Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Increasing Plutonium Capabilities

摘要

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been deeply involved in development of plutonium processing techniques and plutonium processing for decades. Currently work is being performed in the areas of plutonium processing, part fabrication, material characterization, analytical chemistry, plutonium science, and development of shipping packages. Plutonium processing efforts support all NNSA programmatic missions. A replacement Recovery Laboratory is being installed to ensure programs can recover high value plutonium assets and process low value assets for disposal. Part fabrication activities support the manufacturing of new targets for use in the Joint Actinide Shock Physics Experimental Research (JASPER) gas gun, Corrosion Studies, and Pit Surveillance test parts. Material characterization (MC) and analytical chemistry (AC) capabilities support all programs and additional capabilities are being added to assure LLNL capabilities meet NNSA needs. New MC and AC capabilities include: AUGER Spectrometer, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS), Atomic Emission Spectrophotometer (AES) and a nanodilatometer. LLNL is currently developing the DPP-1 package for use by the US DOE Defense Programs. These is also ongoing work to remove unused gloveboxes and equipment to make room for end of life replacements and new capabilities, thus, assuring that LLNL has the capabilities necessary to meet ongoing NNSA nuclear material needs.