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 | |
 Aerial view | |
| Established | 1943 (1943) |
|---|---|
| Budget | $4.9 billion[1] |
Field of research | |
| Director | Thomas Mason |
| Staff | 14,150[1] |
| Students | 1800[1] |
| Location | Los Alamos,New Mexico,United States 35°52′32″N106°19′27″W / 35.87556°N 106.32417°W /35.87556; -106.32417 |
| Affiliations | |
Operating agency | Triad National Security LLC |
| Website | https://www.lanl.gov/ |
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory | |
  | |
| Location | West Jemez Road and Diamond Drive,Los Alamos, New Mexico |
| Coordinates | 35°52′42″N106°19′7″W / 35.87833°N 106.31861°W /35.87833; -106.31861 |
| Area | 22,200 acres (9,000 ha)[3] |
| Built | 1943 (1943) |
| Architectural style | Bungalow/Craftsman,Modern Movement,Ranch |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000893[2] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHLD | December 21, 1965[4] |
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened asLos Alamos andLANL) is one of the sixteenresearch and developmentlaboratories of theUnited States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest ofSanta Fe, New Mexico, in theAmerican southwest. Best known for its central role in helping develop thefirst atomic bomb, LANL is one of the world's largest and most advanced scientific institutions.[5]
Los Alamos was established in 1943 asProject Y, atop-secret site for designingnuclear weapons under theManhattan Project duringWorld War II.[note 1] Chosen for its remote yet relatively accessible location, it served as the main hub for conducting and coordinating nuclear research,[6] bringing together some of the world's most famous scientists, among them numerousNobel Prize winners.[7][8] The town ofLos Alamos, directly north of the lab, grew extensively through this period.
After the war ended in 1945, Project Y's existence was made public, and it became known universally as Los Alamos. In 1952, the Atomic Energy Commission formed a second design lab under the direction of theUniversity of California, Berkeley, which became theLawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).[9] The two labs competed on a wide variety of bomb designs, but with the end of theCold War, have focused increasingly on civilian missions. Today, Los Alamos conducts multidisciplinary research in fields such asnational security,space exploration,nuclear fusion,renewable energy,[10]medicine,nanotechnology, andsupercomputing.
While owned by the federal government, LANL is privately managed and operated by Triad National Security,LLC.[7][11]
The laboratory was founded duringWorld War II as a secret, centralized facility to coordinate the scientific research of theManhattan Project, theAllied project to develop the firstnuclear weapons.[12] In September 1942, the difficulties encountered in conducting preliminary studies onnuclear weapons at universities scattered across the country indicated the need for a laboratory dedicated solely to that purpose.[citation needed]
GeneralLeslie Groves wanted a central laboratory at an isolated location for safety, and to keep the scientists away from the populace. It should be at least 200 miles from international boundaries and west of the Mississippi. MajorJohn Dudley suggestedOak City, Utah, orJemez Springs, New Mexico, but both were rejected. Jemez Springs was only a short distance from the current site. Project Y directorJ. Robert Oppenheimer had spent much time in his youth in the New Mexico area and suggested theLos Alamos Ranch School on themesa. Dudley had rejected the school as not meeting Groves' criteria, but as soon as Groves saw it he said in effect "This is the place".[13] Oppenheimer became the laboratory's first director; from 19 October 1942.
