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News Releases Molecular forensic science studies nuclear materials from Chernobyl
Newest issue of Science Highlights are online
Scientists identified and chemically characterized radioactive particles collected from Chernobyl soils using synchrotron based X-ray microprobe techniques at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. The colors correspond to the number of fluorescence counts of uranium. The red color indicates the highest concentration of uranium.
June 17, 2010—Marianne Wilkerson of the Laboratory's Nuclear and Radiochemistry (C-NR) leads a research team that is developing analytical, nuclear forensics techniques and tools to address signatures that arise from production, conversion, and aging process that are chemical in nature resulting in sometimes obvious and other times subtle changes in chemical speciation.
LANL Laboratory Directed Research and Development supports the research, whose goal is to develop a transformative capability for nuclear forensics, as well as analytical, experimental and scientific capability that can be applied to a broad range of signatures associated with actinide materials. The work supports the global security component of the Laboratory's mission and the Science of Signatures capability pillar.
Fast Facts
People
11,127 total employees
Los Alamos National Security, LLC 8,683
SOC Los Alamos (Guard Force) 419
Contractors 606
Students 1,101
Place
Located 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 36 square miles of DOE-owned property.
More than 2,000 individual facilities, including 47 technical areas with 8 million square feet under roof.
Replacement value of $5.9 billion
Budget FY 2012: Approx. $2.2 billion
57% Weapons programs
9% Nonproliferation programs
7% Safeguards and Security
8% Environmental Management
4% DOE Office of Science
4% Energy and other programs
11% Work for Others
Workforce Demographics (LANS and students only)
34% of employees live in Los Alamos, the remainder commute from Santa Fe,
Española, Taos, and Albuquerque.
Average Age: 46
70% male, 30% female
43% minorities
63% university degrees
· 23% hold undergraduate degrees
· 16% hold graduate degrees
· 24% have earned a Ph.D.
Major Awards
121 R&D100 awards since 1978
31 E.O. Lawrence Awards
The Seaborg Medal
The Edward Teller Medal
The Nobel Prize in Physics, Frederick Reines