Los Alamos Science Supports Global Security

Last fall marked 60 years of nuclear testing treaties and 60 years of treaty verification. In 1963, 18 years after the United States conducted the world’s first nuclear test, the leaders of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty, the first international treaty to restrict nuclear testing. 

The treaty confined nuclear weapons tests to underground and established limits on how and where nuclear weapons could be developed. It also raised the question: how could countries verify that all signatories were adhering to the treaty? Los Alamos’ Global Security Directorate, a program with roots dating back to the Manhattan Project, immediately began building tools to do so. Ever since, Global Security has been developing new technologies to keep pace with the world’s changing nuclear landscape. 

With the mission to “protect our Nation against emerging, prolific, and unconventional nuclear threats, regardless of origin,” Global Security now encompasses multiple discrete divisions and program offices concentrating on nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear counterproliferation, and counterterrorism.

This spring, 1663 sat down with the leader of the Global Security Directorate, Associate Laboratory Director Nancy Jo Nicholas, to learn about the latest science, technology, and engineering at Los Alamos supporting the modern global security mission.

1663:  Last year was the Lab’s 80th anniversary. Which scientific capabilities were developed during the Lab’s early years and supported the global security mission at the beginning?

NJN:  One of the first global security missions at the Lab was understanding how much progress Nazi Germany was making toward an atomic bomb—it was the first case of what I have come to call “it takes a weapons lab to find a weapons lab.” The radiochemistry capabilities that were developed here to support the Manhattan Project were tapped for nuclear forensics on samples from Nazi Germany. Today, as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Plutonium Center of Excellence, Los Alamos has a full scope of forensic capabilities, able to characterize any amount of plutonium from attograms to kilograms, that help deter nuclear terrorism and proliferant nations. 

1663:  In 1953, President Eisenhower gave his “Atoms for Peace” speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly, as part of a rebrand campaign to promote the peaceful applications of nuclear science. Nuclear energy is the standout example, but what are some other important examples of peaceful applications of nuclear science?

NJN:  The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is often thought of as the UN’s “nuclear watchdog,” and Los Alamos supports them with that mission. In fact, we have trained and still train every IAEA inspector. But the IAEA also has a role in accelerating and enlarging access to the safe and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology for human health, agriculture, ocean protection, energy, climate change, and many more benefits. These programs are especially beneficial for developing countries. 

1663:  After the 1963 treaty, verification was one of the main drivers of new technology being developed at the Lab. Can you explain what some of these technologies are and how they have evolved or expanded to enable other fields of research at Los Alamos? 

NJN:  The Limited Test Ban Treaty went into effect on October 10, 1963, and the first Vela Hotel satellites for space-based treaty verification were launched that same fall. Vela began as a small-budget research program between Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories in 1959. It ended 26 years later as a successful, cost-effective military space system powered by solar panels, which also provided scientific data on natural sources of space radiation. 

Today, Los Alamos plays an active role in developing and implementing space-based sensors for optical light, gamma rays, neutrons, x-rays, radionuclides, infrasound waves, and electromagnetic pulses, to detect, locate, and identify nuclear detonations anywhere, anytime. From monitoring nonproliferation commitments and arms reductions to the detection of nuclear explosions, our treaty verification technology contributes to overall nuclear threat reduction now and in the future.   

1663:  Looking at it from the other side, are there examples of scientific capabilities that were pioneered for other purposes that are now being applied to the modern Global Security mission?

NJN:  Absolutely! We take advantage of as many scientific capabilities developed at the Laboratory as we can. More than a quarter of the recent shots at our DARHT (Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test) facility are in support of Global Security programs. To support future arms control, we leverage advances in physics-based measurement techniques, like those at DARHT, to give treaty negotiators options and our intelligence community state-of-the-art tools. 

Los Alamos has deep expertise in bioscience, which is rooted in the need to understand the effects of radiation. Our human genome work not only positioned the Lab to help pursue mosaic vaccines for HIV, but it also positioned us to help protect warfighters and rapidly develop accurate diagnosis assays during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Advanced computing and machine learning techniques have allowed us to do new experiments to improve the nuclear data we use. We are now poised to take advantage of new artificial intelligence capabilities to more efficiently and effectively address potential emerging threats.

1663:  Today, Global Security’s mission is to protect the nation against emerging, prolific, and unconventional nuclear threats. What is the relationship between this mission and basic science research at the Lab?

NJN:  Our funded research is mission-driven, focused on providing the United States and our allies with strategic advantages with respect to those who would do us harm. But global threats today are broader than just nuclear—there are now bio-, cyber-, and space-threats as well. A big part of the Global Security mission is protecting our homeland from as far away as possible. To anticipate emerging threats and develop the tools to respond, we need a deep and broad scientific foundation. 

Global Security sits within the Science, Technology, and Engineering Directorate of the Laboratory, so we can directly leverage scientific discoveries and breakthrough research for our mission. We draw upon physicists, materials scientists, chemists, computer scientists, biologists, Earth scientists, space scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and numerous other experts to address specific challenges. Although many of our programs involve classified work, we routinely leverage unclassified research, as well.

1663:  What science, technology, or engineering would you say is presently on the bleeding edge of global-security-science at Los Alamos, and what role do you see it playing in the near term? 

NJN:  Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and autonomous robotic or drone technology. The accelerating technological race with our adversaries will result in new threats, and advances in these fields in particular will provide new capabilities for our mission. With these tools, we could become substantially more effective at executing our mission, and we’ll likely need that edge to detect, deter, and respond proactively to new threats. 

Brilliant scientists and engineers have always come to the Laboratory to do amazing research, and many stay for their whole career to contribute to our important mission. I see that continuing to be the case well into the future.