DOE/LANL Jurisdiction Fire Danger Rating:
  1. LANL Home
  2. Media
  3. Newsletters
  4. STE Highlights
July 31, 2025

Revealing the hidden world of nuclear materials

Scientists spotlight cutting-edge tools, capabilities at LANSCE

8 Copy
When researchers need very high neutron count rates, they can turn to this neutron powder diffractometer at Los Alamos. The High-Pressure-Preferred Orientation instrument (HIPPO) was created in a joint effort between the Lab’s accelerator and the University of California. Pictured is a multinational team that got six papers out of their work, highlighting the versatility of neutron-based event-mode imaging techniques for advanced materials studies. Credit to: Los Alamos National Laboratory

Advanced neutron imaging work underway at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) was featured in Nuclear News, an American Nuclear Society publication. In the article, Los Alamos staff scientists Alexander Long and Sven Vogel summarize years of progress in neutron imaging at the Lab and invite researchers to engage with the latest capabilities through the LANSCE user program.

Read the article

Why this matters: Neutron imaging is a powerful tool for nondestructively examining the internal structure of materials, enabling advances in nuclear material applications relevant to Los Alamos missions. 

  • “We wanted the article to serve as both a general primer on the field and a resource for potential collaborators,” said Long, an instrument scientist for several neutron imaging beamlines at LANSCE.

What to know: Specialized techniques at LANSCE are being used to study the internal structure and isotopic composition of nuclear materials under extreme conditions. 

  • Key LANSCE flight paths — ASTERIX, ERNI, HIPPO and 60-R — support critical materials studies across both nuclear energy applications and stockpile stewardship missions. 
  • The LANSCE user program offers opportunities for external researchers to propose experiments and collaborate on nuclear materials science. 

Funding: LANSCE is a National Nuclear Security Administration user facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy.

LA-UR-25-27361

Share

Stay up to date
Subscribe to Stay Informed of Recent Science, Technology and Engineering Highlights from LANL
Subscribe Now

More STE Highlights Stories

STE Highlights Home
Nuclear Plant Card

Analyzing nuclear materials like a detective to enhance power plant security

Facility operations surveillance is vital for nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation

Streams Card 2

Advancing microbiome studies with a STREAM-lined approach

Standardizing reporting guidelines helps improve research and collaboration

Best Paper Card

Best paper award: Giving materials discoveries a quantum push forward

Los Alamos computer scientists part of large team

Superconductivity Card

Identifying the magnetic fingerprint of superconductivity

High-field experiments trace electronic patterns shaping superconducting behavior

Imaging Card

Rethinking a central mechanism for nuclear imaging

More efficiency, less dose are aims of new fabrication method

Discoveries Card

Laboratory Fellows present 80 years of science and engineering discovery

New visual project spotlights 20 major Los Alamos discoveries