AweeklycollectionofscientificandtechnologicalachievementsfromLawrenceLivermoreNational

Laboratory:March2‐March9,2009.

LLNLscientistearnsGlennT.Seaborgaward

KenMoody

Forthelast30‐plusyears,LabchemistKenMoodyalongwithRussiancollaboratorshashelpedprovideaglimpseofthe"IslandofStability"thatliesattheouterboundsoftheperiodictable,wheresuper‐heavyelementsliveformilliseconds,minutesorevenyearsamidaseaofoddlyshort‐livednuclei.Heandhiscollaboratorshavesingle‐handedlyproducedthefirstlong‐livedversionsofeachelementbetween113and118(withtheexceptionof117).

Hisworkhasn'tgoneunnoticed.TheAmericanChemicalSociety'sDivisionofNuclearChemistryandTechnologyhasawardedhimthe2009GlennT.Seaborgawardforhisworkinheavyelementsandnuclearforensics.HewillreceivehisawardatthenationalmeetingMarch22‐26,inSaltLakeCity,UT.

ChemicalandEngineeringNewsrecentlywroteaboutMoody'saccomplishments.Toreadthearticle,gotohttps://newsline.llnl.gov/_rev02/articles/2009/mar/CE_news.pdf

Protontherapyexploredforcancerresearch

ArecentarticleinPhysicsTodaydescribesthemovementtoshrinkthesizeofacceleratorssotheycanbeusedtohelptreatcancerpatients.

Smaller,cheaperacceleratorspromisetomakeprotonradiationtherapyavailabletomorecancerpatients.TheLabhasdevelopedalinactechnologytoaccelerateprotonsto100MeV.

OriginallydevelopedforX‐rayradiographytoimageexplosives,theso‐calleddielectricwallacceleratorgeneratesapulsedelectricfieldthatlastsafewnanoseconds.

Toreadmore,gotohttp://scitation.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD‐ft/vol_62/iss_3/22_1.shtml

BBC's"Horizon"onNIF

BrianCox

BritishphysicistBrianCoxhoststhemostrecenteditionoftheBBC's"Horizon:CanWeBuildaStaronEarth?"whichdelvesintothepossibilityofcreatingenergy(fusion)likethatwhichformsinstarsonearth.

Coxexploresdifferentstrategiesnowbeingpursuedtomakenuclearfusionareality,includingtheLab'sNationalIgnitionFacility,thataimstocreateinertialfusion.NIFblaststinypelletsofdeuterium‐tritiumfuelwithasingle500‐trillion‐wattlaserbeam‐‐morethan500timestheU.S.peakgeneratingpower.

Thisgiantshort‐livedlaserpulsecausesthefuelpellettocollapseanddetonate,producingamini‐starforafractionofasecond.

ToreadmoreabouttheBBCprogram,gotohttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7891787.stm

NewinsightintonatureofEarth'score

Priortomeltingandundersufficientshear,ametalflowslikeaBinghamplasticsuchashottar(centersection).

Atonepoint,themetalsinEarth'sinteriormayhavehadtheconsistencyofrawpizzadoughbeforetheysolidifiedtobecomethecore.

Livermoreresearchersrecentlydiscoveredanovelgooeytantalumstructurethatoccursbeforeitmeltsunderstressathighpressures.Theresearchsuggeststhatthesamefindingcouldapplytoothermetalssuchasiron,whichisfoundinEarth'sinterior.

Unlikepreviousresearchthatassumedsolidmetalsimmediatelyturnintoaliquiduponexposuretohighpressuresandtemperatures,ChristineWuandcolleaguesfoundinsteadthatthemetaltantalumunderwentaviscousplasticflowtransitionunderheatingandshear(thedeformationofamaterialinwhichparallelinternalsurfacesslidepastoneanother)beforeitmeltedintoaliquid.

"Therewasn'ttruemelting,"Wusaid."Itwasaviscousplasticflowmuchlikehottar.Ithadliquid‐likebehaviortoacertainextent,butthematerialflowedasagroupinsteadofasindividualatomsasaliquidwould."

Theresearchappearsinthejournal,NatureMaterials.Toreadmore,gotohttp://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v8/n3/full/nmat2375.html

LLNLscientistwritesarticleforJournalofUndergraduateResearch

DonCorrell

LLNLscientistDonCorrellwasaskedbytheDOE'sOfficeofWorkforceDevelopmentforTeachersandStudentstowritetheguesteditorialforthe2008JournalofUndergraduateResearch(JUR).InadditiontoCorrell'sguesteditorial"TheEducation‐ResearchContinuum,"the2008JURissuehasanintroductionbyformerDOEUndersecretaryforScienceRayOrbach.

Sinceitsinceptionin2001,theJURhasbeenpublishing'peerreviewed'papersbyundergraduatecollegestudentswhohavecompletedsummerinternshipsatthevariousDOEnationallabs.Toreadmoreaboutthejournal,gotohttp://www.scied.science.doe.gov/scied/JUR_v8/default.htm

LatestNewslineavailable

NewslineprovidesthelatestLabresearchandoperationsnews.Seethemostrecentissueathttps://newsline.llnl.gov/_rev02/index.php

Photooftheweek

Keepyoureyeonthebirdie:ANationalIgnitionFacilitytechnicianinspectsadamageinspectioninstrumentthatis

usedtoassesstheopticsinthetargetchamber.

LLNLismanagedbyLawrenceLivermoreNationalSecurity,LLC,fortheU.S.DepartmentofEnergy'sNationalNuclearSecurityAdministration.LLNLappliesandadvancesscienceandtechnologytohelpensurenationalsecurityandglobalstability.Throughmulti‐disciplinaryresearchanddevelopment,withparticularexpertiseinhigh‐energy‐densityphysics,laserscience,high‐performancecomputingandscience/engineeringatthenanometer/subpicosecondscale,LLNLinnovationsimprovesecurity,meetenergyandenvironmentalneedsandstrengthenU.S.economiccompetitiveness.TheLaboratoryalsopartnerswithotherresearchinstitutions,universitiesandindustrytobringthefullweightofthenation'sscienceandtechnologycommunitytobearonsolvingproblemsofnationalimportance.TosendinputtotheLivermoreLabReport,sende‐mailmailto:labreport@llnl.gov.TheLivermoreLabReportarchiveisavailableat:https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/lab_report/2009index.html