J. Robert Oppenheimer, the first director of what is now Los Alamos National Laboratory, wasn’t thinking about neighbors when he decided where to build the atomic bomb. In fact, Oppenheimer picked the remote and mountainous New Mexico location because of the absence of neighbors. Los Alamos was the secret city—unknown and isolated. Today, that has changed.
Located in northern New Mexico, Los Alamos benefits from the proximity of several noteworthy neighbors that provide partnership and support in achieving the Lab’s national security mission. The convenient locations of these colleagues facilitates collaboration in ways that Oppenheimer could have never anticipated when he chose the Pajarito Plateau as the place to set up shop.
National Nuclear Security Administration
Albuquerque, New Mexico is also home to one of the three main offices of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which also has a field office in Los Alamos. NNSA oversees the nation’s nuclear security enterprise—three national labs, three fabrication and materials production plants, one assembly and disassembly site, and one research and testing site—whose combined 50,000 employees and contractors are collectively responsible for the health of America’s nuclear weapons and related work.
The proximity of these offices streamlines collaboration and communication between Los Alamos National Laboratory and NNSA. “Communication is a piece of everything we do here,” says Ted Wyka, NNSA Los Alamos field office manager. “We’re all part of the same mission. We’re all part of the same nuclear security enterprise.”
Sandia National Laboratories
The United States has three national nuclear security laboratories, and two of them call New Mexico home. Sandia National Laboratories, in Albuquerque, is less than two hours away from Los Alamos and originated as a branch of Oppenheimer’s lab. Now, it’s a separate sister laboratory with additional sites in California, Hawaii, and Nevada. “Sandia’s role within the complex is unique,” says Jim Handrock, Sandia Weapons Systems Engineering director. “We have the design engineering responsibility for the nonnuclear components [of nuclear weapons] and also the key systems integration role to put all the individual parts [of the weapon] together to make sure that everything does what needs to be done to provide the full system to the military.”
Sandia’s Albuquerque location makes it convenient for Los Alamos scientists to conduct experiments there and vice versa. Los Alamos researchers make use of key Sandia facilities such as the Z Machine, the world’s largest high-current pulsed power machine, and the Annular Core Research Reactor, which is used to test objects in a mixed photon and neutron irradiation environment. Likewise, Sandia researchers head up the hill to Los Alamos to conduct experiments at the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) facility, which captures high-speed radiographs of implosion experiments, and the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), a linear accelerator that provides sources of neutrons and protons for scientific research.
Sandia and Los Alamos even share a facility—the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, or CINT. “We are one facility with two locations,” says Stacy Baker, CINT outreach coordinator. “One in Albuquerque and one in Los Alamos.”
Location is also a factor in allowing Sandia and Los Alamos to work together to help boost the New Mexico economy. Both labs take part in programs that help New Mexico businesses with technology transfer initiatives, providing double the potential for growth.
From joint committees, research sharing, and ideas exchange, Sandia’s nearby location paves the way for collaboration. “Here in New Mexico, we are fortunate to have two large labs just an hour and a half away,” says Elizabeth Keller, a former Sandia employee who now works for Los Alamos’ Center for National Security and International Studies. “This opens tremendous opportunities for in-person exchanges and ongoing collaboration.”
Kirtland Air Force Base
When Los Alamos’ Z Division, the organization that would become Sandia National Laboratories, was first established, it was located on a Department of Defense (DOD) installation in southeast Albuquerque known as Sandia Base. In 1948, Z Division became Sandia National Laboratory, and in 1949, it separated from Los Alamos, remaining on Sandia Base. Meanwhile, the military responsibilities at the base continued to grow. In 1971, DOD merged Sandia Base, the nearby Kirtland Air Base (formerly Albuquerque Army Air Base), and Manzano Base into Kirtland Air Force Base.
Kirtland AFB’s missions include research and development, testing and evaluation, combat search and rescue, and supporting the Air Force’s nuclear enterprise. The base employs approximately 22,000 active-duty military, civilians, contractors, guards, and reserve personnel and is situated on more than 51,000 acres. Kirtland is home to the 377th Air Base Wing, the 58th and 150th special operations wings, the 21st Ordnance Company, and a host of directorates, centers, and offices.
Kirtland Air Force Base is part of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. AFGSC is responsible for the nation's three intercontinental ballistic missile wings, the Air Force’s entire bomber force, and operational and maintenance support to organizations within the nuclear enterprise.
