Twenty students from across the country recently attended a week-long summer program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) focusing on critical areas within the nuclear nonproliferation missions of the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
The students participated in a program - called the Nuclear Security and Nonproliferation Summer School - designed to introduce them to LLNL and provide overviews of emergency response, nuclear forensics and treaty verification. This summer school was co-sponsored by LLNL and the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium (NSSC), led by the University of California, Berkeley.
The students had the opportunity to perform hands-on activities in a unique facility that supports research and development and high-fidelity training activities for various partners.
The facility is equipped with a range of radiation materials and sources, including special nuclear materials and neutron and X-ray generators. LLNL scientist Phil Kerr was instrumental in facilitating the events that occurred in this facility, specifically the emergency response and treaty verification modules.
The first day was focused on introducing the students to LLNL. They were welcomed by Huban A. Gowadia, principal associate director of Global Security at LLNL.
The day continued with an overview of the Nuclear Threat Reduction Program by program leader Amy Waters, followed by a presentation by the Nuclear and Chemical Science (NACS) Division Leader Dawn Shaughnessy, who discussed the fundamental science performed in the NACS division and how those same skills are applicable to contributing to the nonproliferation mission area.
Following the presentations, the students learned about the history of LLNL and the Laboratory's role in strategic stability from Tom Ramos, who provided an overview of his book, "From Berkeley to Berlin."
The students were then given tours of LLNL facilities, including the National Ignition Facility and the Additive Manufacturing Laboratory.
The next day of the workshop focused on emergency response. This day was coordinated by Jessica Mintz, who is part of the Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) at LLNL.
Mintz presented the students with an overview of the Nuclear Emergency Support Team and the types of events for which they provide assistance, followed by a discussion of previous case studies and considerations for responding to such events.
After the presentations, students participated in a search and identification exercise, where they were provided with equipment used by the Lab's RAP team and trained on how to use it.
The students then conducted an exercise to localize radiological materials hidden in various locations. Following the exercises, the locations of the items were revealed, and LLNL staff debriefed the students on considerations for real-world exercises.
The third day of the workshop was organized by LLNL scientist Greg Brennecka and focused on nuclear forensics. Here, the students walked through an interactive nuclear crime scene with LLNL researchers Frank Wong and Sid Niemeyer.
The students learned about considerations for crime-scene management and how practitioners in the space must be deliberate about what samples are taken and which measurements to prioritize.
The students were then given an overview of previously interdicted nuclear materials case studies and various technologies that are currently used to analyze samples for attribution.
Following these lectures, the students participated in a hands-on interactive module that allowed them to use the considerations and topics learned earlier in the day. The students then toured various laboratories that are used to analyze samples for nuclear forensics.
The day concluded with a question-and-answer session with Laboratory Director Kim Budil. Like many of the volunteers and lecturers throughout the workshop, Budil first engaged with LLNL as a graduate student and continued on to have a successful career at LLNL. The students had the opportunity to ask questions ranging from her career path to what emerging technologies require further investigation.
The last day of the summer school focused on a day-long treaty verification exercise organized by Lab scientist Bonnie Canion. The exercise broke the students into two groups to represent two separate negotiating countries.
Each group had their own radiological assembly design as a stand in for a strategic warhead with a specific definition as to what a hypothetical dismantlement entailed. The two teams worked to define a dismantlement treaty while attempting to shield information about their assembly that was distinct from the general description.
Throughout the exercise, the students had access to various verification technologies to understand what design signatures were vulnerable and then used these tools to verify that the opposing team had dismantled their device.
The 20 students who participated in the workshop were selected from all four of the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) consortia -- the NSSC, the Consortium for Monitoring Technology and Verification, the Consortium for Enabling Technologies and Innovation, and the Consortium for Nuclear Forensics. The consortia and the workshop are funded by NNSA DNN R&D. Additionally, two students from the NNSA minority serving institution partnership program's NoVELL Consortium (Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, Elizabeth City State University and LLNL).
The student participants attended Elizabeth City State University, Norfolk State University, the University of California Berkeley, University of Wisconsin, Madison, the University of Texas at Austin, Oregon State University, Michigan State University, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Texas A&M University and the University of New Mexico.
