Introduction to gamma spectroscopy [Slides]
Presentation for Northern New Mexico College RCT students.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
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Of Clouds and Craters: The History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Testing
“Now!” With that word, the Atomic Age – and the era of nuclear weapons testing – dawned. The advent of World War II’s first irresistible weapon, which had been secretly tested in the New Mexico desert in July 1945, would help hasten the inevitable: complete victory for the Allies. Codenamed Trinity, the test was the first of over a thousand conducted by the United States between 1945 and 1992. Nuclear weapons would change future clashes as well. The looming Cold War, with roots stretching all the way back to 1917, was history’s first conflict between two, major nations armed with nuclear weapons. It is clear the existence of those weapons played an important role in maintaining a tenuous peace between the United States and the Soviet Union; it is also clear nuclear weapons testing played a prominent role in fueling both the arms race and the success of deterrence. Yet, the history of nuclear weapons testing is rarely remembered, even though nuclear tests have been performed in the very recent past. Of the estimated 2,000-plus nuclear tests ever performed, the U.S. is responsible for approximately half. This is the story of U.S. full-scale nuclear weapons testing.
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DECOVALEX-2023 Task E Specification (Rev. 0)
This report is the Task E specification (Revision 0) for DECOVALEX-2023. Task E is focused on understanding thermal, hydrological, mechanical and chemical (THMC) processes, especially related to predicting brine migration in heated salt. The main test case being used is the ongoing Brine Availability Test in Salt (BATS) heater test located underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. This report provides short motivational background, a summary of relevant experiments and data, and a step-by-step plan for the analysis by the teams participating in Task E (Rev. 0 includes detailed description of steps 0 and 1). This document will be revised, and more detail will be added to later steps during DECOVALEX-2023.
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship at the Sandia Wetlands at Los Alamos National Laboratory (2014-2019)
Biologists at Los Alamos National Laboratory completed six years (2014–2019) of demographic monitoring of passerines (songbirds) during the breeding season in Los Alamos, New Mexico. We captured songbirds at a mist netting station located in the Sandia Wetlands in Sandia Canyon (Technical Areas 60 and 61). We identified, measured, and then banded captured birds with federal migratory bird bands. Banding operations took place between May and August of each year, with 10 mist netting sessions annually. We conducted this project as part of the implementation of the Biological Resources Management Plan. The project complies with the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the United States Department of Energy regarding the implementation of Executive Order 13186. The overall number of birds and species captured was variable, and we saw no decreases over the course of six years in bird species diversity, abundance, or the percentage of breeding birds. Our results indicate that the Sandia Wetlands support numerous species of breeding birds, including species of conservation concern. We did not see a declining trend for the top 10 most-captured species or for any of the species of conservation concern over time; however, we need more years of data to make robust conclusions about population trends through time. Our results indicated that adult recapture rates at the Sandia Wetlands are at least twice as low when compared with estimated adult survival in migratory passerines from peer-reviewed literature. We also did not recapture any birds that were banded as juveniles in subsequent years throughout the entire six-year period. Low recapture rates for adults and the non-existent recapture rates for juveniles should be explored further. To accurately assess individual species survival rates for adults and juveniles using mark-recapture models, we need a longer dataset, which would allow for a more robust analysis.
