Los Alamos National Laboratory

Possible Worker Exposures
Exposures to workers may include radiation, plutonium, beryllium, cesium, strontium, cobalt, chemicals and solvents. Like many other Department of Energy facilities, another issue at the site is that the amount of radiation workers were exposed to in the early history of the site was at times unclear.

Public Meeting on Worker Health and Benefits
A public meeting with Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels was held on March 18, 2000, in Española, New Mexico. A transcript from the meeting attended by about 475 is available at http://www.eh.doe.gov/benefits/meetings/meetings.html.

Important Telephone Numbers:
U.S. Department of Energy Workers' Compensation Helpline (toll-free): 888-447-9756

U.S. Department of Energy Benefits Web Site: http://www.eh.doe.gov/benefits

Site Background
The Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory was established in 1943 to design the world's first atomic bomb. The Laboratory's original mission has broadened and evolved from the primary task of designing nuclear weapons to include extensive research in energy, nuclear safeguards and security, biomedical science, computational science, environmental protection and cleanup, materials science and other basic research. The Los Alamos National Laboratory comprises about 43 square miles in New Mexico. Albuquerque, 60 miles south, and Santa Fe, 25 miles southeast, are the closest metropolitan areas. Several American Indian pueblos are adjacent to the laboratory.

Management and Operating Contractor: University of California
Number of current contractor employees: 10,000 (estimated)
Historical number of contractor employees: 38,000 (estimated)