARHT users, customers, collaborators, stakeholders, and visitors as needed
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
Project DarkStar: Vision for LLNL in 2030
DarkStar was a Strategic Initiative (FY2021-FY2024) to investigate applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to scientific problems of complex hydrodynamics, shockwave physics and energetic materials. The research focused on physics and engineering design as a process that can be tremendously accelerated through merging AI with advanced physics simulation on exascale-class platforms, and to experimentally validate this revolutionary new approach through dynamic materials campaigns. A central thread of scientific inquiry was in the application of AI to enable human understanding of how to control hydrodynamic instability (which has impacts to areas such as inertial confinement fusion) via engineering features and time-dependent sources. Motivated by an unfinished line of research started by Dr. Johnny von Neumann, AI-enabled simulation approaches were developed that allowed DarkStar researchers to uncover several ground-breaking discoveries regarding hydrodynamic instability, including how to completely suppress Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI). These S&T discoveries, along with other advances, have shown the way for an entirely new approach to time-dependent problems known as inverse design – the idea that complex systems can be developed directly from a final state that is to be achieved and resolve the initial design via satisfying several constraints simultaneously via AI/ML. Through experimental campaigns conducted across a wide range of facilities in the NNSA complex (the High Explosive Application Facility at LLNL, the Dynamic Compression Sector/Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab, and Special Technologies Laboratory at MSTS) the radical new AI/ML approach to engineering complex material dynamics was verified, establishing a new field of study within the realm of shock physics. As advanced manufacturing capabilities continue to develop, the great importance of inverse design as a means to apply that technology effectively for NNSA missions will feature prominently over this decade. DarkStar has positioned NNSA as a world-leader in this newly emerging cross-disciplinary area of AI methods for advanced physics simulation and pioneered multiple novel approaches that have enabled the broader scientific community. By allowing us to see past the horizon, to 2030 and beyond, DarkStar has illuminated the vast potential of AI/ML to impact a wide range of new national security missions and, consequently, multiple areas of further research have already emerged across the NNSA and DOD complex.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Operational and Mission Highlights (A Monthly Summary of Top Achievements, November 2022)
On November 16, Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Thom Mason answered questions from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) at a public hearing in Santa Fe about the safety of operations at the Laboratory’s plutonium facility and the pit production mission. Mason participated on a panel along with National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Administrator Jill Hruby, Deputy NNSA Administrator James McConnell, and NNSA Los Alamos Field Office Manager Ted Wyka.
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
Pits 101: The four types of nuclear weapons modernization activities
We learned why we don’t need plutonium to make new pits in an earlier edition of Pits 101, but why do we need new pits from a national security standpoint? A plutonium pit, or the core of a nuclear weapon, is like a weapon’s battery. The pits that Los Alamos will make in coming years will be like new batteries for nuclear weapons in the existing stockpile. Pit production is mandated in order to meet Department of Defense (DOD) requirements by our primary customer, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which is a semi-autonomous agency within the Department of Energy. NNSA’s mission is to “deliver safe, secure, reliable warheads for an effective nuclear deterrent.” As Marv Adams, head of NNSA Defense Programs, describes, it’s a mission that is simple to state, but challenging to deliver.
