Earth and environmental sciences annual report 1998

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) provides broad-based, integrated scientific and engineering capabilities to address some of the nation's top national security and environmental priorities. National security priorities are to ensure the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and to counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction; environmental priorities are to keep our environment healthy for the long term and to assess the consequences of environmental change. The Earth and Environmental Sciences (E&ES) Directorate at LLNL pursues applied and basic research across many disciplines to advance the technologies needed to address these national concerns. Our current work focuses on: Storage and ultimate disposition of U.S. spent reactor fuel and other nuclear materials; Assessment of the current global climate and simulation of future changes caused by humans or nature; Development of broadly applicable technologies for environmental remediation and risk reduction; Tools to support U.S. goals for verifying the international Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty; subcritical tests for stockpile stewardship; Real-time assessments of the health and environmental consequences of atmospheric releases of radioactive or other hazardous materials; and Basic science research that investigates fundamental physical and chemical properties of interest to these applied research programs. For each of these areas we present an overview in this report, followed by an article featuring one project in that area. Then we delineate E&ES's resources, including workforce, facilities, and funding. Finally, we list the publications by and the awards and patents received by E&ES personnel during 1998