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John Edwards
Senior Advisor in the Strategic Deterrence Principal Directorate
We face a series of continuously evolving and increasingly complex security challenges. Understanding and addressing these threats requires an ability to leverage a broad array of technical and scientific skill sets and capabilities. One of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s hallmarks and unique strengths is its ability to bring together experts from multiple fields of research to form collaborative teams that combine state-of-the-art computational and experimental capabilities which enable Livermore to meet its mission. This issue of Science and Technology Review (S&TR) features articles highlighting Livermore’s ability to leverage talent and creativity through the internal and external collaborations that are a driving force behind the critical national security work we strive to accomplish.
The feature article, "Beginning at the End," introduces Project DarkStar, a multidisciplinary research effort addressing national needs through AI-enabled simulation approaches, machine learning, and cognitive simulation. Focused on deepening our understanding of the foundations underlying hydrodynamics, shockwave physics, and energetic materials, Project DarkStar’s team has developed an inverse design technique that enables researchers to start with a desired outcome to discover the optimal design solutions that will achieve that outcome. Furthermore, the powerful computational tools behind the project allow researchers to explore high-dimensional parameter spaces and target those optimal solutions rapidly, completely transforming what can be achieved with standard high-fidelity forward simulation. Combining this work with Livermore’s cutting-edge advanced manufacturing technologies opens potential solutions not possible previously with standard manufacturing techniques, a very promising development for future security needs.
Project DarkStar’s design is an excellent example of collaborative science. By leveraging the skills and expertise of computational physicists, engineers, and experimentalists both at the Laboratory and among external partners, Livermore is opening doors to further efforts that will support national security needs. For example, simulations indicating an optimal component design of extraordinarily complex shape, structure, and materials would have been impossible to produce using legacy technology. Livermore’s advanced manufacturing and materials science expertise and advancements can build on the outcomes from Project DarkStar and make the new designs a reality.
Collaboration is a key feature across the Laboratory. The first research highlight, "Old Debris, New Radiochemical Information," features a research collaboration between Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national laboratories to extract new data from old samples of radioactive materials. After underground testing ceased following the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, analyzing reactions from nuclear detonations was constrained by the timeline of radioactive decay. The collaboration between Livermore and Los Alamos using mass spectrometry to study materials in which radioactivity has decayed has opened new opportunities to extract data thought to be lost and now informs questions ranging from nuclear forensics to stockpile stewardship.
The second highlight, "Ensuring Material Survivability," introduces National Ignition Facility (NIF) research into material survivability. The cessation of underground testing left a void in understanding how nuclear and nonnuclear components can survive in hostile nuclear environments. Only after Livermore applied NIF’s capabilities in this field could researchers simulate the high-fluence neutron and x-ray fluxes that are produced through detonation of a nuclear weapon. With NIF’s ignition achievement in 2022, the work Livermore can do in weapons survivability research has been transformed. Neutron fluences available now through ignition are allowing a new regime for understanding the neutron effects of importance to Livermore’s mission.
This issue’s final highlight, "Advancing Cybersecurity for Advanced Threats," features the critical but often unseen cybersecurity efforts at the Laboratory. Cyber threats have grown in number and severity over the past decades, and Livermore’s Cyber Security Program (CSP) is no stranger to defending against and preventing cyberattacks. From protecting against one-off attempts to find and attack network vulnerabilities to defending against highly sophisticated cyber operations, Livermore’s CSP team is applying current best practices and developing innovative solutions to stop cyberattacks before they can impact Laboratory personnel, data, and information. CSP collaborates not only within the Laboratory but across the National Security Enterprise to stay ahead of cyber threats.
To continue to address the complex security threats we face, Livermore’s ability to leverage its expertise and collaborations will remain one of the Laboratory’s biggest strengths. The research projects featured in this issue of S&TR show great promise for Livermore’s continued efforts to meet its mission.