During the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos hosted thousands of employees, including manyNobel Prize-winning scientists. The location was a total secret. Its only mailing address was a post office box, number 1663, inSanta Fe, New Mexico. Eventually two other post office boxes were used, 180 and 1539, also in Santa Fe.[14] Though its contract with theUniversity of California was initially intended to be temporary,[citation needed] the relationship was maintained long after the war. Until theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,Japan, University of California presidentRobert Sproul did not know what the purpose of the laboratory was and thought it might be producing a "death ray".[15] The only member of the UC administration who knew its true purpose—indeed, the only one who knew its exact physical location—was the Secretary-Treasurer Robert Underhill (younger brother of Marine Corps generalJames Underhill and Army colonel Lewis Underhill), who was in charge of wartime contracts and liabilities. He first visited the site in mid-March 1943 and was informed of the project objective byErnest Lawrence in November 1943.[16][17]
The work of the laboratory culminated in several atomic devices, one of which was used in the firstnuclear test nearAlamogordo, New Mexico, codenamed "Trinity", on July 16, 1945. The other two were weapons, "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", which were used in the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Laboratory received theArmy-Navy "E" Award for Excellence in production on October 16, 1945.[citation needed]
After the war, Oppenheimer retired from the directorship, and it was taken over byNorris Bradbury, whose initial mission was to make the previously hand-assembled atomic bombs "G.I. proof" so that they could be mass-produced and used without the assistance of highly trained scientists. Other founding members of Los Alamos left the laboratory and became outspoken opponents to the further development of nuclear weapons.[citation needed]
The name officially changed to theLos Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) on January 1, 1947. By this time,Argonne had already been made the first National Laboratory the previous year. Los Alamos would not become a National Laboratory in name until 1981.[18]
In the years since the 1940s, Los Alamos was responsible for the development of thehydrogen bomb, and many other variants of nuclear weapons. In 1952,Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was founded to act as Los Alamos' "competitor", with the hope that two laboratories for the design of nuclear weapons would spur innovation. Los Alamos and Livermore served as the primary classified laboratories in the U.S. national laboratory system, designing all the country's nuclear arsenal. Additional work included basic scientific research,particle accelerator development, health physics, and fusion power research as part ofProject Sherwood. Many nuclear tests were undertaken in theMarshall Islands and at theNevada Test Site. During the late-1950s, a number of scientists includingDr. J. Robert "Bob" Beyster left Los Alamos to work forGeneral Atomics (GA) inSan Diego.[19]
Three major nuclear-related accidents have occurred at LANL.Criticality accidents occurred in August 1945 and May 1946, and a third accident occurred during an annual physical inventory in December 1958.[20]
Several buildings associated with the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos were declared aNational Historic Landmark in 1965.[4][21]
At the end of theCold War, both labs went through a process of intense scientific diversification in their research programs to adapt to the changing political conditions that no longer required as much research towards developing new nuclear weapons and has led the lab to increase research for "non-war" science and technology. Los Alamos' nuclear work is currently thought to relate primarily to computer simulations andstockpile stewardship. The development of theDual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility will allow complex simulations of nuclear tests to take place without full explosive yields.[citation needed]
The laboratory contributed to the early development of theflow cytometry technology. In the 1950s, researcher Mack Fulwyler developed a technique for sortingerythrocytes that combined the Coulter Principle ofCoulter counter technologies, which measures the presence of cells and their size, with ink jet technology, which produces a laminar flow of liquid that breaks up into separate, fine drops. In 1969, Los Alamos reported the first fluorescence detector apparatus, which accurately measured the number and size of ovarian cells and blood cells.[22]
As of 2017, other research performed at the lab included developing cheaper, cleaner biofuels and advancing scientific understanding around renewable energy.[23]
Non-nuclearnational security and defense development is also a priority at the lab. This includes preventing outbreaks of deadly diseases by improving detection tools and the monitoring the effectiveness of the United States'vaccine distribution infrastructure. Additional advancements include the ASPECT airplane that can detect bio threats from the sky.[24]
In 2008, development for a safer, more comfortable and accurate test forbreast cancer was ongoing by scientists Lianjie Huang and Kenneth M. Hanson and collaborators. The new technique, called ultrasound-computed tomography (ultrasound CT), uses sound waves to accurately detect small tumors that traditional mammography cannot.[25]
The lab has made intense efforts forhumanitarian causes through its scientific research in medicine. In 2010, three vaccines for theHuman Immunodeficiency Virus were being tested by lab scientistBette Korber and her team. "These vaccines might finally deal a lethal blow to theAIDS virus", says Chang-Shung Tung, leader of the Lab's Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group.[26]
