Facilities Tailored to the Mission
Computing Facilities
Some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world are harnessed by LLNL at the Livermore Computing Complex, enabling large suites of simulations for uncertainty quantifications and weapons-science calculations that replace underground testing to understand the performance and aging of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.
Hydrodynamic Explosives and Testing
Non-nuclear explosives are tested at varying scales at LLNL’s High Explosives Applications Facility in Livermore, at Site 300 near the main site, and at the Big Explosives Experimental Facility and U1a Complex in Nevada. Hydrodynamic testing at these facilities, as well as the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, enable researchers to compare experimental test results with computational data to assess performance and make new scientific discoveries.
Material Science Testing
Testing conducted at LLNL’s Joint Actinide Shock Physics Experimental Research facility in Nevada as well as at High Explosives Applications Facility and National Ignition Facility in Livermore generates data to determine materials equations-of-state, validate predictive computer models of material response, and advance new findings in materials science.
High-Energy-Density Testing
Research conducted at LLNL’s Jupiter Laser Facility and National Ignition Facility explores the acceleration of charged particles, radiation emission and absorption of hot dense plasmas, and states of matter under extreme pressure and temperature — all to support simulations of nuclear explosions. Other facilities such as SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source and Sandia National Laboratories’ Z Machine support LLNL’s high-energy-density testing efforts as well.
Testing Support
Facilities such as LLNL’s Superblock and B-131 High Bay house equipment to research and test nuclear materials and undergo continuous upgrades to meet the latest nuclear safety requirements. LLNL’s Waste Operations identifies, characterizes, packages, treats, and certifies waste generated by the Laboratory’s testing programs and manages safe, environmentally sound, and compliant waste disposal.
