Nuclear Threat Reduction

Anticipate and Overcome

The threat posed by nuclear weapons is increasing and evolving as nuclear powers modernize and expand their capabilities, the global arms control landscape erodes, nuclear power expands due to increased demand, and emerging technologies accelerate, conceal and democratize weapon development activities.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) Nuclear Threat Reduction (NTR) Program partners with government agencies across the nonproliferation, counterterrorism and counterproliferation, nuclear forensics and incident-response missions to develop and deliver enduring science-based, intelligence-informed expertise and capabilities to anticipate and overcome nuclear threats world-wide.

Our work is enabled by integration with Global Security’s Intelligence (Z) Program and strong connections to the Laboratory’s Strategic Deterrence Directorate, core science and technology capabilities stewarded by the Physical & Life Sciences, Engineering and Computing Directorates and our operational partners.

Disrupting Nuclear Threat Pathways

We consider the nuclear threat in terms of a pathway that includes everything an adversary would need to do to develop a nuclear capability, and successfully conduct an attack ranging from motivation and planning to materials acquisition, nuclear device development and production to delivery and detonation.

Our NTR mission is composed of activities required to deter, deny, disrupt and delay an adversary at every point along this pathway up to and including consequence management. By integrating our work across the adversary pathway, we identify common cross-agency needs, coordinating and leveraging capabilities while serving as the “connective tissue” across the entire mission space.

Click on each step of the pathway to learn more

Nuclear Threat Reduction

Nuclear Threat Reduction

Nuclear Threat Reduction

Anticipate and Overcome

Disrupting Nuclear Threat Pathways

Read more about Nuclear Threat Reduction

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