Los Alamos National Laboratory

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said rebooting plutonium pit production is key to bringing nuclear power forward for energy and defense during the Donald Trump administration, according to Fox News Sunday. Plutonium pits, the bowling-ball shaped fissile core placed inside a thermonuclear weapon to trigger its explosion, were produced at the highest rate during the […]

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent letters to directors of Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and Argonne National Laboratories on reports of researchers leveraging supercomputers from the Chinese military. Lee, a proponent for examining vulnerabilities at national labs particularly concerning foreign nationals, published the letters Wednesday on the […]

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent letters to directors of Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and Argonne National Laboratories on reports of researchers leveraging supercomputers from the Chinese military. Lee, a proponent for examining vulnerabilities at national labs particularly concerning foreign nationals, published the letters Wednesday on the […]

In response to a recent environmental report, Santa Fe County commissioners reportedly plan to raise concerns about impacts of a potential expansion of the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory on regional resources. According to an article last week in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, the county commissioners are preparing to respond to […]

In response to a recent environmental report, Santa Fe County commissioners reportedly plan to raise concerns about impacts of a potential expansion of the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory on regional resources. According to an article last week in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, the county commissioners are preparing to respond to […]

In response to a recent environmental report, Santa Fe County commissioners reportedly plan to raise concerns about impacts of a potential expansion of the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory on regional resources. According to an article last week in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, the county commissioners are preparing to respond to […]

The government of Canada announced this week it is entering into a four-year contract worth up to C$304 million with AtkinsRéalis to support the development and modernization of a new, large-scale, natural uranium–fuelled Canadian deuterium uranium (CANDU) nuclear reactor. The contract with AtkinsRéalis is meant to finance half of the design project, according to the […]

The government of Canada announced this week it is entering into a four-year contract worth up to C$304 million with AtkinsRéalis to support the development and modernization of a new, large-scale, natural uranium–fuelled Canadian deuterium uranium (CANDU) nuclear reactor. The contract with AtkinsRéalis is meant to finance half of the design project, according to the […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Mobile Loading Source Recovery Team and Off-site Source Recovery Program completed their 100th shipment of recovered radioactive material in January, the lab announced last week. The two teams travel nationwide to recover potentially harmful radioactive material from devices found at hospitals, universities, and research facilities. The shipment of such material in […]

Two Department of Energy nuclear cleanup offices in New Mexico could be hard hit by the White House deferred-resignation program, according to a list viewed by Exchange Monitor. The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management field offices at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Carlsbad, N.M., office that oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant […]

The 97th Academy Awards ceremony was held last night in Los Angeles and while no nuclear power or nuclear weapon-themed movies were among the front runners for the 2025 Oscars, here are a few of the more memorable ones from past years. This list was curated by Exchange Monitor. Your list may vary. Oppenheimer is […]

Here are events related to nuclear matters that Exchange Monitor staff are tracking this week: 05: U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments: NRC V. Texas  23-1312) Interim Storage Partners LLC V. TEXAS. 9 a.m. Eastern Time in Washington, D.C.  05: Permit public meeting for Storm Water at Los Alamos National Laboratory starts at 4 p.m. Mountain […]

Two Department of Energy nuclear cleanup offices in New Mexico could be hard hit by the White House deferred-resignation program, according to a list viewed by Exchange Monitor. The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management field offices at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Carlsbad, N.M., office that oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant […]

The Huntington Ingalls-led Department of Energy contractor in charge of remediating legacy waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has finished excavating and cutting down to size corrugated metal pipes long buried at Technical Area 54. That is according to an update this week from Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) […]

The Huntington Ingalls-led Department of Energy contractor in charge of remediating legacy waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has finished excavating and cutting down to size corrugated metal pipes long buried at Technical Area 54. That is according to an update this week from Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos (N3B) […]

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the upper chamber’s top defense appropriator, said Thursday he will not seek reelection in 2026. McConnell will end his four-decade career after having served as the longest-tenured Senate leader in U.S. history, a role he stepped down from ahead of the current Congress and as he took over as […]

A representative from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Tuesday said government  urgency for plutonium pit production at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is “unnecessary” —and increases risk to workers. Dylan Spaulding, a senior scientist researching nuclear weapons production at the Union of Concerned Scientists, laid out his case […]

A representative from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Tuesday said government  urgency for plutonium pit production at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is “unnecessary” —and increases risk to workers. Dylan Spaulding, a senior scientist researching nuclear weapons production at the Union of Concerned Scientists, laid out his case […]

The area around the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio is under a winter weather advisory, while the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee is under a flood watch, according to the National Weather Service forecasts. Upwards of two inches of snow could fall around Piketon, Ohio on Tuesday and Tuesday night, according to the […]

Representatives from eight non-governmental organizations signed a letter Wednesday asking for a 45-day extension to provide “informed public comments” about Los Alamos National Laboratory’s site-wide environmental impact statement. “This extension is necessary to ensure the public and Tribes may thoroughly review and analyze the extensive and complex information contained in the draft document, which exceeds […]

Representatives from eight non-governmental organizations signed a letter Wednesday asking for a 45-day extension to provide “informed public comments” about Los Alamos National Laboratory’s site-wide environmental impact statement. “This extension is necessary to ensure the public and Tribes may thoroughly review and analyze the extensive and complex information contained in the draft document, which exceeds […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration and environmental plaintiffs settled a lawsuit that could put a pause on plutonium pit production efforts at Savannah River Site if approved. The agreement, made public Jan. 16, would leave Los Alamos National Laboratory as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) sole pit factory until an environmental impact statement is […]

Thom Mason, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said Tuesday that the lab cannot rely on wind and solar power for its capabilities or to power its supercomputers. “That was part of a pretty extensive analysis on how to get more power on site,” Mason said in response to a question about the Electric Power […]

Thom Mason, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said Tuesday that the lab cannot rely on wind and solar power for its capabilities or to power its supercomputers. “That was part of a pretty extensive analysis on how to get more power on site,” Mason said in response to a question about the Electric Power […]

President Donald Trump’s (R) return-to-office mandate for federal workers did not affect Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel, who already work mainly on site, the lab’s director said on a virtual town hall Tuesday. “Nobody’s making pits in their garage,” Thom Mason, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said on the zoom call. “Everything has to […]

Thom Mason, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said Tuesday that the lab cannot rely on wind and solar power for its capabilities or to power its supercomputers. “That was part of a pretty extensive analysis on how to get more power on site,” Mason said in response to a question about the Electric Power […]

President Donald Trump’s (R) return-to-office mandate for federal workers did not affect Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel, who already work mainly on site, the lab’s director said on a virtual town hall Tuesday. “Nobody’s making pits in their garage,” Thom Mason, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said on the zoom call. “Everything has to […]

A new report calls for continued pump-and-treat operations, better technology and more cooperation between feds and New Mexico officials to combat a chromium plume at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory. That is from the executive summary of the 980-page Independent Review by a panel of 15 experts into the DOE Interim Measures […]

A new report calls continued pump-and-treat operations, better technology and more cooperation between feds and New Mexico officials to combat a chromium plume at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory. That is from the executive summary of the 980-page Independent Review by a panel of 15 experts into the DOE Interim Measures used […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s plutonium facility had a fire start from a lightbulb’s melted plastic dripping onto glovebox parts in November, a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board report said. The fire went out before staff could discover it, and was small enough that the sprinklers did not activate, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican […]