2005 Annual Report

As the cover of our ''2005 Annual Report'' highlights, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory joined the international science community in celebrating the World Year of Physics in 2005, with special events and science outreach and education programs. Einstein's remarkable discoveries in 1905 provided an opportunity to reflect on how physics has changed the world during the last century and on the promise of future beneficial discoveries. For half of the past century, Lawrence Livermore, which was established to meet an urgent national security need, has been contributing to the advancement of science and technology in a very special way. Co-founder Ernest O. Lawrence was the leading proponent in his generation of large-scale, multidisciplinary science and technology teams. That's Livermore's distinctive heritage and our continuing approach as a national laboratory managed and operated by the University of California for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA). We focus on important problems that affect our nation's security and seek breakthrough advances in science and technology to achieve mission goals. An event in 2005 exemplifies our focus on science and technology advances in support of mission goals. In October, distinguished visitors came to Livermore to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (now called the Advanced Simulation and Computing Program, or ASC). ASC was launched in 1995 by DOE/NNSA to achieve a million-fold increase in computing power in a decade. The goal was motivated by the need to simulate the three-dimensional performance of a nuclear weapon in sufficient resolution and with the appropriately detailed physics models included. This mission-driven goal is a key part of fulfilling Livermore's foremost responsibility to ensure that the nuclear weapons in the nation's smaller 21st-century stockpile remain safe, reliable, and secure