LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
Dashboard
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Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is located in Los Alamos County in north central New Mexico (NM). LANL, founded in 1943 during World War II as Project Y, served as a secret facility for research and development of the first nuclear weapon. The site was chosen because the area provided controlled access, steep canyons for testing high explosives, and existing infrastructure. The Manhattan Project's research and development efforts that were previously spread throughout the nation became centralized at LANL.
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To support LANL, Los Alamos County adopted the following strategic goals as part of its overall Economic Vitality Strategic Plan:
Collaborate with LANL as the area’s #1 employer.
Support spinoff business opportunities from LANL.
Strengthen coordination and cooperation between County government, LANL, and regional and national partners.
Actively pursue land transfer opportunities.
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Mission: The RDC’s mission is to diversify the economy within the north central New Mexico region.
Contact: Scott Lopez, Founder/CEO -
Phone: (505) 399-9197; Email: scott@nmnuclearalliance.org
Regional Development Corporation
Mission: The RDC’s mission is to diversify the economy within the north central New Mexico region.
Contact: Val Alonzo, Executive Director – Phone: (505) 231-3550; Email: val@rdcnm.org
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Triad National Security, LLC – LANL Management and Operations
Triad is made up of Battelle Memorial Institute, The Texas A&M University System and the University of California.
Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos, LLC (N3B) – Legacy Cleanup
N3B is led by HII Nuclear and BWXT Technical Services Group (BWXT).
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Federal Government
State Government
Local Government
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Los Alamos National Laboratory Public Affairs Manager
Jennifer Talhelm - Phone: (505) 396-1575, Email: jtalhelm@lanl.gov
Los Alamos County Communications & Public Relations
Julie Williams-Hill - Phone: (505) 662-8083, Email: julie.williams@lacnm.us
Site Budget
| FY 2024 Enacted | FY 2025 Enacted | FY 2026 House Bill | FY 2026 Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| 292,479 | 304,479 | 278,288 | 280,937 |
(LANL Defense Environmental Cleanup and Los Alamos Excess Facilities D&D. Amounts in thousands of dollars. Click here for the latest site budget.)
Jessica Kunkle
Manager, Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office
Cleanup Issues
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Transuranic and Solid Waste Disposition
Hexavalent Chromium Campaign
RDX Characterization
Soil and Groundwater Remediation
Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning
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In March 2024, the Office of Environmental Management released a Strategic Vision for 2024-2034.
Planned Cleanup Scope 2024–2034
Over the coming decade, DOE will focus on addressing the groundwater contamination plumes, processing TRU waste stored aboveground, and retrieving belowground TRU waste for disposal. DOE will continue work to complete disposition of LANL TRU waste currently in storage at the Waste Control Specialists Inc. commercial disposal site in Texas.
Laboratory Missions
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Deterrence and Stockpile Stewardship
Los Alamos is the design agency for four systems in the stockpile, including:
B61 gravity bomb, deployed to a variety of strategic and tactical aircraft
W78, carried by U.S. Air Force’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles
W76 and W88, carried by U.S. Navy’s Trident missile submarines
Protecting Against Nuclear Threats
The Laboratory exercises its unique capabilities and expertise in nonproliferation, counterproliferation, and counterterrorism to prevent the unwanted dissemination and/or use of nuclear technology. In addition, Los Alamos National Laboratory maintains a highly specialized operational team that is trained and prepared for all phases of nuclear emergency response.
Emerging Threats and Opportunities
The Laboratory works in close collaboration with the Intelligence Community and the U.S. military to provide cutting-edge technology aimed to combat small-scale, intense conflict. An important focus of this effort is the discovery and identification of emerging, state-of-the-art technologies with the potential to increase our technological advantage and to provide the nation with an overwhelming strategic advantage over its adversaries.
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Energy Security Solutions
Los Alamos has three main areas of focus in energy security:
Safe and sustainable nuclear energy
Materials and concepts for clean energy
Mitigating impacts of global energy demand growth
LANL scientists and engineers have expertise and perform research in a range of energy areas:
Fuel cells
Hydrogen storage & production
Hydrogen safety codes and standards
Carbon sequestration
Unconventional fossil fuels
Carbon dioxide separation & capture
Superconductivity
Infrastructure analysis
Solid state lighting
Biofuels
Energy storage
Geothermal energy
Nuclear reactor design
Nuclear fuels development
Material behavior under irradiation
Nuclear waste management and disposal
Environmental impacts of energy systems
Nuclear Energy Projects
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In February 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced its plans to build a Versatile Test Reactor, or VTR. Once built, the research community will be able to leverage VTR’s high neutron flux to test nuclear materials 10 times faster than what is currently capable today.
VTR will:
Modernize DOE’s essential nuclear energy research and development infrastructure.
Accelerate the development of advanced nuclear fuels, materials, instrumentation, and sensors.
Reestablish the United States as a global leader in nuclear science and innovation.
Support the nation’s goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The VTR project is led by Idaho National Laboratory in partnership with five national laboratories (Argonne, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Savannah River) and includes a host of industry and university partners.
Manhattan Project National Historical Park
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In Los Alamos, New Mexico, Manhattan Project administrators found an ideal location for the secret laboratory where they designed and built the world’s first atomic weapons. During the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos became the home to many of the top scientific minds of the day: Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, Norris Bradbury, Richard Feynman, Hans Bethe, and many more luminaries. These scientists worked together to develop the theoretical and experimental tests that created the first atomic weapons, using enriched uranium from Oak Ridge and plutonium from Hanford. Today, the nucleus of this once-secret city is still Los Alamos National Laboratory, though you’ll find plenty of historic and cultural resources to explore as well.
Photo courtesy of Energy.gov
Updated August 2022.
Information in this profile is sourced from DOE, NNSA, and the site’s online resources.