Women of Los Alamos [Slides]
This presentation provides a brief overview of women's history at Los Alamos National Laboratory spanning from World War II to present day.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Results for “Los Alamos”
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.
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Brief review of Rover fuel development at Los Alamos
A brief review of the graphite matrix uranium fuel development efforts at Los Alamos from 1955 through 1972 is presented. The uses of graphite flour carbon black, various binders, uranium dioxide, coated UC2 particles, and zirconium carbide in this development are described.
Davidson, Keith V.↗
From climate and cancer solutions to commitment to the mission: Secretary of Energy ‘visits’ Los Alamos for packed virtual tour
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm virtually visited Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) on Monday, June 14, 2021, to learn more about programs at LANL that support Department of Energy (DOE) missions – from stockpile stewardship to the geology on Mars.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
Career highlights at Los Alamos National Laboratory [Slides]
Slides for a presentation discussing the history and mission of Los Alamos National Laboratory, as well as the career highlights of some of its current employees.
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
Recent Light-Element Standards-Related Work at Los Alamos [Slides]
This presentation covers recent light-element standards-related work at Los Alamos. Points include sections on the updated R-Matrix Analyses/Evaluations. Includes charts on cross sections and system analysis and elastic scattering.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Notice of Submittal – 2023 Radionuclide Air Emissions Report for Los Alamos National Laboratory
This report describes the emissions of airborne radionuclides from operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for calendar year 2023 and the resulting off-site dose from these emissions. This document fulfills the requirements established by the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants in 40 CFR 61, Subpart H – Emissions of Radionuclides other than Radon from Department of Energy Facilities, commonly referred to as the Radionuclide NESHAP or Rad-NESHAP. Compliance with this regulation and preparation of this document is the responsibility of LANL’s Rad NESHAP compliance program, which is part of the Environmental Protection and Compliance (EPC) Division. The information in this report is required under the Clean Air Act and is being submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Headquarters and EPA Region 6. The highest effective dose equivalent (EDE) to an off-site member of the public was calculated using procedures specified by the EPA and described in this report. LANL’s EDE was 0.43 for 2023. The annual limit is 10 millirem per year, established by the EPA in 40 CFR 61 Subpart H. All measured air emissions are modeled to a single location, known as the Maximally Exposed Individual (MEI). During calendar year 2023, LANL continuously monitored radionuclide emissions at 28 “major” release points, or stacks. The Laboratory estimates emissions from an additional 59 “minor” release points using radionuclide usage source terms in lieu of stack monitoring. Also, LANL uses an EPA approved network of air samplers around the Laboratory perimeter to monitor ambient airborne levels of radionuclides. To provide data for dispersion modeling and dose assessment, LANL maintains and operates several meteorological monitoring towers. From these various systems, a comprehensive evaluation is conducted to calculate the MEI dose for the Laboratory. The MEI can be any member of the public at any off-site location where there is a residence, school, business, or office. In 2023, this MEI location was a business at 129 New Mexico State Road 4 (NM-4), located in the northern end of White Rock. The primary contributors to the off-site dose at this location are the ambient air data at that location combined with the collected potential emissions from unmonitored (minor) sources. Overall, the MEI dose in 2023 is similar to that which has been observed in recent years, and it remains well below the EPA’s 10 millirem per year limit. Doses reported to the EPA for the past 10 years are shown in Table E1.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Evaluation of Building 23-620, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory J-3 Office, Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office (NNSA/NFO) plans to demolish Building 23-620, the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) J-3 Office Building (Nevada State Historic Preservation Office [SHPO] Resource No. B15283) at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) in Nye County, Nevada. The NNSA/NFO is implementing a long-term project to modernize the town of Mercury for future mission needs. The project is considered an undertaking subject to review under Title 54 of United States Code (USC) § 306108, commonly known as Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, Title 54 USC § 300101, et seq., and its implementing regulations, Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations (36 CFR) Part 800. In 2018, Desert Research Institute (DRI) completed an architectural survey of the town of Mercury. This effort resulted in the identification, recordation, and evaluation of the Mercury Historic District (MHD, SHPO Resource No. D230), including the identification of its contributing elements (Reno et al. 2018). The MHD was recommended eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP, National Register) under the Secretary of