The laboratory has attracted negative publicity from a number of events. In 1999, Los Alamos scientistWen Ho Lee was accused of 59 counts of mishandling classified information by downloading nuclear secrets—"weapons codes" used for computer simulations of nuclear weapons tests—to data tapes and removing them from the lab. After ten months in jail, Lee pleaded guilty to a single count of unauthorized possession of documents, but the other 58 were dismissed with an apology from U.S. District JudgeJames Parker for his incarceration.[27] Lee had been suspected for having shared U.S. nuclear secrets withChina, but investigators were never able to establish what Lee did with the downloaded data.[28]
In 2000, two computer hard drives containing classified data were announced to have gone missing from a secure area within the laboratory, but were later found behind a photocopier.[29]
Los Alamos National Laboratory's mission is to "solve national security challenges through simultaneous excellence".[30] The laboratory's strategic plan reflects U.S. priorities spanning nuclear security, intelligence, defense, emergency response, nonproliferation, counterterrorism,energy security, emerging threats, and environmental management. This strategy is aligned with priorities set by theDepartment of Energy (DOE), theNational Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and national strategy guidance documents, such as theNuclear Posture Review, theNational Security Strategy, and the Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future.
Los Alamos is the senior laboratory in theDOE system, and executes work in all areas of the DOE mission: national security, science, energy, and environmental management.[31] The laboratory also performs work for theDepartment of Defense (DoD),Intelligence Community (IC), andDepartment of Homeland Security (DHS), among others. The laboratory's multidisciplinary scientific capabilities and activities are organized into six Capability Pillars:[32]
Los Alamos operates three main user facilities:
As of 2017, the Los Alamos National Laboratory is using data andalgorithms to possibly protect public health by tracking the growth ofinfectious diseases. Digitalepidemiologists at the lab's Information Systems and Modeling group are using clinical surveillance data,Google search queries, census data,Wikipedia, and eventweets to create a system that could predict epidemics. The team is using data from Brazil as its model; Brazil was notably threatened by theZika virus as it prepared to host theSummer Olympics in 2016.[34]
Within LANL's 35-square-mile property are approximately 2,000 dumpsites which have contaminated the environment. It also contributed to thousands of dumpsites at 108 locations in 29 US states.[35]
Continuing efforts to make the laboratory more efficient led the Department of Energy to open its contract with the University of California to bids from other vendors in 2003. Though the university and the laboratory had difficult relations many times since their first World War II contract, this was the first time that the university ever had to compete for management of the laboratory. The University of California decided to create a private company with theBechtel Corporation,Washington Group International, and theBWX Technologies to bid on the contract to operate the laboratory. The UC/Bechtel led corporation—Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS)—was pitted against a team formed by theUniversity of Texas System partnered withLockheed-Martin. In December 2005, the Department of Energy announced that LANS had won the next seven-year contract to manage and operate the laboratory.[citation needed]
On June 1, 2006, the University of California ended its sixty years of direct involvement in operating Los Alamos National Laboratory, and management control of the laboratory was taken over byLos Alamos National Security, LLC with effect October 1, 2007. Approximately 95% of the former 10,000 plus UC employees at LANL were rehired by LANS to continue working at LANL. Other than UC appointing three members to the eleven member board of directors that oversees LANS, UC now has virtually no responsibility or direct involvement in LANL. UC policies and regulations that apply to UC campuses and its two national laboratories in California (Lawrence Berkeley andLawrence Livermore) no longer apply to LANL, and the LANL director no longer reports to the UC Regents or UC Office of the President.[citation needed]
On June 8, 2018, the NNSA announced that Triad National Security, LLC, a joint venture betweenBattelle Memorial Institute, the University of California, and Texas A&M University, would assume operation and management of LANL beginning November 1, 2018.[36]
In August 2011, the close placement of eight plutonium rods for a photo nearly led to a criticality incident. The photo shoot, which was directed by the laboratory's management, was one of several factors relating to unsafe management practices that led to the departure of 12 of the lab's 14 safety staff.[37] The criticality incident was one of several that led the Department of Energy to seek alternative bids to manage the laboratory after the 2018 expiration of the LANS contract.[38]
The lab was penalized with a $57 million reduction in its 2014 budget over the February 14, 2014, accident at theWaste Isolation Pilot Plant for which it was partly responsible.[39]
In August 2017, the improper storage of plutonium metal could have triggered acriticality accident, and subsequently staff failed to declare the failure as required by procedure.[38][40]
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With support of theNational Science Foundation, LANL operates one of the threeNational High Magnetic Field Laboratories in conjunction with and located at two other sitesFlorida State University inTallahassee, Florida, andUniversity of Florida inGainesville, Florida.