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
Multi-fidelity equations of state and transport coefficient datasets for pulsed-power applications
Reliably simulating experiments relevant to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) requires a detailed description of material properties across a wide range of conditions. Such properties include the equations of state, charged-particle transport coefficients, and optical properties like the opacity. Together, these properties make up the material models used in radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of nuclear fusion experiments. Many of these models do not incorporate uncertainties in the data used to produce them. It is unknown whether these uncertainties significantly impact the interpretation of simulation results and diagnostics. The purpose of this work is to quantify how such uncertainties impact simulations of pulsed-power experiments. We accomplished this task by first assessing discrepancies between approaches used to generate the data. This included bringing together members of the high-energy-density community spanning the three NNSA laboratories and multiple universities. Then, using these data, we developed a general framework that systematically incorporates physical uncertainties within the material models suitable for uncertainty quantification analyses. The framework utilizes machine learning, Bayesian inference, and incorporates multi-fidelity datasets. We demonstrated the framework by quantifying the impact that material model uncertainties have on simulations of pulsed-power experiments underway on Z at Sandia National Laboratories. As a result of this work, we discovered that modest uncertainties in material models (roughly 20%) correspond to significant uncertainties in the outputs from simulations. Our framework has enabled rapid construction of material models through an automated procedure and allows for the generation of material models of interest to the NNSA.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Center of Excellence for Operational Technology
The Center of Excellence for Operational Technology Traditional Presentation Abstract 2025 National Laboratories Information Technology Summit | Denver, CO Traditional Presentation Session Managing cybersecurity risk in Operational Technology (OT) presents a significant challenge across the Department, and critically, at many of the national laboratories. This includes IT-OT convergence, aging OT systems, cost of updating OT systems, and increased Advanced Persistent Threat efforts against OT including the 16 critical infrastructure sectors as listed in Presidential Policy Directive 21. DoE’s Office of Science and NNSA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer are taking the lead in addressing this challenge to include critical systems, by establishing the Center of Excellence (CoE) for Operational Technology. Championed by NNSA Deputy Chief Information Officer Steven McAndrews and the Office of Science Chief Information Officer Shila Cooch, the CoE for OT was chartered in February 2025 to address the challenges of OT cybersecurity and compliance. The CoE for OT will create partnerships and leverage expertise from across the NNSA National Security Enterprise and DOE Labs, Plants and Sites. The CoE will also collaborate with colleagues in other government agencies, industry partners and academia. The CoE for OT discussion at the National Laboratories Information Technology Summit ’25 will include the genesis of the CoE, stated goals, organizational structure, and the effort to attract OT subject matter experts to join the CoE effort to share knowledge and expertise. The discussion will include opportunities to get involved and contribute to this important effort. This session will be led by CoE for OT Co-Chairs Matt Kwiatkowski, Fermi National Laboratory Chief Information Security Officer, and Steven Weldon, Savannah River National Laboratory Cyber Program Director at the Georgia Cyber Center. The session will be of particular interest to CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, as well as IT and OT practitioners.
Kwiatkowski, Matt [Fermilab]↗
Women as a Force Multiplier for Bringing Nuclear Forensic Capabilities to the International Stage
In 2009, the US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Program initiated a new nuclear forensics outreach effort under its Confidence Building Measures Program. Little did they know that the timing could not have been better. This article focuses on the early years (2009–2015) of the NNSA’s international nuclear forensics outreach, specifically the efforts and experiences of the women who helped establish this program, building it from a fledgling, bilateral effort into an enduring technical capacity provider engaging with dozens of countries and multilateral organizations. At the onset of the program, nuclear forensics was an emerging priority within the US Government and receiving increased focus from international organizations through high-level diplomatic efforts such as the Nuclear Security Summit and Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. Additionally, working-level initiatives were gaining traction through the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group. Over the next 6 years, a small team comprising a uniquely large number of women NNSA federal, contract, and national laboratory staff served as key leaders engaging with the international community to strengthen global technical nuclear forensics capacity and best practices. The program continues today under the Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence Program as Investigation Support. The experiences shared here detail a unique time period when the new technical discipline of nuclear forensics was beginning to mature and gain international traction. The authors have made every effort to remember history correctly and be as inclusive as possible. A wealth of training, guidance, and exercise documentation was developed in the 2009–2015 time frame, much of which still serves as the foundation for today’s even more extensive program and community of dedicated technical and diplomatic practitioners.
