Lawrence Livermore national laboratory’s contribution to U.S. preparedness for nuclear and radiological threats

Abstract

This talk highlights a few of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s many contributions to U.S. nuclear and radiological threat preparedness. The Laboratory is part of a larger partnership between the DOE/NNSA, the national laboratories, and other agencies of the U.S. government to support emergency response and consequence management for nuclear and radiological incidents. Lawrence Livermore has many decades of experience in understanding the threat posed by the full range of weapons of mass destruction worldwide, including chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological. At the other end of the preparedness spectrum, the Laboratory has a long-standing role in support of U.S. nuclear and radiological incident response including atmospheric transport and dispersion modeling and nuclear forensics assessments and laboratory analyses of special nuclear and other radiological materials. We staff incident response teams, support planning and preparedness, and provide first responder training and proficiency assessments. The combination of being threat informed and operationally involved provides valuable insight into the research and development needs of the U.S. for preparedness. The Laboratory is accomplished in the development of radiation detection equipment and systems. Recent advances include the development of novel radiation detection materials, such as a plastic scintillator that can differentiate neutrons and gamma rays that could be used in portal monitors. Lawrence Livermore also supports U.S. nonproliferation and treaty verification goals with technical and operation support for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.