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
Investigation of Superluminescent Diodes for Smart Lighting Systems. Final Report
The solid-state lighting ecosystem has evolved very rapidly over the last few years, with significant improvements in the technical performance of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the commoditization of LED-based lighting fixtures. As the performance of conventional lighting products begins to saturate, there is growing market interest in “Lighting as a Service” applications that will leverage advanced systems to impart new functionalities to lighting and improve energy efficiency, human health, and productivity. These “Smart Lighting” systems will include high-performance light sources, specialized sensors, and dynamic controls to deliver high quality, energy efficient, color tunable lighting with customized spatial light delivery and integrated visible light communication capability. To achieve these capabilities, smart lighting systems will place greater demands on the performance of light sources. Highly efficient sources with additional functionalities compared to conventional LEDs, such as small form factor, large modulation bandwidth, and spatially coherent output beams, will be required. While laser diodes have been proposed as potential sources for smart lighting systems, they also exhibit several properties that pose challenges, such as temporal coherence, extremely high spatial coherence, and ultra-narrow linewidths. To address these issues, we propose an investigation of an alternative device architecture known as a superluminescent diode (SLD). SLDs are similar in form to ridge laser diodes and share many of the same characteristics, such as stimulated emission operation, spatially coherent output, small form factor, and the potential for large modulation bandwidth. However, the operating principle for SLDs is distinct from laser diodes in that SLDs lack a strong cavity feedback mechanism, resulting in spatially coherent but temporally incoherent light output. Thus, SLDs may address the issues with laser diodes for lighting, while simultaneously maintaining some of the desirable characteristics of both laser diodes and LEDs. The objectives of this proposal are to design, grow, and fabricate blue (450 nm) SLDs on polar c-plane and nonpolar m-plane free-standing GaN substrates, and to evaluate their potential as sources in smart lighting systems through basic device characterization and detailed investigations of their efficiency droop and modulation bandwidth. The primary scientific aims of this work are to understand the fundamental role of optical gain in the superluminescent (non-lasing) regime on efficiency droop and modulation bandwidth in III-nitride emitters and to understand the effects of higher optical gain on SLD performance by comparing polar c-plane and nonpolar m-plane SLDs. The University of New Mexico (UNM) will collaborate with Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies to design, fabricate, grow, and characterize the SLDs. UNM will perform the design and epitaxial growth, while SNL will focus on the fabrication and device characterization. The novelty of the proposed work includes the first comprehensive theoretical and experimental investigations of efficiency droop and the first investigation of modulation bandwidth in GaN-based emitters operating in the superluminescent regime. Moreover, the comparison of c-plane and m-plane SLDs will enable the first analysis of the effects of higher optical gain on the device performance. The development of high-performance GaN-based SLDs may enable efficiency gains and improved functionality in next-generation smart lighting systems.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Site-wide occupancy assessment using camera traps for seven mammalian species at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or Laboratory) is committed to solving national security challenges through scientific excellence and has been serving the nation and northern New Mexico for over 70 years. Being located on the Pajarito Plateau in the eastern flanks of the Jemez Mountains, the Laboratory is surrounded by a rich diversity of plants and animals. It is common to see many different species of wildlife on Laboratory property; however, sometimes interactions with wildlife can be negative. Vehicle accidents with wildlife have become a common occurrence. With the current and ongoing expansion of the Laboratory on the Pajarito Plateau, it has the potential to further impact wildlife movement including large game species. Local agencies and tribal Pueblos rely on large game species and do not want these species to be restricted from moving across property boundaries. Temporal and spatial aspects of where wildlife occur on the site is a phenomena that is either not well understood in uncommon species or needs periodic reevaluation for common species. Estimating the distribution of multiple species across the landscape provides wildlife biologists with crucial information for monitoring and conserving animal populations in a particular area. Utilizing motion activated wildlife cameras, also known as camera traps, to monitor wildlife populations has become an essential tool for biologists. Camera traps are non-invasive and cost-effective and can document multiple elusive or uncommon wildlife species, such as carnivores, simultaneously. Occupancy modeling provides a flexible framework for the analysis of the distribution for multiple wildlife species. It explicitly recognizes whether a species is spatially common or rare (occupancy = ψ) and if that species is easy or hard to detect (detection probability = p ). Multispecies and multi-season occupancy models can detect trends in species occupancy because individual species may vary in seasonal movements, detection probability, and transition rates between habitats. In this study, we assessed the site as a whole to ascertain when and where medium and large mammal species are present. Understanding wildlife patterns at the Laboratory will better inform future management decisions regarding land use and development strategies. We placed motion activated wildlife cameras in a random systematic sampling design and used these data to create occupancy models. We tested for differences in single-species occupancy and detection probability by season of mammal species captured on 20 camera traps placed across the Laboratory in a 40 mi² (103 km²) area. We focus the interpretation of our findings on seven mammal species found during this study. They are Rocky Mountain elk ( Cervus canadensis nelsoni ; hereafter “elk”), mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus ; hereafter “deer”), mountain lion ( Puma concolor ; hereafter “lion”), American black bear ( Ursus americanus ; hereafter “bear”), coyote ( Canis latrans ), bobcat ( Lynx rufus ), and gray fox ( Urocyon cinereoargenteus ; hereafter “fox”).
