Anonymous said: It is over! people!
Face the truth
Monday, March 30, 2009
World's largest laser now ready for use
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
WASHINGTON (AP) — After more than a decade of work and $3.5 billion, engineers have completed the world's most powerful laser, capable of simulating the energy force of a hydrogen bomb and the sun itself.
The Energy Department will announce Tuesday that it has officially certified the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, clearing the way for a series of experiments over the next year. Scientists hope the experiments eventually will mimic the heat and pressure found at the center of the sun.
The facility, the size of a football field, consists of 192 separate laser beams, each traveling 1,000 feet in a one-thousandth of a second to converge simultaneously on a target the size of a pencil eraser.
While the NIF laser is expected to be used for a wide range of high-energy and high-density physics experiments, its primary purpose is to help government physicists ensure the reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons as they become older.
The laser "will be a cornerstone" of the weapons stewardship program "ensuring the continuing reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile without underground nuclear testing," Thomas D'Agostino, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said in an interview Monday.
The NNSA, a semi-independent arm of the Energy Department, oversees nuclear weapons programs.
The NIF laser was first proposed in the early 1990s, when the project's cost was put at $700 million. Construction began in 1997. Its early years were marked by setbacks including trouble — eventually overcome — in keeping its critical optics perfectly clean.
NIF now is expected to ramp up power gradually in a series of experiments over the next year, culminating at a power level in 2010 to achieve what scientists call "fusion ignition" — enough heat and pressure to fuse hydrogen atoms in a tiny cylindrical "target" so that more energy is released than is generated by the laser beams themselves.
That is what happens when a hydrogen bomb explodes and what takes place at the center of the sun. It's also what scientists would one day like to achieve on a continuing basis to produce a clean, safe form of energy by fusing atoms instead of splitting them.
Edward Moses, director of the NIF project who has led its development since 1999, said he's ever more confident that NIF will be able to achieve fusion ignition.
"It's now operational," said Moses in a telephone interview. "The lasers are there. The targets are there and we've proven the optics. But now the proof is in the shooting. We've got to put all this together and shoot the targets. It's the first time anyone has ever done experiments at this scale."
NIF's 192 laser beams produce 60 to 70 times more energy than a 60-beam system at the University of Rochester, which is the second most powerful laser, said Moses.
In addition to helping diagnose the functioning of nuclear warheads, the NIF laser is expected to be use in astrophysics, allowing scientists to mimic conditions inside planets and new solar systems.
Moses said he sees NIF as key in the move toward developing a fusion energy source.
"What we want to show is scientific proof of the principle of fusion energy," said Moses, predicting some experiments for a short time may produce 50 to 100 times more energy than the lasers themselves generate.
On the Net:
* NIF Project at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: Project NIF
WASHINGTON (AP) — After more than a decade of work and $3.5 billion, engineers have completed the world's most powerful laser, capable of simulating the energy force of a hydrogen bomb and the sun itself.
The Energy Department will announce Tuesday that it has officially certified the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, clearing the way for a series of experiments over the next year. Scientists hope the experiments eventually will mimic the heat and pressure found at the center of the sun.
The facility, the size of a football field, consists of 192 separate laser beams, each traveling 1,000 feet in a one-thousandth of a second to converge simultaneously on a target the size of a pencil eraser.
While the NIF laser is expected to be used for a wide range of high-energy and high-density physics experiments, its primary purpose is to help government physicists ensure the reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons as they become older.
The laser "will be a cornerstone" of the weapons stewardship program "ensuring the continuing reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile without underground nuclear testing," Thomas D'Agostino, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said in an interview Monday.
The NNSA, a semi-independent arm of the Energy Department, oversees nuclear weapons programs.
The NIF laser was first proposed in the early 1990s, when the project's cost was put at $700 million. Construction began in 1997. Its early years were marked by setbacks including trouble — eventually overcome — in keeping its critical optics perfectly clean.
NIF now is expected to ramp up power gradually in a series of experiments over the next year, culminating at a power level in 2010 to achieve what scientists call "fusion ignition" — enough heat and pressure to fuse hydrogen atoms in a tiny cylindrical "target" so that more energy is released than is generated by the laser beams themselves.
That is what happens when a hydrogen bomb explodes and what takes place at the center of the sun. It's also what scientists would one day like to achieve on a continuing basis to produce a clean, safe form of energy by fusing atoms instead of splitting them.
Edward Moses, director of the NIF project who has led its development since 1999, said he's ever more confident that NIF will be able to achieve fusion ignition.
"It's now operational," said Moses in a telephone interview. "The lasers are there. The targets are there and we've proven the optics. But now the proof is in the shooting. We've got to put all this together and shoot the targets. It's the first time anyone has ever done experiments at this scale."
NIF's 192 laser beams produce 60 to 70 times more energy than a 60-beam system at the University of Rochester, which is the second most powerful laser, said Moses.
In addition to helping diagnose the functioning of nuclear warheads, the NIF laser is expected to be use in astrophysics, allowing scientists to mimic conditions inside planets and new solar systems.
Moses said he sees NIF as key in the move toward developing a fusion energy source.
"What we want to show is scientific proof of the principle of fusion energy," said Moses, predicting some experiments for a short time may produce 50 to 100 times more energy than the lasers themselves generate.
On the Net:
* NIF Project at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: Project NIF
Sunday, March 29, 2009
GM, When will bloated management be reduced?
