Critical Experiment Programs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Support of the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nuclear Criticality Safety Program

Abstract

Much of the research performed at the Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility (LACEF) today is in direct support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP). A key component of this support includes performing high-priority critical and subcritical experiments and then analyzing and documenting those experiments as benchmarks for the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP). The current complement of five operational critical assemblies is described, and an overview of LACEF support for the DOE/NNSA NCSP and the ICSBEP is presented.