News
News Releases Another section complete at Manhattan Project landfill
Engine block, 1943 calendar among excavated items
Clean soil is going in to completed pits at Material Disposal Area B.
February 3, 2011—With excavation complete, crews are placing clean soil in the second of seven sections of Material Disposal Area B along DP Road at TA-21.
Used from 1944-48, MDA-B was the Lab’s oldest waste disposal site and is being excavated inside sturdy metal enclosures. Work continues in five areas at the site.
Once the work is complete, about six acres of land will be made available for transfer to Los Alamos County.
In addition to 18,000 cubic yards of soil, debris, and waste excavated to date, crews have unearthed a number of interesting items—including a 1943 calendar, a license plate, glass soda bottles, and what's believed to be an "inline six-cylinder" engine block.
The work at MDA-B is a Recovery Act project, and is part of the Consent Order cleanup agreement with the state of New Mexico.
Fast Facts
People
11,127 total employees
Los Alamos National Security, LLC 8,683
SOC Los Alamos (Guard Force) 419
Contractors 606
Students 1,101
Place
Located 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 36 square miles of DOE-owned property.
More than 2,000 individual facilities, including 47 technical areas with 8 million square feet under roof.
Replacement value of $5.9 billion
Budget FY 2012: Approx. $2.2 billion
57% Weapons programs
9% Nonproliferation programs
7% Safeguards and Security
8% Environmental Management
4% DOE Office of Science
4% Energy and other programs
11% Work for Others
Workforce Demographics (LANS and students only)
34% of employees live in Los Alamos, the remainder commute from Santa Fe,
Española, Taos, and Albuquerque.
Average Age: 46
70% male, 30% female
43% minorities
63% university degrees
· 23% hold undergraduate degrees
· 16% hold graduate degrees
· 24% have earned a Ph.D.
Major Awards
121 R&D100 awards since 1978
31 E.O. Lawrence Awards
The Seaborg Medal
The Edward Teller Medal
The Nobel Prize in Physics, Frederick Reines