Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Total employees: 11,956
Triad National Security, LLC: 8,327
Centerra Group, LLC Los Alamos (Guard Force): 298
Compa, Staff and support contractors: 513
Students: 1,368
Unionized craft workers: 1,050
Post doctoral researchers: 400
Located 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 34.7 square miles of DOE-owned property.
1,280 individual facilities, including 47 technical areas with 9 million square feet under roof.
Replacement value of $14.2 billion
FY17:
63% Weapons programs
10% Nonproliferation programs
4% Safeguards and Security
7% Environmental Management
4% DOE Office of Science
3% Energy and other programs
9% Work for Others
Triad and students only
37% of employees live in Los Alamos, the remainder commute from Santa Fe, Española, Taos and Albuquerque.
Average Age: 43.5
64% male, 36% female
44% minorities
64% university degrees
27% hold undergraduate degrees
19% hold master’s degrees
18% have earned a PhD
145 R&D100 awards
34 E.O. Lawrence Awards
9 Presidential Early Career Awards
3 Glenn Seaborg Medals
Edward Teller Medal
Nobel Prize in Physics, Frederick Reines
Albuquerque to Los Alamos, NM
98 miles; 1 hr, 51 min.
Driving directions
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As of Dec. 6, 2018
Expedition drifts in the Arctic ice to study climate
The Los Alamos team supports the Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement user facility, which provides the research community with observations of Earth’s atmosphere
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Carbon capture: Solved by software?
The approach of burying CO2 emissions deep underground has struggled to be economically viable, but that could be changing
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Unraveling the mysteries of the tiniest living things
The Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research has provided $10 million to establish a National Microbiome Data Collaborative
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Precise proton beam takes aim at cancer
Using new technology, oncologists create images of tumors during treatment, enabling greater precision without harming healthy tissue
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LANL protects milkweed to preserve monarchs
A Los Alamos team has been documenting the cycles and seasons of monarch butterflies and the location of milkweed on Laboratory property
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At LANL, breaking down data to address global problems
The ability to collect information far outpaces the ability to fully utilize it—yet that information may hold the key to solving some of the biggest global challenges facing the world today.
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Making a material difference
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Sigma Complex apply fundamental science and research to take this advanced manufacturing to an even higher level
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Beetles and piñons shed light on world’s ecology
Researchers are now including beetle population dynamics in Earth-system models alongside water cycles, temperature fluctuations, vegetation dynamics and other global and local factors
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A missing link in predicting hurricane damage
Eroding coastlines play a significant role in how infrastructure will be affected—but a new computer model now factors them in
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Fighting wildfires with computer models
Prescribed burns can remove excess fuel from the forest floor, and algorithms can help fire crews know where to set them
