Over spring break, cadets from the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering and our Excel Scholars Program toured Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Defense Nuclear Weapons School Museum, along with LTC Peter Nelson, Director of our Nuclear Engineering Course, and Mr. Michael Tobin, the Class of ‘67 Endowed Chair in the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering.

Cadets interacted with each lab’s experts to better understand how our Nation maintains its stockpile without nuclear testing under the US Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship Program. The experience helped cadets connect the classroom theme of Mr. Tobin’s and LTC Nelson’s special topics course this semester with real-world application.

“Coming into this trip, I did not understand the mission of the national labs,” Cadet Haylee Ward, ‘25 said. “It was great being able to see the technology that helps shape our Nation’s efforts of deterrence.” Read more.