CONTRACTOR:  Lockheed Martin Corporation

HISTORY:  Sandia was established in 1949 to perform the engineering development and ordnance responsibilities associated with nuclear weapons. The facility evolved into an engineering research and development laboratory by the early 1960s.

MISSIONS AND CAPABILITIES:Sandia's primary mission is to implement the nation's nuclear weapon policies through research, development, and testing related to nuclear weapons. This includes maintaining the reliability and surety of nuclear weapon systems, performing research and development in arms control and nonproliferation technologies, and contributing solutions to the problem of hazardous wastes resulting from the nuclear weapons program. Other DOE missions include research and development in energy and environmental programs, as well as the surety of critical national infrastructures.

The research foundations of Sandia's core competencies have been identified as:

• engineered processes and materials
• computational and information sciences
• microelectronics and photonics
• engineering sciences.

Sandia pursues strategic thrusts in:

• advanced manufacturing technology,
• electronics technology
• advanced information technology
• electronic systems technology pulsed power technology.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

• First to achieve computational speed of one trillion floating point operations per second (teraflop) (with Intel Corporation)
• Record 160 trillion watts x-ray output on inertial confinement fusion accelerator
• Secure Recode System permissive action link for nuclear bombs
• Flight qualification of Alt. 750 of the B83 strategic bomb
• Dismantlement process for the B61 gravity bomb
• Lightning arrestor connectors for improved weapon safety
• Design modification of Russian railcars for transporting nuclear weapons for dismantlement
• Nuclear detonation detection system payloads for two Global Positioning System satellites
• Prototype cooperative monitoring center for regional peacekeeping
• Real-time, airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar/Automated Target Recognition test bed
• Design of a supercritical water oxidation reactor to dispose of hazardous wastes
• Energy Intelligence Information System, to help analysts formulate responses to nuclear accidents
• MELCOR, a computer code for radiological risk assessment for severe nuclear power plant accidents
• Design of Solar Two, a 10-megawatt solar central receiver power plant
• High-performance silicon photovoltaic cell amenable to high-volume manufacturing
• Initial production of molybdenum-99 for domestic medical requirements
• Electron beam joining of refractory ceramics
• Scalable asynchronous-transfer-mode encryptor to protect the confidentiality of computerized data
• Micro-engine capable of hundreds of thousands of revolutions per minute
• Charge-induced voltage alteration technique for locating failures in integrated circuits
• Phosphate-based aluminum-oxide sealing glasses for hermetic aluminum electronic components
• Crystalline silicotitanate ion-exchange compound for separating radioactive cesium from wastes
• Low-temperature, low-pressure process to produce aerogels in bulk and thin-film form
• Optical instrumentation to noninvasively analyze cervical tissue for pre-cancerous conditions
• World record for electricity-to-light conversion efficiency in VCSEL (vertical cavity surface-emitting laser) microdevices

MAJOR USER FACILITIES:

• Combustion Research Facility
• Explosive Components Facility
• National Solar Thermal Test Facility
• Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center
• Electronics Quality/Reliability Center
• Ion Beam Materials Research Laboratory
• Design, Evaluation, and Test Technology Facility
• Electronic Technologies User Facility Manufacturing Technologies Center

CURRENT STATUS:

• In FY 1997, the total funding ($ Millions BA)=$1,352 and FTEs=7,676
• In FY 1998, the total funding (Projected)=$1,358 and FTEs=7,500

PRINCIPAL PROGRAM ACTIVITIES: