Capabilities

NCI has access to extensive capabilities and resources, many of them highly-specialized and unique to LLNL and our partner labs, to address diverse NDC needs.

Our most extensive R&D activities have been in the NDC of nuclear weapon materials, subassemblies and full assemblies for DOE as well as explosives and special nuclear materials (SNM) detection for U.S. Departments of Energy and Homeland Security. With this foundation, we have been able to apply advanced NDC techniques to many other scientific and technical fields from archaeology to medical research using our unique technologies, facilities and services.

The main technologies used in our NCI work are the following:

• X-ray radiography and tomography at energies from 0.008 to 9 MV, and length scales of nm to meters
• Ultrasonics testing and tomography
• Microwave interrogation
• Millimeter-wave and Terahertz imaging
• Eddy current
• Dye penetrant; magnetic particle
• Signal, image reconstruction and processing
• Automated defect and threat classification
• Modeling and simulation