the Interior’s (SOI) Significance Criteria A and C, as defined in 36 CFR Part 60.4, as a significant concentration of buildings and structures with a direct and important association with Cold War-era nuclear testing from 1951 through 1992. It has not been evaluated under Criteria B and D to date. As part of a larger modernization program for Mercury, the NNSA/NFO and the SHPO executed the 2018 Programmatic Agreement between the National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office and the Nevada State Historic Preservation Officer regarding Modernization and Operational Maintenance of the Nevada National Security Site, at Mercury in Nye County, Nevada (Mercury PA). The Mercury PA includes streamlined Section 106 procedures for undertakings in the MHD based on contributing element categories. Building 23-620 is identified in Appendix C of the Mercury PA as a Category I contributing element, indicating that it might be individually eligible for the NRHP. It is a historic property for the purposes of Section 106 compliance and subject to the stipulations of the Mercury PA. Per Stipulation VI of the Mercury PA, when the Area of Potential Effect (APE) for an undertaking includes Category I elements, the NNSA/NFO must evaluate the Category I elements for individual NRHP eligibility under all of the SOI Significance Criteria prior to initiating any activity that may affect the elements. The purpose of this report is to evaluate Building 23-620 as a potential individually eligible historic property in fulfillment of Stipulation VI of the Mercury PA. The evaluation detailed herein concludes that Building 23-620 is not individually eligible for listing in the NRHP. Although it retains aspects of integrity and continues to contribute to the MHD, it is not individually significant under any of the SOI Significance Criteria.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Numerical simulations of the Los Alamos gapstick experiment
The gapstick is a high explosive (HE) sensitivity test recently developed at Los Alamos. The experiment design was motivated by the traditional gap test and consists of a series of HE and inert pellets in a rate stick configuration. The inert pellets are made increasingly longer so that eventually the attenuated shock is unable to initiate the next HE pellet. While the gapstick is a mechanically simple experiment it poses several challenges for numerical simulation. In particular, accurately modeling the HE initiation and detonation phenomena requires a reactive burn model with sufficient mesh resolution to capture the reaction scales. In this work, the Scaled Uniform Reactive Front (SURF) and Arrhenius Wescott-Stewart-Davis (AWSD) burn models are used for simulations of a PBX 9501 (95 wt% HMX, 5% binder) gapstick. Furthermore, the material model for the inert pellet material, Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF), has a direct influence on the shock propagation and a new equation of state (EOS) calibration for PVDF is developed using available Hugoniot data. Despite some challenges, the simulations are able to reasonably predict shock transit velocities and detonation failure in the gapstick.
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
Winning the Cold War: Los Alamos 1970-1992 [Slides]
A presentation by Lab Historian Alan Carr discussing the role of Los Alamos in the later cold war.
96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
Cost-Efficient Construction at Los Alamos National Laboratory
The construction industry can be fraught with cost, schedule, and scope overruns. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a Department of Energy (DOE) / National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) facility located in Northern New Mexico, seems to be particularly vulnerable to cost and schedule overruns. Since Triad National Security, LLC acquired the management and operating (M&O) contract for LANL in 2018, the group has been striving to reduce the cost of construction across the forty square-mile campus.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Discrete-event Simulation Process Model for the Pyrochemical Processing of Plutonium at Los Alamos National Laboratory
The pyrochemical metal production operations that occur in the Plutonium Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory perform plutonium purification with the aim to provide plutonium metal for a variety of defense- and non-defense missions within the National Nuclear Security Administration. The demands and constraints associated with the pyrochemical processing of plutonium are complex, making decision analyses challenging for program managers who require plutonium production for their mission applications. The construction of a discrete-event simulation process model is proposed to measure and report the process capacity, material throughput, equipment requirements, and dose accumulation for operators of the pyrochemical metal production operations. The process model, constructed in the ExtendSim™ software, will represent the cause-and-effect relationships between the pyrochemical processing environment and the process constraints, including criticality limitations, material control and accountability measures, chemical analysis requirements, and equipment availability. An accurate representation of the pyrochemical metal production process capacity through simulation modeling will be helpful to program managers in their efforts to forecast plutonium availability for mission applications. Furthermore, the proposed process model will be vital for future analyses that will measure the interactions between the pyrochemical metal production operations and the aqueous reprocessing operations and their ability to minimize transuranic waste disposal.
