Feature Articles

Permanent bunkers and high-security facilities are standard tools for protecting the nation’s most sensitive assets. But in many environments, these options are not available where secure storage is needed most. To meet that challenge, a team at Sandia National Laboratories has developed a mobile, high-security vault that can be rapidly deployed to safeguard critical materials in remote or temporary locations.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — “They say water is life, and that couldn’t be truer,” said Anne Francis, who has spent her life on the Navajo Nation, watching how water sustains the land, the crops and the herds of cattle on her family ranch.

But life on the Navajo Nation is hard.

The vast landscape is dotted with old-fashioned windmills, and many places are untouched by modern conveniences like electricity. Without the right infrastructure, getting water where it needs to go has been a struggle for generations.

A new technology, developed in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories and New Mexico State University, is transforming that struggle into a sustainable solution.