Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
SITE DESCRIPTION - NNSA FY2005 Congressional Budget Request (604-609)

History
Established in 1952 to augment the Nation’s nuclear weapons design capability, LLNL made major advances in nuclear weapons safety and performance throughout the Cold War. To address national security needs, the Laboratory has pioneered the application of technologies ranging from highperformance computers to advanced lasers, and it has gained multiprogram responsibilities that draw on LLNL’s multidisciplinary expertise. Today, LLNL’s special capabilities, required for stockpile stewardship and nonproliferation activities, as well as homeland security, enable the laboratory to meet enduring national needs in conventional defense, energy, environment, biosciences, and basic science as well as enhancing the competencies needed for the national security mission.

Management
University of California. The current contract expires September 30, 2005.

WEAPONS ACTIVITIES

Directed Stockpile Work (DSW)
LLNL is responsible for executing a program to refurbish the W80 Nuclear Explosive Package (NEP). Additionally, LLNL supports the production of the Mechanical Safe and Arm Devices for the W87 Life Extension Program (LEP) and the life of program build. For the W62, B83, W84 and W87, LLNL performs engineering and physics analyses, supported by component, subsystem and system tests, to certify that weapons conform to the requirements of their Military Characteristics (MC) and Stockpileto- Target (STS).

Congress has recently approved NNSA and DoD plans to conduct a Phase 6.2/2A study for a Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator weapon. The B83 is one of the two weapons to be considered in this study. In FY 2005, subsystem tests and a full system test of the proposed design will be completed. Phase 6.2A will be initiated. All the appropriated 6.2/2A documentations for the LLNL designs will be published, including a draft Weapon Design and Cost Report and other project plans that detail how LLNL will manage, execute, and control the activities needed to accomplish Phase 6.3, Engineering Development, through Phase 6.6, Full Scale Production. LLNL is responsible for peer review of the B61 and W76 LEP Secondary, Primary performance, and engineering.

Science Campaign
For the Primary Assessment activity, ($21.3M in FY 2005) LLNL has responsibility for developing the tools and methodology to assess and certify, [via the Quantification of Margins and Uncertainty (QMU)] the safety, reliability and performance of the LLNL-owned stockpiles, including ongoing activities in LEP and Significant Finding Investigations (SFI). As the QMU tools and methodology developed as part of the Primary Assessment Campaign are validated they will be used in assessment work required to support DSW activities at LLNL.

Engineering Campaign
The Enhanced Surety activity at LLNL will develop nuclear explosive related technologies aimed at improving the safety of nuclear weapons in abnormal environments, ($31M in FY 2005).

Inertial Confinement Fusion Ignition and High Yield (ICF) Campaign
The National Ignition Facility (NIF), which will contain the world's largest laser and is one of the core facilities in support of the ICF Campaign, is under construction at the site. In addition to the line item construction activities, in FY 2005, the NIF Laser Demonstration Program will continue as per the planned baseline, and continue to provide additional laser capability. The ignition activities will have a specific emphasis focused on ignition target design and fabrication technology, laser-plasma interaction investigations on NIF, and the development of experimental methods for indirect drive ignition. The support of Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) activities will be concentrated on providing specific data for SSP campaigns and activities, as well as developing experimental capabilities and tools to support High Energy Density Physics (HEDP) experiments. Experimental Support Technology activities will include a major emphasis on the development and delivery of ICF/HED experimental support systems, including diagnostic systems, NIF cryogenic target support systems, and fabrication of necessary optics to support experiments, as well as the development of high-energy petawatt laser technology.

Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASCI) Campaign
LLNL is delivering validated physics and engineering models, and scheduling code development to support refurbishments, significant finding resolutions, and evolving future requirements. In addition, it is providing an appropriate computing environment to meet simulation requirements of the Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP). ASCI Purple, a collaboration of the tri-lab community led by LLNL, represents the technology for delivering a 100-TeraOPS capability to the SSP in 2005, ($145M in FY 2005). The Terascale Simulation Facility, currently under construction at LLNL, will be capable of housing the 100 TeraOps-class computers required to meet the milestones and objectives of the ASCI Campaign, ($3.2M in FY 2005).

BlueGene/L is a next-generation massively parallel computing system designed for R&D in computational science targeted at selected applications of interest to the ASCI tri-laboratory community and its University Alliance partners. A select, but broad set of science-application areas have been identified as an initial focus for execution on BlueGene/L. It is likely that BlueGene/L will undergo acceptance testing in late FY 2005, including full-system runs of Linpack. General use of the system for science calculations will commence after acceptance testing is complete.

