Laboratory issues statement on Los Alamos Historical Document Retrieval and Assessment report

Los Alamos, New Mexico, June 25, 2009—Los Alamos National Laboratory today provided the following statement about the Draft Final Report of the Los Alamos Historical Document Retrieval and Assessment (LAHDRA) Project.

“This is an important document, and we take it seriously. We’re in the process of carefully reviewing the draft final report and will submit a technical response during the 30-day comment period.  We will also request an independent peer review by the National Academy of Sciences.

“We’ve learned a lot in the last 60 years. While we acknowledge that there were releases in the past, we have done extensive work to identify contaminated areas and are making solid progress toward cleaning up these Manhattan Project and Cold War sites.

“We’ve dramatically improved pollution prevention practices in our ongoing activities. Today, our air, soil, water, and wildlife sampling programs conduct more than 200,000 analyses each year, and our regulators and oversight are very strong. We’re now one of the most extensively monitored sites in the world.”

Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.