General Lab Information

National Security Program Office

Leveraging Brookhaven National Lab's unique expertise in support of national security

We believe in the power of science to secure the nation. Brookhaven Lab’s capabilities provide cutting edge innovation to meet future national security challenges. The BNL National Security Program Office (NSPO) curates a unique set of lab science and technology capabilities for national security sponsors and facilitates tailored solutions to meet specific mission needs.

Contact the National Security Program Office

NSPO@bnl.gov

Org Chart (PDF)

Space Systems Assurance

Space is a national security frontier. Brookhaven National Laboratory helps both government and industry build space-ready systems and understand, test, and mitigate risks to critical technologies operating in space.

Space Systems Development

Brookhaven Lab has expertise in designing, building, operating, and testing systems for space, enabling resilient, mission-ready systems that can deliver trusted performance in extreme environments. This includes space electronics assembly, systems integration, and next-gen sensors. More information.

Advanced Space Sensing & Imaging

Novel space sensor and detector instrumentation is needed to detect, characterize, and track difficult targets in space. Brookhaven scientists are advancing the state of the art in detector systems, photon counting, quantum entanglement, and remote sensing to serve these needs.

Space Instrumentation Deployment

Brookhaven Lab turns advanced tech into compact, low-power payloads suitable for CubeSats and other small satellite platforms. Real-world deployment of our sensor instrumentation is set for upcoming lunar and space missions.

Radiation Effects Testing

Brookhaven Lab is a global leader in radiation effects testing for space-hardened electronics and defense systems. The NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, hosted here, is the only facility capable of mimicking the deep space environment. It's open to non-NASA electronics testers. See more information on these capabilities and booking beamtime.

Nuclear Nonproliferation and Security

Nuclear and radiation expertise and capabilities provide a backbone for global nonproliferation efforts. Brookhaven experts detect and characterize nuclear materials, assess nuclear systems, and support nonproliferation and threat-reduction missions. More information.

Nuclear and Radiation Detection

Brookhaven Lab builds end-to-end capabilities for the development and deployment of nuclear and radiation detection technologies, including design and development of detection systems, modeling and simulation, test and evaluation, and data analytics and algorithms.

Safeguards and Verification

Brookhaven Lab provides technical and policy expertise essential for preserving the international nonproliferation regime. This spans novel technology development for safeguards to technical and training support for the IAEA.

Nuclear Materials Characterization

Brookhaven research reveals what nuclear materials are made of, how they were produced, and how they may perform over time. Its advanced characterization tools strengthen nuclear safeguards, forensics, and materials security..

Nuclear Data and Modeling

The National Nuclear Data Center, housed here, provides the authoritative source for nuclear data, turning radiation measurements into knowledge supporting nonproliferation and nuclear security missions.

Advanced Sensing, Characterization, and Prototyping

Brookhaven Lab brings together advanced sensing, quantum technologies, topnotch user facilities, and microelectronics expertise to develop, understand, and prototype technologies for the nation’s toughest security challenges.

Advanced Sensor Instrumentation

Brookhaven engineers create customized sensors for challenging environments, combining lab-based studies, field-based investigations, and correlation with data and imagery to establish ground truth for remote sensing needs. More information.

Materials Characterization

Two world-class Brookhaven user facilities—the Center for Functional Nanomaterials and the National Synchrotron Light Source II—provide capabilities and expertise to enable trusted electronics, supply chain resilience, and understanding of novel materials.

Quantum, Networking and Sensing

The promise of quantum for national security is growing with every breakthrough. Brookhaven is driving breakthroughs in long-distancequantum networking, new telescopes for quantum entanglement over free space, and advancements in quantum memories for secure communications.

Prototyping & Tech Translation

Brookhaven Lab offers a holistic set of capabilities that together turn early-stage concepts or measurements into actionable insights or prototypes. We can help you design, build, characterize, integrate, and test a solution, or turn data into knowledge through AI/ML models and digital twins.

Energy and Infrastructure Resilience

Today’s critical infrastructure faces diverse risks, from environmental changes and natural disasters to cyber threats. Brookhaven Lab has the expertise in energy science, grid and infrastructure modeling, cybersecurity, and environmental science to make critical systems more secure, resilient, and adaptable.

Grid Foundation Model

Brookhaven researchers are spearheadeding development of an AI foundation model for rapid simulation of grid dynamics and other infrastructure needs, which now counts over 150 partnering organizations. This model, developed by Brookhaven’s Grid AI Foundation Office, can support grid modeling for national security missions.

Cyber-Physical Infrastructure Security

Brookhaven Lab specializes in cyber-physical security for grid and other operational technology (OT) environments, combining real-time simulation, communications modeling, AI/ML, digital twins, and hardware-in-the-loop validation.

Environmental Infrastructure Risk

A changing Earth and new weather patterns present risks to America’s infrastructure. Brookhaven Lab brings atmospheric and environmental expertise to enable extreme weather modeling, infrastructure impact analysis, and field-ready systems.

Energy Storage and Security

Brookhaven's expertise and facilities are laying the groundwork for a secure and independent energy future for the nation. Brookhaven scientists are developing next-generation materials and energy storage designs, along with operational tools for enhanced grid planning.