Los Alamos National Laboratory
Science Columns
Science Columns
NEWSROOM
Featured
- News Releases
- Press Highlights
- Picture of the Week
- Science Briefs
- Science Columns
- Trending@Los Alamos
Topical
Fast Facts
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
Click to larger view
As of Dec. 6, 2018
What happens when an explosive is detonated?
Scientists at Los Alamos combine computer simulations and innovative experiments that verify what the computers come up with, particularly the simulations of the short-lived chemical bonds formed during detonation.
-
Modeling a better burn to boost engine performance
Scientists at Los Alamos have developed a new software package known as FEARCE, short for Fast, Easy, Accurate and Robust Continuum Engineering.
-
Using sound to see through solid objects
At Los Alamos National Laboratory, a team of scientists have invented a technology that works somewhat like Superman’s X-ray vision.
-
America must invest in R and D, personnel for arms control verification
The Big Science model continues to drive innovation at our nation’s nuclear weapons laboratories where the country’s nuclear-detection expertise resides.
-
Catching hackers in the act
At Los Alamos National Laboratory, information is not only closely guarded, tools are being developed to help others detect and respond quickly to targeted attacks.
-
Build small nuclear reactors for battlefield power
A solution could be a new micro-nuclear reactor being developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Westinghouse power company.
-
LANL shoots for the moon in search for life on Europa
To help NASA with its interplanetary research, Los Alamos National Laboratory is designing a prototype instrument capable of withstanding the extreme conditions on Europa.
-
Are we ready for the future of warfare?
Protecting against biowarfare starts with understanding the movement of diseases through populations.
-
Why we need active experiments in space
Active space-based experiments began early in the space age, when little was known about the near-Earth environment, and focused on very fundamental aspects of the space environment and its interaction with spacecraft.
-
New approach to extracting fossil fuels has benefits
Recent research at Los Alamos has demonstrated that using CO2 for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) can be commercially viable under the recently revised 45Q tax regulation.