We have an enormous management burden at the lab. 2600 or so non-management employees and contractors were laid off, but the numbers show very few managers were laid off. The management size relative to workers has increased dramatically. The costs and budget shortfalls at this point are NOT a function of us bringing in less money. We can solve the shortfalls, even probably have a surplus, by eliminating this huge costly management burden. Given the size of the RIF, management should have been reduced about 40-50%. Instead, we have a relative 40% increase. The budget gimmicks of shifting costs around avoid this fundamental problem. We are all sinking because of the apparent willingness to fire the people who work on projects, but managers are protected no matter the cost. Well, those costs are now here to roost. One manager laid off, given their gross overpayment, saves 2-3 people working on projects. If managers are pushed out of management into the working ranks, their pay must be reduced accordingly. I am hearing of some managers being pushed into non-management positions but they are keeping their high pay. Worse, the efforts to recruit key people to work on technical projects is not working. People inside and out of the lab can see these problems, yet our management is either clueless, or ineffective in dealing with these problems. Myself and others working on projects are looking to leave the lab (as many others have done) because it has become clear that the management is most concerned with protecting management, protecting their pay, their positions, even if it means firing and humiliating scores of people working on projects. Why are you not generating the overhead to pay the management? Duh, lay off the people that do the work and produce the overhead, while expanding the size of management. The people working on projects almost universally have noted you will not get rid of managers, even if incompetent. Hopefully you won't sink the entire lab just so that you can pad your pockets for a little while longer. And please, don't lay off a competent person working on a project so you can replace them with an incompetent, technically inferior manager, just so you can preserve one of your own. It is time to cut these folks.
March 28, 2009 2:18 PM
March 28, 2009 2:18 PM
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tauscher Signals Leftward Shift on Arms Control
Anonymously contributed:
(Moved here from the NIF topic):
What do people think about the news that Congresswoman Tauscher is heading to the State Department?
Tauscher Signals Leftward Shift on Arms Control
washingtonindependent.com/
34879/tauscher-signals-
leftward-shift-on-arms-control
(Moved here from the NIF topic):
What do people think about the news that Congresswoman Tauscher is heading to the State Department?
Tauscher Signals Leftward Shift on Arms Control
washingtonindependent.com/
34879/tauscher-signals-
leftward-shift-on-arms-control
Nuclear Security Official Hints at Leaner, Less Costly Weapons Complex
Nuclear Security Official Hints at Leaner, Less Costly Weapons Complex
By Walter Pincus
Tuesday, March 24, 2009; A11
The best status report on the U.S. nuclear weapons program and its future was delivered last Tuesday at a session of the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development, where the head of the program declared, "We must stop pouring money into an old, Cold War complex that is too big and too expensive."
The speaker was Thomas P. D'Agostino, who heads the National Nuclear Security Administration, which runs the nuclear weapons complex and is a carryover from the Bush administration. As he had done before, D'Agostino pressed Congress to fund "urgent" change, while acknowledging that President Obama will favor a reduction in the nuclear weapons stockpile.
For example, he noted that over the past two years, the projection of the number of new plutonium triggers that will be needed to keep the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile reliable and secure has steadily dropped from 450 a year to 20.
The Rest of the Story
By Walter Pincus
Tuesday, March 24, 2009; A11
The best status report on the U.S. nuclear weapons program and its future was delivered last Tuesday at a session of the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development, where the head of the program declared, "We must stop pouring money into an old, Cold War complex that is too big and too expensive."
The speaker was Thomas P. D'Agostino, who heads the National Nuclear Security Administration, which runs the nuclear weapons complex and is a carryover from the Bush administration. As he had done before, D'Agostino pressed Congress to fund "urgent" change, while acknowledging that President Obama will favor a reduction in the nuclear weapons stockpile.
For example, he noted that over the past two years, the projection of the number of new plutonium triggers that will be needed to keep the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile reliable and secure has steadily dropped from 450 a year to 20.
The Rest of the Story
Sunday, March 22, 2009
NIF Rumors
Anonymous said...
How come no one is talking about Ed Moses getting kicked out of Forrestal recently?
March 20, 2009 7:17 PM
Blogger Neko said...
Do you have any proof?
March 20, 2009 8:23 PM
Anonymous said...
What would constitute proof?
Start asking around; you should be able to collect enough to substantiate the allegation.
Perhaps Ed was foaming at the mouth when he understood the NIF (and TSF) hits coming in 2010.
March 21, 2009 4:20 PM
Anonymous said...
What is Forrestal?
March 21, 2009 6:23 PM
Anonymous said...
Perhaps Ed was foaming at the mouth when he understood the NIF (and TSF) hits coming in 2010.
I hope this doesn't mean he'll have less money to run the place then he does now because I'll tell you they have not allocated enough to even do required maintenance no longer if they have a mishap or have to replace vital parts. I'll bet they are under funded by at least a factor of four or more.
March 21, 2009 8:09 PM
How come no one is talking about Ed Moses getting kicked out of Forrestal recently?
March 20, 2009 7:17 PM
Blogger Neko said...
Do you have any proof?
March 20, 2009 8:23 PM
Anonymous said...
What would constitute proof?
Start asking around; you should be able to collect enough to substantiate the allegation.
Perhaps Ed was foaming at the mouth when he understood the NIF (and TSF) hits coming in 2010.
March 21, 2009 4:20 PM
Anonymous said...
What is Forrestal?
March 21, 2009 6:23 PM
Anonymous said...
Perhaps Ed was foaming at the mouth when he understood the NIF (and TSF) hits coming in 2010.
I hope this doesn't mean he'll have less money to run the place then he does now because I'll tell you they have not allocated enough to even do required maintenance no longer if they have a mishap or have to replace vital parts. I'll bet they are under funded by at least a factor of four or more.
March 21, 2009 8:09 PM
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