Responders provide technical expertise in case of nuclear weapons accidents
The Accident Response Group provides technical expertise in assessing and safely resolving nuclear weapons accidents or "broken arrows." ARG brings together diverse experts from Sandia and other national labs, each with its own area of expertise. As the nuclear engineering lab, Sandia's focus is on the whole weapon.
Sandia hosts next generation of nuclear experts
Seven years ago, the NNSA established the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium, a collaboration among universities and national laboratories whose purpose is to train the next generation of nuclear security experts. This year, Sandia/California hosted the group’s fall workshop and advisory board meeting.
Sandia delivers first DOE sounding rocket program since 1990s
Sandia has developed a new rocket program, called the High Operational Tempo Sounding Rocket Program, or HOT SHOT, and integrated it for its first launch earlier this year under NNSA direction. The new program could help cut research and development time for new weapons systems from as many as 15 years to less than five.
Sandia interns sprint to the challenge
Four intern teams competed for eight weeks this summer in Sandia’s fourth annual Nuclear Weapons Summer Product Realization Institute. During the NW SPRINT, nontraditional teams develop innovative concepts using new technologies, and identify and address gaps in those technologies. It also serves to create a recruiting pipeline.
Blast tube tests at Sandia simulate shock wave conditions nuclear weapons could face
Sandia researchers are using a blast tube configurable to 120 feet to demonstrate how well nuclear weapons could survive the shock wave of a blast from an enemy weapon, and to help validate the modeling.
Keeping perspective during a long recovery
Sean Dunagan knows firsthand how to bring a major project back online after a three-year shutdown. Following the February 2014 events that closed the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico, he was the senior WIPP recovery manager at DOE. Now back in Sandia’s employ, Sean manages special projects and remote site support for the Labs’ Carlsbad office.
NNSA breaks new ground
At a July 2 groundbreaking ceremony, Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, Undersecretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator, described plans to build the new NNSA Albuquerque Complex.
Dry casks take the heat
Sandia researchers have built a scaled test assembly that mimics a dry cask storage container for spent nuclear fuel to study how fuel temperatures change during storage and how the fuel’s peak temperatures affect the integrity of the metal cladding surrounding the spent fuel.
Cooking composites in the sun
Sandia’s solar tower is helping to assess how extreme temperature changes affect materials. The tests for the Air Force take advantage of the ability of Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility to simulate a very rapid increase in temperature followed by an equally rapid decrease.
NNSA Administrator Gordon-Hagerty touts mission, teamwork at all-hands meeting
Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, DOE under secretary for nuclear security, signaled strong federal support for Sandia’s mission and infrastructure improvements in her all-hands presentation in Albuquerque on June 12. The meeting was part of an all-day tour of the Labs.