Pit Manufacturing and Certification Campaign
LLNL's efforts provide independent technical assessments of the physics performance and engineering response using the latest legacy and ASCI codes; key enabling technologies required to build a modern pit facility including metal processing, casting, and shaping technologies; and requirements and process definitions of technologies required to build pits for LLNL systems.

Readiness Campaign
LLNL centers of excellence in design, modeling, simulation, materials processing, high explosives development, non-destructive evaluation and information technologies enable Advanced Design and Production Technologies efforts that, in turn, are of direct benefit to LEPs such as the W80, Core and Enhanced Surveillance, and evolving Advanced Concepts such as Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator.

Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities (RTBF)
Stockpile Stewardship Mission Essential Facilities, the subset of direct, programmatic facilities and technical base (i.e. “capabilities”), that is direct-funded through the RTBF program ($54.7M in FY 2005) include the Nuclear Materials Technology Program (NMTP) facilities (Superblock), the hydrotest bunkers and engineering test facilities at Site 300, the LINAC (B194) and light gas guns (B341), the High Explosive Applications Facility (HEAF), and Managing & Operating activities at the Nevada Test Site.

Construction projects currently underway at LLNL ($6.9M in FY 2005) include: Engineering Technology Complex Upgrade, Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, Isotope Sciences Facility, and Roof Reconstruction, Phase II (Protection of Real Property). Two projects will be initiating design at LLNL in FY 2004: Energetic Materials Processing Center and Tritium Facility Modernization.

Nuclear Weapons Incident Response
For the DOE and the Office of Emergency Response, LLNL assists in operating, exercising, and maintaining DOE’s capability to provide assistance to Federal, state and local government agencies for responding to radiological accidents and incidents. LLNL deploys trained, qualified technical and professional personnel and specialized equipment and provide research and development, training, exercises, operations, maintenance and required coordination with other Federal agencies and foreign governments to effectively address current and projected threats.

Facilities and Infrastructure Recapitalization Program
Facilities and Infrastructure Recapitalization Program funded projects include replacement of failing transformers and associated electrical components in mission essential facilities; replacement/upgrades of High Efficiency Particulate Air filter housings, ductwork, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning systems and associated equipment to ensure reliability and improve worker safety in radiological facilities; replacement of aged/worn-out machine tools, equipment and supporting systems which eliminate approximately 20% downtime, improve precision/quality and permit operators to meet Stockpile Stewardship Program-mandated tolerances for nuclear weapons components. FIRP also has initiated the complex-wide Roof Asset Management Program (RAMP) to establish and implement a corporate approach for the management of NNSA’s roofing assets, which is expected to result in improved cost efficiencies, improved quality of life extension of NNSA’s roofing assets, consistent approach and common standards for optimal roofing repairs and replacement, and additional deferred maintenance reduction.

Safeguards and Security
In FY 2005, LLNL will initiate a contract to replace components of the Argus system that are or will soon be obsolete. The laboratory has developed a Design Basis Threat (DBT) Implementation Plan to address new DBT protection requirements.

Nonproliferation and Verification Research and Development
LLNL improves geographic models to locate and identify regional seismic events to support nuclear explosion monitoring assessments. LLNL will deliver field-calibrated models of the seismic response for additional, specified regions of interest, and will demonstrate prototype tools for the automation of incorporating newly acquired data into these models. The lab develops and tests gamma and neutron detection materials for future commercial systems to search for and locate special nuclear material; and is a member of an interlaboratory team to investigate methodologies to establish a scientific basis for attribution to determine the origin of fissile materials. Serves as the interlaboratory coordinator on testing optical remote sensing techniques for Weapons of Mass Destruction proliferation detection/characterization; and is a recognized national leader in developing hyperspectral analysis methods for standoff detection of gases and other materials over denied areas.

International Nuclear Materials Protection and Cooperation (MPC&A)
LLNL provides operational experience in nuclear material protection, control and accounting in combination with institutional expertise in nuclear energy, international and domestic safeguards, and the assessment of the proliferation impacts on U.S. national security of foreign nuclear energy programs. The LLNL supports international MPC&A activities at several Russian Navy, Civilian, and MinAtom Weapons Complex sites, supports MPC&A sustainability and infrastructure projects for Ministry of Defense, MinAtom, GAN, Ministry of Transportation, and Russian Shipbuilding Agency, and supports activities for Radiological Threat Reduction Initiatives.