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
2022 Results for Avian Monitoring of Inorganic Elements and Organic Chemical Concentrations in Passerine Eggs and Nestlings Collected from Technical Area 16 Burn Grounds, Technical Area 36 Minie, and Technical Area 39 Point 6 at Los Alamos National Laboratory
In 2022, nonviable avian eggs and one nestling were opportunistically collected at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) near open detonation sites located at Technical Area (TA) 16 burn grounds, TA-36 Minie, and TA-39 Point 6. Samples were evaluated for inorganic elements (mostly metals) or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Three western bluebird (Sialia mexicana) egg samples were collected from TA-16 burn grounds. One deceased mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) nestling sample was collected from TA-36 Minie. One ash-throated flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) egg sample was collected from TA-39 Point 6. Concentrations of inorganic elements (i.e., mostly metals) observed in this study were compared with the regional statistical reference level (RSRL), which is the upper-level bounds of background concentrations (mean + three standard deviations = 99% confidence interval). Several inorganic elements were not detected in avian eggs. All of the inorganic elements that were detected were below the RSRL and the lowest observable adverse effect level (LOAEL), when available. No PFAS compounds were detected in the mountain bluebird nestling sample collected from TA-36, and the majority of PFAS compounds were not detected in the western bluebird egg sample from TA-16. These data suggest that inorganic element and PFAS concentrations in eggs and nestlings are not of ecological concern. More data are needed to make a robust assessment and to evaluate trends over time.
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
iButton snow-ground interface temperature measurements in Los Alamos, New Mexico from 2023-2024
Snow/ground interface temperature measurements were collected at two sites in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Data were collected from November 29, 2023 to April 8, 2024 using iButton Link DS1921G-F5# Thermochron miniature temperature sensors (https://www.ibuttonlink.com/products/ds1921g). These sensors are a cost-efficient way to collect snowpack temperatures at a higher spatial resolution than what is normally achieved. iButton data were collected every 3 hours from a total of 19 iButtons. iButtons were placed in pairs, with one iButton placed at the ground surface and another buried 1 - 5 cm below the ground surface. One buried iButton did not successfully collect data, and therefore was excluded from this dataset. Data were collected throughout the snow cover season so that snowpack characteristics could be derived using the temperature data. Specifically, this dataset was used as a validation source for a novel machine learning approach to estimating snow depth (see related publication). Sensors were placed in areas with bare ground or minimal grass coverage, located away from any large vegetation. At Site A (TA51), manual snow depths were collected as validation data. These measurements were taken next to iButtons periodically throughout the winter, and notes on other precipitation types were also recorded. At Site B (TA6 Meteorological Station), a nearby sensor collected snow depths throughout the winter. This dataset contains one *.csv file of snow/ground interface temperatures at two sites, one *.csv file of manually collected snow depths, and one *.kml file of sensor locations. The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic) was a 15-year research effort (2012-2027) to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research.The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska.Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy’s Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Processing Meteorological Data for the CAP-88 PC Model at Los Alamos National Laboratory
The Environmental Protection and Compliance-Compliance Programs (EPC-CP) group at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) uses the Clean Air Act Assessment Package 1988 (CAP-88, Littleton 2020) PC model (Version 4.1) to estimate radiological doses for a set of areal sectors surrounding a release location, in order to satisfy the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) dose calculation requirement in 40 CFR 61 Subpart H. Among several types of data that must be prepared for CAP-88 input is a text file of meteorological data (“WIND” file), consisting of the joint frequency of wind direction, wind speed, and atmospheric stability categories. EPC-CP produces customized WIND files by running a CAP-88 utility program on a user generated text file of wind data in a different format, known as a STability ARray (STAR) file (Turner, 1964). At LANL, EPC-CP meteorologists prepare customized STAR files with data over desired time periods at selected meteorological towers. A custom program written in Precision Visuals -Workstation