Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Aerial photo of the LLNL

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ( LLNL ) is a research facility in the city of Livermore , about 70 km east of San Francisco in northern California . It was established in 1952 (as Lawrence Livermore Laboratory) to participate in the planning and development of nuclear weapons as part of the national defense program and is under the National Nuclear Security Administration , an agency of the United States Department of Energy . During the Cold War in particular , the center made a significant contribution to the safety and reliability of weapons. Significant parts of the American SDI program were conceived and worked on at the LLNL. The LLNL did pioneering work in the field of high-performance computers and advanced laser technology in particular . The LLNL was and is site of the famous IBM - Supercomputer ASCI Purple , ASCI White , IBM Sequoia and Sierra .

These tasks continue to exist. In addition, the center deals with the development of new technologies for the use of energy sources, the provision of biological and environmentally relevant data in connection with the use of various forms of energy, and research into the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons . The main facilities are:

• Research facilities for nuclear fusion , see also National Ignition Facility (NIF)
• Geothermal test facilities
• Research computer center
• Research and test facilities for rock mechanics , chemistry , metallurgy , meteorology etc.

Well-known scientists worked at the LLNL, including the physicist Edward Teller , who became known worldwide for his research into the development of the hydrogen bomb . This laboratory institution was also named after Ernest O. Lawrence , who had been director of the sister laboratory in Berkeley since 1931 and who promoted and designed the one in Livermore.

Sister laboratories

The LLNL is networked with the other large laboratories of the American Department of Energy through multiple professional and personal connections. These are among others:

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Sandia National Laboratories
• Idaho National Laboratory

Directors

• 1952-1958 Herbert York
• 1958–1960 Edward Teller
• 1960–1961 Harold Brown
• 1961-1965 John S. Foster Jr.
• 1965-1971 Michael M. May
• 1971–1988 Roger E. Batzel
• 1988-1994 John Nuckolls
• 1994-2002 C. Bruce Tarter
• 2002-2006 Michael R. Anastasio
• 2006-2011 George H. Miller
• 2011-2013 Penrose C. Albright
• 2013–2014 Bret Knapp (acting)
• since 2014 William H. Goldstein

literature

• Hugh Gusterson: Nuclear Rites: A Weapons Laboratory at the End of the Cold War (English)

Web links

Commons : Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory  - Album containing pictures, videos and audio files

• LLNL.gov - official website

Individual evidence

1. ^ William H. Goldstein named director of LLNL. Retrieved August 15, 2018 . 

Coordinates: 37 ° 41 ′ 10 "  N , 121 ° 42 ′ 34"  W.