Los Alamos National Laboratory

For the World War II-era laboratory in Los Alamos, see Los Alamos Laboratory.

Los Alamos National Laboratory

LANL
Aerial view
Established	1943 (1943)
Budget	$4.9 billion
Field of research	National security Fundamental science
Director	Thomas Mason
Staff	14,150
Students	1800
Location	Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States 35°52′32″N 106°19′27″W
Affiliations	United States Department of Energy
Operating agency	Triad National Security LLC
Website	https://www.lanl.gov/
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
U.S. National Historic Landmark District
Location within New Mexico
Location	West Jemez Road and Diamond Drive, Los Alamos, New Mexico
Coordinates	35°52′42″N 106°19′7″W
Area	22,200 acres (9,000 ha)
Built	1943 (1943)
Architectural style	Bungalow/Craftsman, Modern Movement, Ranch
NRHP reference No.	66000893
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHLD	December 21, 1965

Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the American southwest. Best known for its central role in helping develop the first atomic bomb, LANL is one of the world's largest and most advanced scientific institutions.

Los Alamos was established in 1943 as Project Y, a top-secret site for designing and assembling nuclear weapons under the Manhattan Project during World War II. This included both nuclear weapons used in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, as well as Trinity, the first nuclear test, a month prior. Chosen for its remote yet relatively accessible location, it served as the main hub for conducting and coordinating nuclear research, bringing together some of the world's most famous scientists, among them numerous Nobel Prize winners. The town of Los Alamos, directly north of the lab, grew extensively through this period.

After the war ended in 1945, Project Y's existence was made public, and it became known universally as Los Alamos. In 1952, the Atomic Energy Commission formed a second design lab under the direction of the University of California, Berkeley, which became Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL); the two labs competed on a wide variety of bomb designs. As the Cold War and its nuclear arms race began, Los Alamos remained central to the US effort. Under the "Super" program, Los Alamos physicists including Edward Teller and Stanisław Ulam developed the world's first thermonuclear weapons, Greenhouse George and Ivy Mike.Los Alamos subsequently produced the neutron bomb. The lab was involved in the origins of supercomputers, to further warhead development. Los Alamos also pioneered more fundamental nuclear research, including particle accelerators and nuclear fusion power experiments.

With the end of the Cold War and US nuclear testing, Los Alamos took on a central role in the US warhead stockpile stewardship program, via its Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility and Neutron Science Center. Los Alamos also expanded civilian work, and today conducts multidisciplinary research in fields such as national security, space exploration, nuclear fusion, renewable energy, medicine, nanotechnology, and supercomputing.

While owned by the federal government, LANL is privately managed and operated by Triad National Security, LLC.