The hazards of wildfires are well known, but smoke is a more likely and prevalent threat this time of year. The Lab’s Facilities and Environmental Health and Safety divisions have made several changes to help mitigate the adverse effects before and during smoke events. Wildfire smoke is a complex mix of fine particulates, gases, and volatile organic compounds. Those fine inhalable particulates … [Read more...]
Volunteers Create Lab Vegetation Management Guide
Three years ago Nicholas Bartlett, a fire protection engineer with Security and Emergency Services, started looking at how Berkeley Lab managed vegetation as part of a larger wildfire management plan. Realizing that there was no comprehensive plan, he recruited 15 direct contributors and dozens of consulting partners from across the Lab to build the first Vegetation Management … [Read more...]
Complexity and Communication: The NERSC 9 Upgrade
In December 2020, the Projects and Infrastructure Modernization Division, Facilities Division, and Computing Sciences Area completed a multi-year project to increase power and capabilities for the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). The project’s goal was to add the latest NERSC supercomputer, known as Perlmutter after Berkeley Lab’s own Nobel-prize-winning astrophysicist … [Read more...]
135,000 Thank You’s
In December, Berkeley Lab’s community rallied together to raise over $135,000 for local food banks. That translates into 270,000 meals, or enough meals to feed a family of four for 61 years. One of the receiving agencies, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Counties, shared a video thank you for the entire Lab. Those funds arrived to agencies across the Bay Area that definitely needed them. … [Read more...]
Chemical Reduction Project Restricts Access to Some Lab Areas This Weekend
As part of the recent Chemical Reduction Project that identified no longer needed chemicals for disposal, the Lab Waste Management team will be working with a specialized vendor to treat the identified chemicals on site this weekend. After this step, the chemicals will be stored at the Lab’s permitted hazardous waste handling facility, with subsequent transportation offsite to an approved … [Read more...]