Out with the Old and in with the New: Plutonium Materials Research Enhancements at Los Alamos National Laboratory

摘要

When construction of the Chemistry-MetallurgyResearch (CMR) Building at Los Alamos NationalLaboratory (LANL) was completed in 1952, this facilitywas a state-of-the art research and experimental resource forplutonium and other actinide metallurgy and chemistry.1Now more than 65 years old, the CMR Building is at its endof service life and is in the process of being replaced by theRadiological Laboratory/Utility/Office Building (RLUOB).The RLUOB has approximately 20,000 square feet oflaboratory space, including approximately 1500 square feetof space for a variety of new actinide materials synthesisand characterization capabilities. Construction of these newlaboratories is nearing completion and equipmentinstallation will begin in late 2018. Here we describe thesenew processes and instruments for actinide materialsresearch.