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a partner in theJoint Genome Institute (JGI) located inWalnut Creek, California. JGI was founded in 1997 to unite the expertise and resources ingenome mapping,DNA sequencing, technology development, andinformation sciences pioneered at the threegenome centers at University of California'sLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and LANL.
TheIntegrated Computing Network (ICN) is a multi-security level network at the LANL integrating large host supercomputers, a file server, a batch server, a printer and graphics output server and numerous other general purpose and specialized systems.IBM Roadrunner, which was part of this network, was the first supercomputer to hit petaflop speeds.[41]
Until 1999, The Los Alamos National Laboratory hosted thearXiv e-print archive.[42] The arXiv is currently operated and funded byCornell University.
Thecoreboot project was initially developed at LANL.[43]
In the recent years, the Laboratory has developed a major research program insystems biology modeling, known at LANL under the name q-bio.
Several serials are published by LANL:[44]
LANL also publishedLos Alamos Science from 1980 to 2005, as well as theNuclear Weapons Journal, which was replaced byNational Security Science after two issues in 2009.
In 2005, Congress held new hearings on lingering security issues at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico; documented problems continued to be ignored.[45][46]
In November 2008, a drum containing nuclear waste was ruptured due to a 'deflagration' according to aninspector general report of the Dept. of Energy, which due to lab mistakes, also occurred in 2014 at theWaste Isolation Pilot Plant nearCarlsbad, New Mexico with significant disruptions and costs across the industry.[47]
In 2009, 69 computers which did not contain classified information were lost.[48] The same year also saw a scare in which 1 kg (2.2 lb) of missing plutonium prompted aDepartment of Energy investigation into the laboratory. The investigation found that the "missing plutonium" was a result of miscalculation by LANL's statisticians and did not actually exist; but the investigation did lead to heavy criticism of the laboratory by the DOE for security flaws and weaknesses that the DOE claimed to have found.[49][50]
LANL is northern New Mexico's largest institution and the largest employer which had in 2025 approximately 13,200 direct employees, 330 guard force, 620 contractors, 1,800 students, 1,200 unionized craft workers, and 460 post-doctoral researchers.[51] Additionally, there are roughly 120 DOE employees stationed at the laboratory to provide federal oversight of LANL's work and operations. Approximately one-third of the laboratory's technical staff members arephysicists, one-quarter areengineers, one-sixth arechemists andmaterials scientists, and the remainder work inmathematics andcomputational science,biology,geoscience, and other disciplines. Professional scientists and students also come to Los Alamos as visitors to participate in scientific projects. The staff collaborates with universities and industry in both basic and applied research to develop resources for the future. The annual budget is approximatelyUS$4.9 billion.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite journal}}:Missing or empty|title= (help){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Los Alamos National Laboratory's mission is to solve national security challenges through simultaneous excellence.
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| Deputy Secretary of Energy |  | |
| Under Secretary of Energy for Infrastructure | Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, & Energy Response | |
| Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security | ||
| Under Secretary of Energy for Science and Innovation | ||
| Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Energy | ||
| Power Marketing Administration | ||
| National Laboratory System | ||
| Energy Department Facilities and Reservations | ||
| Related Independent Agency | ||
| People |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Military installations | ||
| See also | ||
