The Nuclear Science Division, a part of the Physical Sciences Area at Berkeley Lab, conducts basic research aimed at understanding the structure and interactions of nuclei and the forces of nature as manifested in nuclear matter – topics that align the Division with the national program as elucidated in the 2015 U.S. Nuclear Science Long Range Plan.
The Division has major programs in low energy nuclear science, including nuclear structure physics, studies of the heaviest elements, exotic nuclei and light radioactive beams, weak interactions, and nuclear reactions; relativistic heavy ion physics; nuclear theory; nuclear astrophysics and neutrino properties; data evaluation; and advanced instrumentation. The Division also operates the 88-Inch Cyclotron. The 88-Inch Cyclotron is the home of the Berkeley Accelerator Space Effects Facility (BASEF) and supports a local research program in nuclear science. The Nuclear Science Division continues to exploit new opportunities to enable cutting edge science and provides for science education of the general public and students at all levels.
Recent News
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NSD’s Alan Poon announced as one of this year’s AAAS Fellows
Alan Poon is among five Berkeley Lab researchers elected into the 2023 class of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Joining him in this honor, also from Physical Sciences, is Michael Levi of the Physics Division.
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Berkeley Lab’s Engineering and Nuclear Science Divisions host ‘High School STEM Day’ activities on March 20
Berkeley Lab’s Engineering and Nuclear Science Divisions hosted tours and activities for visiting high school students as part of ‘High School STEM Day, a monthly program offered by Berkeley Lab’s K-12 STEM Education and Outreach Program and the WSEC.
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Collaboration Fuels High-Speed, Data-Intensive Research to Understand How Nuclei Decay
A technical evaluation using data from a recent scientific-user experiment demonstrated how ESnet enables researchers at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) – led by Heather Crawford, a staff scientist in the Nuclear Science Division – to send large amounts of data across the country, analyze it in near real-time, and return results, enabling…