Los Alamos National Laboratory

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- New Mexico is going after the federal government for failing...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Watchdog groups want the Biden administration to reconsider a...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Watchdog groups want the Biden administration to reconsider a decision by a U.S. agency not to conduct a more extensive environmental review related to production of the...

Watchdog groups want the Biden administration to reconsider a decision by a U.S. agency not to conduct a more extensive environmental review related to production of the plutonium cores used in the nation's nuclear arsenal

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- One of the nation's premier nuclear laboratories isn't...

A collaborative research team, including Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Stuttgart (Germany), University of New Mexico, and Sandia National Laboratories, has developed a proton conductor for fuel cells based on polystyrene phosphonic acids that maintain high protonic conductivity up to 200 degrees C without water. They describe the material advance in a paper published this week in Nature Materials.

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Developing safe and sustainable fuels for nuclear energy is an integral part of Los Alamos National Laboratory's energy security mission. Uranium dioxide, a radioactive actinide oxide, is the most widely used nuclear fuel in today's nuclear power plants. A new "combustion synthesis" process recently established for lanthanide metals--non-radioactive and positioned one row above actinides on the periodic table--could be a guide for the production of safe, sustainable nuclear fuels.

Mechanical engineer Michael Gollner and his graduate student, Sriram Bharath Hariharan, from the University of California, Berkeley, recently traveled to NASA's John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. There, they dropped burning objects in a deep shaft and study how fire whirls form in microgravity. The Glenn Center hosts a Zero Gravity Research Facility, which includes an experimental drop tower that simulates the experience of being in space.

A new hydrocarbon study contradicts conventional wisdom about how methane is trapped in rock, revealing a new strategy to more easily access the valuable energy resource.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- The National Nuclear Security Administration says it doesn't...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The 2030 deadline set by the U.S. government to resume and ramp up production of the plutonium cores used in the nation's nuclear arsenal is nothing short of challenging, but the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration said Wednesday she's confident her agency can do it. Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty spoke with The Associated Press during a stop in New Mexico. The visit coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Trinity Test, which marked the world's first atomic explosion. Gordon-Hagerty said much has been learned since 1945 but the fortitude of the agency's workforce remains as pressure mounts to finish multibillion-dollar construction projects in New Mexico and South Carolina necessary for the plutonium production mission along with extensive training for technicians and other workers. "That 2030 deadline is a big deal. In 2030, we need to be manufacturing 80 pits per year," she said. "If we don't make that, that only means the requirement for more pits will grow and it will cost more money." It's been nearly a decade since the last plutonium cores were made at Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico for Navy submarine missiles. The most ever made in one year at the lab was 11. Gordon-Hagerty said the federal government already has waited too long, noting that many of the plutonium pits that are part of the stockpile date back to the 1970s and 1980s and her agency is responsible to ensuring their safety and reliability. "Time is not on our side. But that said, we're not going to hurry anything, we're going to do it right," she said. The work will be split between Los Alamos and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Los Alamos is facing a 2026 deadline to begin producing at least...

Computer models could warn of upcoming surges, allowing public health officials to take early preventive action

As the deadly novel coronavirus has caused havoc across the globe, scientists have discovered a new strain of COVID-19 that has become dominant worldwide and appears to be more contagious than the one that spread initially.

COVID-19 reminds us that failure to prepare can lead to disaster

Space scientists have successfully predicted satellite-killing radiation storms two days before they strike - beating out the previous model that alerted experts only one day in advance.

Bogus beetles, nonexistent giant sculptures and other "discoveries" on the Red Planet distract us from the exciting research that's actually going on

A newly developed algorithm opens a window into understanding the transition from quantum to classical objects

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists have synthesized magnetically-doped quantum dots that capture the kinetic energy of electrons created by ultraviolet light before it's wasted as heat.

LANL was originally created during the Second World War as part of the Manhattan Project to develop the first nuclear weapon. Currently, they conduct research in many scientific fields including renewable energy, medicine, and national security. These areas require vast...