Vol. 73, No. 15, Aug. 13, 2021 Computers donated 4 The hybrid Back to school 8 workplace Mileposts 10 Page 6 Laura Price 11 With redesigned ‘brains,’ W88 nuclear warhead reaches milestone Completion of arming, fuzing and firing assembly precedes first full W88 Alt 370 By Michael Baker the first unit for the W88 Alt 370 arming, fuzing and firing, known as AF&F, assem- andia and its nuclear security enter- bly at the end of May, three days ahead of prise partners recently completed schedule. The first fully operable unit was S the first production unit of a weapon received the next day at the Pantex Plant assembly responsible for key operations of near Amarillo, Texas. That shipment was the W88 nuclear warhead. followed quickly by completion of the “The arming, fuzing and firing assem- system-level first production unit for the bly is the brains of the warhead,” said W88 Alt 370 at Pantex in early July. Dolores Sanchez, Sandia’s senior manager The W88 nuclear warhead entered the for its part of the W88 Alteration 370. stockpile in late 1988 and is deployed on “It looks for the correct code and the cor- the Navy’s Trident II submarine-launched rect environmental signals that will unlock ballistic missile system onboard Ohio-class FULLY TESTED — Sandia performed a drop test the system, and it also ensures that it’s an ballistic missile submarines. The weapon for the W88 Alt 370 program, designed to replicate a authorized flight. In short, it makes sure was beyond its original design life, and crane accidentally dropping the re-entry body onto a it always works when we want it to and several updates were required to address concrete surface. The test was conducted at Sandia’s never when we don’t.” aging issues and to maintain its current 185-foot Drop Tower Facility, using the same han- dling gear a crane would use to move the weapon. The Kansas City National Security state of readiness. The W88 Alt 370 to Photo courtesy of Sandia Campus completed production and shipped — CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Remote high-voltage sensor unveiled at Sandia gamma ray lab Tiny crystal safely measures powerful electric fields By Neal Singer ver since the first time a human placed a bare hand on an uninsulated electric line, people have refrained from per- E sonally testing energetic materials. Even meters made of metal sometimes can melt at high voltages. Now, using a crystal smaller than a dime and a laser smaller than a shoebox, a Sandia team has safely measured 20 million volts without physically contacting the electrical flow at all. By contrast, the current from a home electrical outlet generally is 120 volts. “No one had directly measured voltages this large anywhere ELECTRICAL EXPERT — Sandia researcher Israel Owens holds the op- in the world before our experiment,” said Sandia scientist Israel tical sensor used to house the crystal that proved central to his team’s suc- Owens of his team’s unique work, recently published in Nature’s cessful attempts to measure very high voltages. The two red spots on each side of the crystal are due to laser light reflecting off the side mirror used to Scientific Reports. direct light through the middle of the crystal. The actual experiments used — CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 green laser light. Photo by David Bret Latter SANDIA LAB NEWS | August 13, 2021 2 TABLE of CONTENTS 1 | With redesigned ‘brains,’ W88 nuclear warhead Managed by NTESS LLC for the National Nuclear Security Administration reaches milestone continued on page 4 Sandia National Laboratories 1 | Remote high-voltage sensor unveiled at Sandia Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-1468 gamma ray lab continued on page 9 Livermore, California 94550-0969 Tonopah, Nevada | Nevada National Security Site 2 | Sandia joins 16 national labs on transgender-inclusive, Amarillo, Texas | Carlsbad, New Mexico | Washington, D.C. Katherine Beherec, Editor [email protected] name-change process for papers Taylor Henry, Production 505-373-0775 Randy Montoya, Photographer 505-844-5605 4 | Nine high school seniors become STAR Fellows Paul Rhien, California Site Contact 925-294-6452 CONTRIBUTORS 5 | NM kids to benefit from Sandia’s computer donation program Michelle Fleming (milepost photos, 505-844-4902), Neal Singer (505-846-7078), Stephanie Holinka (505-284-9227), 6 | HR Focus: A brave new world Kristen Meub (505-845-7215), Michael Baker (505-284-1085), Troy Rummler (505-284-1056), Manette Fisher (505-844-1742), 8 | Gearing up for back to school Valerie Alba (505-284-7879), Luke Frank (505-844-2020), Michael Langley (925-294-1482), Meagan Brace (505-844-0499), Mollie Rappe (505-844-8220), Darrick Hurst (505-844-8009) 10 | Mileposts and Recent Retirees Jim Danneskiold, Manager ([email protected]) 