LLNL Building 132 - Defense Program Research Facility and Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and International Security

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Building 132 provides office and laboratory space for a range of activities including the Directorate Offices for Chemistry and Materials Sciences; laboratories in the Analytical and Nuclear Chemistry Division and the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Division; and Nonproliferation Arms Control and International Security Directorate Forensic Sciences Center offices and laboratories. The facility consists of the Defense Program Research Facility (132N) and the Nuclear Test Technology Complex (132S).

Radiological activities have been limited and included operations associated with the use of X-ray generators, electron beam generators, laser equipment, and sealed radioactive sources.

Building 132N, the Defense Program Research Facility, comprises approximately 204,559 gross square feet of offices, laboratories, and storage facilities. A number of programs and research activities are underway in the Building 132N laboratories including, but not limited to, general wet chemistry/synthesis, radiochemistry, analytical chemistry, surface science, biological analysis, nanoscale synthesis and characterization, and research with small quantities of energetic materials. The facility also houses the Forensic Science Center, which provides a comprehensive range of analytical expertise on issues related to nonproliferation, counter-terrorism, and domestic law enforcement. There is also a high bay area with common industrial hazards and a machine shop.

The Building 132S Complex comprises Buildings 132S, 134, and 135. This 168,715-gross-square-foot complex provides laboratory, office, shop, and storage facilities. Primary activities are biomedical technological research using laser technology and computer simulations, proliferation-detection technology systems, missile and nuclear technology, and mechanical and electronic fabrication shops.

Operations in the Building 132S Complex include laser experiments, sensor development, spectroscopy, gamma ray imaging, medical physics/biophysics, materials research, distillation
and concentration of hydrogen peroxide/satellite fueling, and optical wave guide materials research.

Medical physics/biophysics research encompasses the development of advanced biosensors for counter-terrorism applications, participation in LLNL’s pathomics project for developing new methods of infectious disease detection, development of advanced biomaterials and shaped memory polymers for use in medical devices, work on artificial organs, and creation of advanced imaging methods for applications in medicine and defense. It is anticipated that BioSafety Level 2 (BSL-2) controls, as specified in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention BioSafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories guidelines, would be implemented at a future date.