One of Los Alamos’s key partners, located at Kirtland, is the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. The nuclear-focused center synchronizes all aspects of nuclear materiel management to support Air Force Global Strike Command, U.S. Strategic Command, and the U.S. Air Forces in Europe.
“The proximity of Los Alamos to the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center facilitates better in-person and timely collaborations on high-priority nuclear security enterprise activities,” says Michael Port, a senior Los Alamos staff member stationed at AFGSC. “This will become even more critical as both the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy continue to modernize their weapon systems in a dynamic geopolitical environment.”
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency
Another noteworthy neighbor that calls Albuquerque and Kirtland Air Force Base home is a branch of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, or DTRA.
DTRA is a combat support agency aimed at reducing the threat of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. Most personnel are stationed at DTRA headquarters at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, but approximately 15 percent of DTRA’s more than 2,000 civilians and uniformed service members support the U.S. military’s nuclear mission at Kirtland Air Force Base, White Sands Missile Range, and the Nevada National Security Sites.
A large portion of DTRA’s New Mexico contingent works in the Defense Threat Reduction Information Analysis Center (DTRIAC), managing the agency’s nuclear testing archives and other government collections. DTRIAC’s mission is to provide electronic access to all nuclear weapons test data for programs supporting nuclear deterrence.
Andrew Gordon, the head librarian at Los Alamos’ National Security Research Center, says he and his staff partner frequently with both the DTRIAC and colleagues at Sandia. “Our geographic proximity to Sandia National Labs and DTRIAC is mutually beneficial,” Gordon says. “We regularly communicate with these organizations to help facilitate each other’s research needs, and this proximity allows researchers to travel between sites to find information for their work. We’re all working towards the same mission of national security, and regular collaboration makes us successful as a whole.”
White Sands Missile Range
You have to follow in Oppenheimer’s shoes and travel about four and a half hours south of Los Alamos to meet the next noteworthy neighbor: White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), home to the Trinity site, where the world’s first atomic detonation occurred in July 1945.
A U.S. Army installation, White Sands supports numerous tests and operations and is the only overland range for extended-range missile, munitions, and artillery testing.
WSMR also houses specialized labs and facilities that scientists use to create conditions to emulate nuclear weapons detonation environments and evaluate the survivability of military equipment within them.
Known for its history of rocket research, White Sands works closely with Los Alamos, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and private aerospace companies to develop and launch spacecraft and test components. “By partnering with White Sands Missile Range, we have dramatically increased the speed and convenience of conducting flight tests for essential technology,” says Stephen Judd, director of the Los Alamos Stockpile Responsiveness program. “We have been able to do more, faster, and at lower cost because we have this resource right in our backyard.”
Kansas City National Security Campus
You might think Kansas City is too far away to be considered a neighbor, but the New Mexico Operations (NMO) site of the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC) is located in Albuquerque. As a production agency in the nuclear enterprise, KCNSC makes 80 percent of the nonnuclear components in America’s nuclear weapons. Many of those components go into weapons that Los Alamos National Laboratory has designed.
KCNSC NMO, where approximately 350 people work, frequently makes parts for Los Alamos. “We provide a variety of machining tasks for the Lab,” says Melissa Dineen, senior communications specialist for KCNSC NMO. “The process is pretty straightforward. Once Lab researchers provide us with part drawings that they'd like us to machine, we create an estimate and a delivery schedule.”
Although Los Alamos does have its own machining and additive manufacturing capabilities, Dineen says KCNSC has equipment and facilities to build larger parts and use different materials—for example, this 3D-printed titanium rocket part.
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
New Mexico also offers a safe location for waste disposal. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad permanently stores transuranic waste, which is a byproduct of the nation’s nuclear weapons work. This waste, which is contained in drums, typically consists of protective clothing, tools, and equipment contaminated with radioactive elements, such as plutonium. Drums are placed deep underground in the middle of a half-a-mile thick layer of salt. Over time, the salt encloses the waste, sealing it in place and permanently isolating it from the environment.
In 1999, Los Alamos became the first Department of Energy organization to send a waste shipment to WIPP. In March 2024, the Lab marked 25 years of shipments, which included a total of 68 shipments in 2023. Los Alamos is the fourth-biggest shipper of transuranic waste to WIPP in the nation. ★