Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory



NARAC provides 24/7 scientific and technical subject matter expertise to federal, state, and local agencies. Scientific staff collect and quality-assure model input data and meteorological observations, conduct meteorological and dispersion simulations, estimate release amounts, refine simulations based on field measurement data, and assist in interpreting model results. During an event, NARAC staff work closely with field monitoring teams, emergency responders, operations centers, other national laboratory experts, and federal, state, and local government agencies engaged in the response.

NARAC scientists work in their operations center to assess the consequences of hazardous airborne releases.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) experts provide a variety of services including:

  • NARAC Scientific Support. Scientific analysts provide expert analyses of source terms, meteorology, dispersion and health effects for radiological, nuclear, chemical, and biological hazardous releases. Analysts in the center work closely with monitoring and response teams to refine model predictions based on measurement data and other information.
  • NARAC Customer Support. Customer support staff assists users with Web accounts, questions and technical information.
  • NARAC Training. Scientific analysts provide NARAC users with on-line, Web-cast, and hands-on classroom training at LLNL and other training facilities.
  • Drills and Exercises. Because emergency responders perform the way they practice, the center participates in regular exercises with supported sites, emergency response teams, and government agencies each year. The center provides exercise planning support, real-time predictions and analyses during exercise play, and contributes to after-action reports.
  • Planning and Preparedness Studies. LLNL experts provide detailed analyses and assessments of the impacts of atmospheric release scenarios to aid in the development of emergency plans for evacuation/sheltering of the public, worker protection, treatment of casualties, medical countermeasures to protect the public, and protection from crop/food contamination. NARAC's suite of building-, local-, regional-, continental- and global-scale computer modeling tools are used for these studies.
  • Real-world Responses. During an event, NARAC provides 24/7 predictions and analyses until the airborne releases ends, the hazardous areas are defined and mapped, and the long-term impacts are assessed. NARAC analysts use field measurement data and other information to develop estimates of the amount of material released and develop refined estimates of the impacts of the hazardous materials.