11 | Women @ Energy features Laura Price Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell Interna- tional Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. LABNEWS Notes Published on alternate Fridays by Internal, Digital Lab News may contain photos shot prior to current COVID-19 policies. Individuals in photos followed all and Executive Communications, MS 1468 social distancing and masking guidelines that were in place when photos were taken. LAB NEWS ONLINE: sandia.gov/LabNews Sandia joins 16 national labs on transgender- inclusive, name-change process for papers Name changes allow researchers of all genders to own their academic work By Luke Frank Image by Jenny Nuss, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory andia joins 16 other DOE national more easily from all stages of their careers. name-change requests with each publisher laboratories and many prominent Specifically, the agreement addresses the of their past papers. Many publishers have S publishers, journals and other organi- administrative and emotional difficulties been independently updating their own zations in scientific publishing in announc- some transgender researchers have experi- policies to address an increasing number ing the beginning of a partnership to support enced when requesting name changes associ- of name-change requests. name-change requests from researchers on ated with past academic work. This partnership aims to streamline past published papers. Previously, individual research- these previously ad hoc processes and This agreement will allow researchers who ers shouldered the burden, adminis- offers an official validation mechanism wish to change their names to claim work tratively and emotionally, of initiating to all involved by enabling researchers SANDIA LAB NEWS | August 13, 2021 3 to ask their respective institutions to help PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS facilitate name changes with the publish- ers and journals. Publishing organizations National laboratories “Supporting transgender authors in • American Chemical Society • Ames National Laboratory changing their names on previous pub- • American Meteorological • Argonne National Laboratory lications is a tangible way of supporting Society • Brookhaven National Laboratory our transgender employees,” said Esther • American Nuclear Society • Fermi National Accelerator Facility Hernandez, Sandia’s chief diversity offi- • American Physical Society • Idaho National Laboratory cer. “It aligns perfectly with our inclu- • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory • American Society sion and diversity goal of ensuring that for Microbiology • Lawrence Livermore all our employees are respected, valued National Laboratory • arXiv and feel that they belong. Additionally, • Los Alamos National Laboratory • Clarivate it can minimize the risk of the author • National Energy Technology Laboratory appearing less experienced if they don’t • eLife • National Renewable Energy Laboratory get credit for all publications, which • Elsevier • Oak Ridge National Laboratory might impact job opportunities.” • Hindawi • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory For researchers of all genders, and • Royal Society of Chemistry • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory transgender researchers specifically, the • protocols.io • Sandia National Laboratories • Savannah River National Laboratory new process ensures they can rightfully • Science Journals – • SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory claim ownership of prior work without American Association • Thomas Jefferson National fear of reprisal under their lived name for the Advancement Accelerator Facility and be known in their respective fields of Science (AAAS) primarily through their merits as pub- • SAGE publishing Sandia will be developing a process to lished authors. • Scopus support name-change requests. In the near As several researchers have attested, • Springer Nature future, more information will be available by having their names updated on previous • Wiley contacting [email protected]. publications allows them to best represent their full suite of accomplishments. The ability to claim the volume of their work over time has significant implications for maintaining prominence in their area of research and for receiving credit for their academic impact. Sandia Labs has official social media accounts on several online communities to engage in conversations about our work, update followers about the latest Labs news, share opportunities, The partnership between all 17 national andSandia support Labs the has open official government social media principles accounts of transparency,on several online par ticipationcommunities and tocollaboration.