News
News Releases Lab seeks permit to continue detonating high-explosive waste
An open detonation permit allows LANL to dispose of high-explosive wastes from missions such as its homemade explosives school, pictured here.
May 17, 2011—Lab officials will host a public meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday (May 18) in White Rock to discuss LANL’s application to continue safely detonating high-explosive (HE) wastes.
The meeting will be held at the White Rock Town Hall at the corner of Longview and Rover.
Attendees will learn why the Lab believes the continuation of open detonation is the safest alternative to treat high-explosive wastes—including pieces of HE that have been subjected to stress testing, leftovers from improvised explosive formulations, or aging inventory.
The permit will also describe how the Lab plans to limit environmental impacts and reduce noise.
How you can participate
All citizens have the right to submit comments during the New Mexico Environment Department’s comment period, which is expected to run from June 29 through September 27 of this year. However, comments from Lab employees should be submitted as private citizens and from nongovernment computers.
Official public hearing dates and locations will be announced.
An application to continue open burning of HE waste (as opposed to open detonation) was denied last fall, and then opened for reconsideration in December via a separate application process.
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