Mission
Stockpile stewardship
The Laboratory ensures the safety, reliability, and performance of the nation's nuclear stockpile through weapons physics and engineering. LANL is the design agency for four of the seven weapon systems in the nation’s on-alert nuclear deterrent and one system—the W93—that is in development.
Manufacturing
We fabricate nuclear and non-nuclear weapons components, including plutonium pits and detonators for the modern stockpile. We also develop explosives, polymers, targets for fusion experiments, weapons prototypes, and more.
Plutonium science
We are the nation’s home for cutting-edge plutonium research and development and home to PF-4, the only full-capability plutonium facility in the U.S.
Mission-focused science, technology and engineering
From dynamic imaging to neutron scattering to x-ray capabilities and beyond, people across the Los Alamos campus provide crucial research to support national security.
Nuclear threats research and safeguards
We have unique capabilities in nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear counterproliferation, and nuclear counterterrorism to prevent the unwanted spread and use of nuclear technology and materials.
High-performance computing and artificial intelligence
Our advanced computing capabilities enable us to model and simulate the safety, reliability, and performance of nuclear weapons and help certify their functionality in the absence of full-scale nuclear testing.
Why we do this work
For nearly 80 years, the United States has relied on nuclear deterrence—the threat of using nuclear weapons to discourage other nations from military aggression—to ensure global stability and prevent war.
For nuclear deterrence to work, the nuclear deterrent has to be credible. That's where Los Alamos National Laboratory comes in.
We support the design, production, and certification of current and future nuclear weapons in the U.S. nuclear stockpile. Los Alamos designed five of the seven weapons systems currently in the stockpile and, today, is responsible for the maintenance and modernization of four of those systems: the B61 family of gravity bombs, the W76 family of warheads, the W78 warhead, the W88 warhead, and is also the design agency for the W93.
We are guided by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense, Congress, and other institutions central to our mission.
About Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center with priorities set by the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE NNSA) and key national strategy guidance. We execute work across all of DOE’s missions: national security, science, energy, and environmental management. Scientific and engineering capabilities developed through LANL’s stockpile research are part of what makes DOE and NNSA a science, technology, and engineering powerhouse for the nation.
Contact Us
Public Affairs Office
- P.O. Box 1663
- Los Alamos, NM 87545
- 505-665-7000