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
Design Consideration for Solar Powered Wastewater Treatment Facility for Agriculture and Potable Usage on Acoma Pueblo Reservation
Environmental stewardship has long been a guiding principle among indigenous peoples. Acoma Pueblo, located approximately 45 miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, shares these values. They are exploring how to incorporate these values into future development projects. As such, Acoma recently created a wastewater treatment facility to provide irrigation water to nearby crops. Treatment facilities like this further sustainable practices and benefit the community but may draw power from the grid. This report looks at design considerations for possible photovoltaic utilization at the site to offset current power and monetary costs. Lessons learned from a larger, municipal wastewater treatment center will be applied with special considerations for Acoma Pueblo's values and unique wastewater treatment facility configuration.
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
LANL's Waste Management Transportation Program [Slides]
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has developed a safe, compliant, and cost-effective transportation program that moves over 5,000 m3 of regulated waste off site each fiscal year. This program handles all waste types including universal waste, New Mexico Special Waste, TSCA and RCRA wastes, low level and mixed low-level wastes, and TRU and MTRU wastes. This program allows for the treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes while maintaining the protection of people, facilities, and the environment This program provides critical support to a wide variety of missions across the laboratory site.
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
Trinity Observations
Various historical documents which record the observations of various scientists who observed the Trinity Test in southern New Mexico. The documents are contemporaneous with the test.
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
Witnessing Trinity. The test’s success was met with surprise, relief, fear
They witnessed the moment the world changed forever. A few hundred scientists, engineers and soldiers gathered in the New Mexico desert during the early morning hours of July 16, 1945. It was the culmination of years of work at a secret lab in Los Alamos led by J. Robert Oppenheimer.
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
The Road to Trinity: Seventy-five years ago, Los Alamos scientists detonated the world’s first nuclear explosion
With a brilliant hot flash and a loud boom, the giant mushroom cloud with its fiery core filled the predawn sky above the New Mexico desert. The nuclear age had begun. It was 75 years ago on July 16, 1945, that Los Alamos scientists changed the world with the successful detonation of “the Gadget” – the device created to test the Fat Man implosion-type plutonium weapon before it was taken into combat. However, the road to Trinity, as the test was named by J. Robert Oppenheimer, who is thought to have been inspired by a line in a John Donne poem, was a difficult one.
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
Partner program with local college is a gateway to lasting careers
The first graduates of a newly revised associate degree program at Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) are starting their careers in radiation protection at the Laboratory. NNMC has long provided courses in radiation protection, but last year partnered with the Associate Laboratory Directorate of Weapons Production (ALDWP) to invigorate the college’s offerings.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
Markforged Continuous Fiber Composite Material Testing
Continuous fiber composite 3D printing promises to greatly expand the design space of polymer additive manufacturing (AM). A series of mechanical tests were performed to attempt to fully characterize the composite materials built from feedstock provided by the Markforged company. These tests included tensile, compression, Charpy impact, three point bending, coefficient of thermal expansion, and calorimetry tests. Specimens were prepared on the Mark Two 3D printer at LANL during the spring and summer of 2019. These samples were then shipped to New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology’s Thermo-Mechanical Lab for testing during the summer and fall of 2019. Test data are reported and analyzed for each of the tests.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
A look back 75 years at Little Boy, the crew, the plane and the Lab’s first mission
Hours before the sun would rise over Tinian island on the morning of August 6, 1945, a B- 29 airplane was positioned above a specially built bomb-loading pit, as crews readied it with cargo unlike anything the world had ever known. Preparations on the tiny Pacific island—nearly 6,600 miles from Los Alamos and about 1,500 miles from its intended target in Japan—had begun months before on April 3. And months before that, pilot Paul Tibbets Jr. and his crew had practiced dropping dummy concrete bombs on targets in Utah. Even years before that, development of this cargo destined for Japan began in secrecy under the direction of a physicist and an Army general in the mountains of Northern New Mexico. It was all leading to one day that would help end years of bloodshed and change the world forever.
