Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) - Los Alamos, New Mexico

Overview

In response to requests from members of the public and the Department of Energy, CDC began the Los Alamos Historical Documents Retrieval and Assessment (LAHDRA) project at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 1999. LANL is located in northern New Mexico and covers about 43 square miles in the counties of Los Alamos and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Goal of Project

LANL began operations in 1943 to develop and test the world’s first nuclear weapons. The goal of this project was to locate and review all historical records that could contribute information about past off-site radionuclide and chemical releases from LANL. CDC contractors have reviewed millions of documents at LANL to assess releases.

Project Activities

CDC sponsored a public meeting in June, 2009 near Santa Fe, New Mexico, to formally release a contractor’s draft final report on potential radionuclide and chemical releases from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a Department of Energy nuclear weapons site. The report, currently available to the public at http://www.lahdra.org , was prepared by ChemRisk, Inc., after an extensive document retrieval and review of records at LANL related to operations since the 1940s. Throughout the project, CDC has held a total of fifteen public meetings where interested citizens and advocacy groups have provided input to the process and draft reports.

Status of Project

To date, the Department of Energy has released approximately 100 boxes containing 10,000 documents (270,000 pages) identified by CDC researchers. Copies of these documents are currently available for viewing in the University of New Mexico, Zimmerman library, Government Information Department in Albuquerque. Documents are requested from the Government Information Reference Desk and may not be removed from the building. Self and full serve photocopy services are available in the library. Photocopy charges are 10 cents per page. The collection is accessible during Zimmerman Library’s hours of operation. Email, phone or interlibrary loan delivery requests for these materials are not available.

Additional Information

Call (505) 277-7180 for information about the document collection or click here to review the list of available documents.

Los Alamos National Laboratory Searchable Bibliographic Database