The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) officially approved Livermorium as the name for element 116 on May 30, 2012. The name Livermorium (atomic symbol Lv) was chosen to honor Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the City of Livermore.The IUPAC selected the name to recognize the contributions of the scientists in Livermore to heavy and super-heavy element research. Scientists at LLNL have been involved in heavy element research since the Laboratory’s inception in 1952.

Located in the bottom right corner of the periodic table of elements, Livermorium was created by bombarding curium targets with calcium at one-tenth the speed of light. Researchers from LLNL worked with scientists from Russia’s Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions on the synthesis of two new super-heavy elements, 114 (Flerovium) and 116 (Livermorium).

On October 24, 2012, an international naming ceremony was held at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. The ceremony was attended by Livermore Mayor John Marchand and a delegation from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where both element 114 Flerovium (Fl) and element 116 Livermorium (Lv) were formally recognized by the IUPAC.

Currently, there are only two cities in the United States with elements named after them, Berkeley with element 97 (Bk), and now Livermore!

View the LLNL press release on Livermorium and Flerovium, dated May 31, 2012.

On June 24, 2013 Mayor John Marchand dedicated Livermorium Plaza and announced Livermorium Day as May 30th. View a short video from this event.