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan Middle DP Road Recovery Effort, June 26, 2020
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a final 2017 Construction General Permit (CGP) that covers discharges of stormwater from construction sites. The 2017 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Storm Water Discharges from Construction Activity (Appendix D) includes the following requirements:(1) conduct a critical habitat and threatened/endangered species study; (2) develop and implement a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) in accordance with good engineering practices; (3) submit a Notice of Intent (NOI); (4) install and maintain erosion and stormwater controls; (5) perform and document storm water inspections during construction and site stabilization; (6) amend the SWPPP as necessary; and (7) submit a Notice of Termination (NOT) following project completion and final stabilization of disturbed areas. Authorization to discharge storm water is required under this Permit for both large and small construction projects disturbing more than one (1) acre or part of a larger common plan of development that collectively disturbs more than one (1) acre. All parties that meet the definition of Operator must be permitted. Each permittee is not required to develop and implement a separate SWPP Plan. It is required that there be at least one SWPP Plan for a site that incorporates the required elements for all Operators. The 2017 CGP number for New Mexico (Region 6) is NMR100000. This Plan, which has been developed for Triad National Security, LLC (Triad), describes the nature and sequencing of construction activities, potential sources of pollution, and identifies the Best Management Practices (BMPs) to minimize the potential for erosion and storm water pollution. The Plan was developed in accordance with the provisions of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § §1251 et seq., as amended by the Water Quality Act of 1987, P.L. 100-4), and the regulations established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permits for Storm Water Discharges From Construction Activities.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan Middle DP Road Recovery Effort, June 26, 2020 (Copy for Informational Puproses Only)
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a final 2017 Construction General Permit (CGP) that covers discharges of stormwater from construction sites. The 2017 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Storm Water Discharges from Construction Activity (Appendix D) includes the following requirements: (1) conduct a critical habitat and threatened/endangered species study; (2) develop and implement a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) in accordance with good engineering practices; (3) submit a Notice of Intent (NOI); (4) install and maintain erosion and stormwater controls; (5) perform and document storm water inspections during construction and site stabilization; (6) amend the SWPPP as necessary; and (7) submit a Notice of Termination (NOT) following project completion and final stabilization of disturbed areas. Authorization to discharge storm water is required under this Permit for both large and small construction projects disturbing more than one (1) acre or part of a larger common plan of development that collectively disturbs more than one (1) acre. All parties that meet the definition of Operator must be permitted. Each permittee is not required to develop and implement a separate SWPP Plan. It is required that there be at least one SWPP Plan for a site that incorporates the required elements for all Operators. The 2017 CGP number for New Mexico (Region 6) is NMR100000. This Plan, which has been developed for Triad National Security, LLC (Triad), describes the nature and sequencing of construction activities, potential sources of pollution, and identifies the Best Management Practices (BMPs) to minimize the potential for erosion and storm water pollution. The Plan was developed in accordance with the provisions of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § §1251 et seq., as amended by the Water Quality Act of 1987, P.L. 100-4), and the regulations established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permits for Storm Water Discharges From Construction Activities.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Final Fugitive Dust Control NOV Causal Report
On June 30, 2020, a Notice of Violation (NOV) was issued by the City of Albuquerque (COA) Environmental Health Department, Air Quality Program. The NOV identified two violations of New Mexico Administrative Code (NMAC) 20.11.20, Fugitive Dust Control, stemming from an August 30, 2019 inspection of the construction site at Sandia/New Mexico (SNL/NM) Building 812. After the August 30 inspection, a Post-Instruction Notification (PIN) was issued to the SNL Construction Facilities Manager. The PIN was acknowledged by Department 4722 and sent to the COA on September 13, 2020 via email. The PIN "Comply by" date was September 13, 2019 was transmitted by National Nuclear Security Administration/ Sandia Field Office (NNSA/SFO) to COA offices on November 12, 2019. The PIN response was 48 business days past due for various reasons which were explored during the causal analysis.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
HPC Infrastructure Security - Ensuring Storage and Network Safety, Integrity, Efficiency, and Performance [Slides]
The presentation focused on High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure security at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