Analysis and Visualization Environment (PV-WAVE), a commercial Fortran-like language, is used to read LANL meteorological data and write a STAR file; the executable filename is “Star.out”. However, the outdated PV-WAVE utility program is being phased out by EPC-CP, due to the inefficient process to run it and an inability to modify the code. To preserve the ability to create customized meteorological data for CAP-88 in a way that will be easy to use and maintain, a new replacement utility program, written in the Python programming language, has been developed. The new, improved program reads a data file from any LANL meteorological tower, and at each desired observation time, determines the wind direction, wind speed, and stability categories defined in the CAP-88 documentation. The frequencies of all combinations of the three sets of categories are calculated and written to a file in the STAR format, which can later be converted to a WIND file for input into CAP-88.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Los Alamos National Laboratory Design Basis Flood Level Modeling Report
This report describes a project conducted by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and 3AE Green to determine the base flood elevations for the return periods associated with Flood Design Categories (FDC) 1-3 as identified in DOE-STD-1020-2016. As part of this work, 3AE Green performed two-dimensional (2D) hydraulic modeling of the Design Basis Flood Level (DBFL) for the primary watersheds within the LANL boundary and site-specific sub-watersheds associated with specific existing LANL facilities. The modeling covered an area of approximately 67 square miles.
58 GEOSCIENCES↗
The Los Alamos neutron spectrometer for the Lunar Scout-1 mission
We review the current status of the Los Alamos program to develop a neutron spectrometer for the Lunar Scout-1 mission, which is the first of two such missions to obtain global compositional, gravity, topography, and image maps of the lunar surface during nominal one-year missions. The neutron spectrometer will measure fast and slow (epithermal and thermal) neutrons in the ranges of 0.5 MeV to 25 MeV and 0.01 eV to more than 1 keV, respectively. The neutron spectrometer will consist of two independent instruments, a fast-neutron one, and a thermal and epithermal one. The measured neutron fluxes are very sensitive to hydrogen in the top meter of the lunar surface and provide additional information about lunar composition.
Auchampaugh, George↗
Maturing ceramic am and establishing a qualification framework at los alamos national laboratory
We successfully produced specimens made from porcelain resin (Tethon3D) in three different orientations (Z=45mm, Z=4mm and Z=3mm) without any cracks or delamination, both before and after post-processing. Four-point flexural tests were conducted on these specimens. Among the three orientations, specimens printed in the Z=4mm direction showed the best flexural strength, followed by Z=3mm and Z=45mm.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
2019 Results for Avian Monitoring of Inorganic and Organic Element Concentrations in Passerine Eggs and a Nestling Collected from Technical Area 16 Burn Grounds, Technical Area 36 Minie, and Technical Area 39 Point 6 at Los Alamos National Laboratory
In 2019, non-viable avian eggs and one nestling were opportunistically collected at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) near open detonation sites located at Technical Area (TA) 16 burn grounds, TA-36 Minie, and TA-39 Point 6. These samples were evaluated for inorganic elements (mostly metals), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and furans. A total of 26 western bluebird (Sialia mexicana) and five mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) egg samples and one non-viable ash-throated flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) nestling were collected among the three locations of interest. Concentrations of inorganic elements observed in this study were compared with the regional statistical reference level (RSRL) which is the upper-level bounds of background concentrations (mean + three standard deviations = 99% confidence interval). Several inorganic elements were not detected in avian eggs and the majority of inorganic elements detected were below the RSRL. The few elements that exceeded the RSRL were below the lowest observable adverse effect level (LOAEL), when available. One nestling collected from TA-16 contained detectable concentrations of some dioxin and furan congeners. Octachlorodibenzodioxin-1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9 concentration exceeded the RSRL, but did not exceed the calculated tetrachlorodibenzodioxin-2,3,7,8 (TCDD) toxic equivalent LOAEL. PCBs were also detected in the nestling sample and were above the RSRL but below the LOAEL. These data suggest that inorganic and organic element concentrations in eggs and nestlings are not of ecological concern. More data are needed to make a robust assessment and to evaluate trends over time.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