From Our Blogs

For NNSA Graduate Fellow and UVA grad (Go Hoos!) Polly Keim, it was her university mentors that lead her to a nuclear security career and it’s her Defense Programs colleagues that inspire her to continue supporting NNSA’s mission.

A passion to address climate change led NNSA's Annelise Atkinson to a career in nuclear security. She now works to stop bad actors from using nuclear materials in improvised nuclear devices.

She helps NNSA work with the International Atomic Energy Agency and Interpol so that other countries can keep their nuclear materials secure. She also help develops tools and processes used in trainings and workshops for NNSA’s international partners

Nes Robinson's parents may have staged an intervention when they thought she was traveling too much for fun, but they didn’t know she was searching for the right career. Over 17 years later, her family and NNSA are proud she landed in Defense Programs.

Jessica Norles makes sure our partners keep track of how much nuclear material they have from the United States and get their promise to not use it for evil purposes.

Sarah Mustin knew she wanted to attend the U.S. Naval Academy since the 8th grade and she did thanks to her ability and determination. Characteristics which served her well in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, and now in NNSA's Defense Programs.

Alina Smyslova works to reduce the threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism around the world by helping our partner countries build their capability to detect and stop nuclear and radiological material from being smuggled.

From being part of the initial cohort of female officers serving onboard U.S. submarines to taking a plunge in the Antarctic Ocean; NNSA Defense Programs’ Erica Leinmiller is a cool person all around.

Abolade Adepiti works to keep NNSA's capabilities sharp so it can meet nonproliferation challenges.

Recently, an NNSA-affiliated team collaborated on a Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization-sponsored challenge to understand how emissions from civil nuclear facilities are received at detection stations.