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U.S. Testing: NNSA Activates Lasers for Nuclear Simulations Scientists at the U.S. National Ignition Facility at California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory successfully activated four laser beams that will enable nuclear simulations and stockpile maintenance without underground testing, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced this month. The high-power lasers, the first of 192 planned for the facility, will be used to apply extreme temperatures and pressures to small targets. They were turned on more than a year ahead of schedule, according to an NNSA release. On Dec. 18 scientists at Livermore used all four beams to produce a pulse that carried 43 kilojoules of infrared light and lasted five-billionths of a second. “This important milestone marks the transition of the NIF from a construction project to an integrated light-producing facility,” said NNSA Acting Administrator Linton Brooks. “It will help us model and simulate nuclear explosions to ensure the safety and reliability of our nuclear weapons stockpile without underground nuclear testing,” he added (National Nuclear Security Administration release, Dec. 19).
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