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News Releases Sen. Udall tours LANL Recovery Act cleanup sites
Senator sees Recovery Act dollars at work
New Mexico Senator Tom Udall, right, gets his hands and boots scanned before leaving Material Disposal Area B. Photos by Patricia Leyba
September 8, 2010—New Mexico Senator Tom Udall toured Recovery Act cleanup sites at the Lab's Technical Area 21 on Tuesday.
Udall visited a control room at Material Disposal Area B, the Lab's first hazardous waste landfill, where excavation is being done inside metal enclosures. Operators in separate control rooms can monitor video cameras and readings from a number of sensors in each enclosure.
The senator then saw the remaining buildings to be demolished at the site on DP Mesa, south of the airport.
LANL received $212 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It's being used to excavate Material Disposal Area B, demolish 24 buildings at TA-21, and drill 16 new groundwater monitoring wells.
Earlier in the morning, Udall heard presentations on renewable energy from LANL scientists Jose Olivares (biofuels) and Stephen Obrey (solar thermal power).
Sen. Udall looks at infrared and video monitors in a control room at Material Disposal Area B.
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