PNNL delivers leadership and advancements in science, national security, energy, and the environment for the benefit of the nation. Our Leadership Positions help us distinguish ourselves as a world-leading provider of science and technology. Of those Leadership Positions, NSD is the steward of signature discovery and exploitation for threat detection and reduction.
Five leadership targets help us define how we will advance high-impact solutions within the areas of signature discovery and threat reduction in an effort to prevent and counter acts of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These leadership targets are directly supported by the Signature Discovery Initiative investment.
- Disruption of Illicit Nuclear Trafficking, includes denying, deterring, detecting and responding to all nuclear threats and precursors across a global architecture to protect the nation from a nuclear or radiological attack.
Lead Contact : Randy Hansen. - Quantify Nuclear Facility Production, also known as "nuclear archeology," is the study of nuclear facilities and fissile materials to determine historical information, and past operating history or capability in order to independently confirm a facility operator's declaration.
Lead Contact : Larry Casazza. - Detect Undeclared WMD Material Production and Testing to enable persistent, multi-domain environmental sampling and analysis for remote detection, on-site inspection, and evasive testing of biological, chemical &nuclear threats with the overarching goal to inform US policy by revealing undeclared WMD production & testing.
Lead Contact : Chris Aardahl. - Neutralize National Security Threats through the development of analytical tools that provide deeper analytical insights at dramatically faster speeds for counterterrorism missions. One tool in our arsenal to neutralize terror threats is information analysis. Analysis is performed by multiple government agencies for purposes that include security, law enforcement, and intelligence. These analyses can range from operational to strategic.
Lead Contact : Rich Quadrel. - Resilient Cyber Infrastructure with Asymmetric Advantage is the ability of a cyber network (system) to remain operationally effective when under cyber attack and making it significantly difficult for an adversary to exploit the system if entry is gained. In addition, attacks through cyberspace are met with tactical, operational, and strategic effects that benefit the defender.
Lead Contact : Deb Gracio.