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
Results of an In-Field Validation Exercise in Support of Wide-Area Environmental Sampling
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Nonproliferation and Arms Control (NA-24) is evaluating Wide-Area Environmental Sampling (WAES) as an additional safeguards verification tool for the International Atomic Energy Agency to detect undeclared nuclear activities. The NNSA is evaluating strategies for conducting a generic WAES campaign, the cost of a WAES campaign, and the effect of technological advancements that have occurred since the last major WAES review in 1999. Until now, the NNSA effort has focused on tabletop exercises (TTXs) in which high-performance computing allows for advanced modeling and simulation efforts to be applied to the WAES question. Although the modeling and simulations used in the TTXs are extremely valuable, field campaigns are still needed to validate the assumptions that underpin the models and the modeling process itself. During a 7 week period beginning in May 2023 and ending in June 2023, which included 4 weeks of active field collections, a multilaboratory team conducted its first in-field validation exercise. Prior to the in-field exercise, abbreviated TTXs were conducted to estimate the performance of all collection systems to be used during the field test. These TTXs guided the selection of materials to be released and the placement of the collection system. Based on these determinations, materials were procured to use in the field test, and an injection/release system was designed, built, and installed at the test facility. Background samples were collected during weeks one and four, and environmental collections against active releases were conducted during weeks two and three. The goals of this validation exercise included a demonstration of (1) the ability to provide controlled releases of particulates of surrogate materials, (2) the fielding and operation of collection systems (including deposition and active air collectors), and (3) the flexibility to revise equipment and campaign plans in the field. This paper presents the results and preliminary conclusions for this initial validation test. Based on these results, subsequent field campaigns are anticipated and will include the addition of other released materials.
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
Los Alamos National Laboratory Wetland Assessment for the Replacement Water Lines from Technical Area 48 to Technical Area 55 Project
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is proposing to take action at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) near a wetland at Technical Area (TA) 48 and under a wetland at TA-55. The project proposes to install two 12-inch water lines along an alignment from TA-48 to Pecos Road on the east side of TA-55 (Figure 1). The proposed water lines will replace aging cast iron pipes that provide water for fire suppression to buildings within TA-55, and potable water to other areas in the Pajarito Corridor. NNSA has prepared this wetland assessment in accordance with 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1022 Compliance with Wetland and Wetland Environmental Review Requirements (10 CFR Part 1022) (CFR 2003) which was promulgated to implement DOE requirements under Executive Order 11988 Wetland Management (EO 1977). A wetland is defined in 10 CFR 1022 as “the lowlands adjoining inland and coastal waters and relatively flat areas and flood prone areas of offshore islands,” and a base wetland as “the 100-year wetland, that is, a wetland with a 1.0 percent chance of flooding in any given year (CFR 2003).” This wetland assessment evaluates potential impacts to wetland values and functions from implementation of the proposed action, identifies alternatives to the Proposed Action, and allows for meaningful public comment.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
ASC FY2023 Implementation Plan Revision 0
The DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) is an integrated technical program for maintaining the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. The SSP incorporates nuclear test data, computational modeling and simulation, and experimental facilities to advance understanding of nuclear weapons. The suite of data analyzed comes from activities including previous nuclear tests, stockpile surveillance, experimental research, and development and engineering programs. This integrated national program requires the continued use of experimental facilities and the computational capabilities to support the SSP missions. These component parts, in addition to an appropriately scaled production capability, enable NNSA to support stockpile requirements. The ultimate goal of the SSP, and thus of the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Program, is to ensure that the U.S. maintains a safe, secure, and effective strategic deterrent.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
National Bureau of Standards Reactor LEU Fuel Element Flow Test Conceptual Design
As part of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) mission to eliminate or minimize the civilian use of weapon-grade highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuels, the NNSA Office of Material Management and Minimization (M 3 ) Reactor Conversion Program is collaborating with six U.S. High Performance Research Reactors (USHPRR), including one critical facility, to convert from the use of HEU to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. The M3 conversion objectives for the USHPRR are to develop LEU fuel element designs that will ensure safe reactor operations and maintain the existing experimental performance of each facility. The work is being conducted through many interrelated activities that are being completed by stakeholders across organizations.
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
Schema Elements for Granta Annual Report: FY2022
Granta: Materials Intelligence, also known as Granta:MI or Granta, is a commercial database software by Ansys, Inc. that is utilized by the Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) to organize and store relevant materials data. For a complete discussion of the use of Granta:MI at NSE sites, see the FY21 annual report. Granta:MI is used by five NSE sites locally, and all NSE sites have access to an enterprise instance on the Enterprise Secure Network (ESN) as well as an unclassified development instance. It has been recognized by NNSA management that a shared repository for additive manufacturing (AM) data would not only ensure data and knowledge is not lost but would provide a pool of information relating AM inputs (build parameters, raw materials properties, post-processing information) to the as-built properties of AM parts. Such a pool of data would enable optimization of AM build design and help NNSA achieve the goals of shortening fielding times for new components.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