National Security Science: The New Mexico Issue (Summer 2024)

Summary

This Summer 2024 issue of National Security Science focuses on Los Alamos National Laboratory’s partnerships, scientific initiatives, and deep historical roots in the state of New Mexico. Key articles spotlight the enduring legacy of director Norris Bradbury, modern suborbital flight testing across the state, veteran computational physicist and mountaineer Len Margolin, clean-energy transition efforts via the Four Corners Rapid Response Team, and various technological transfers to private industry.

Cover

LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY • SUMMER 2024 NATIONAL SECURITY SCIENCE THE NEW MEXICO ISSUE

• Norris Bradbury: The Lab’s second director ensured the survival of Los Alamos after World War II. • Flying high over the Land of Enchantment: Location helps scientists test new technology. • Mentor of methods and mountains: A physicist and mountaineer celebrates 55 years at the Lab. • From coal to clean: The Four Corners Rapid Response Team facilitates a shift away from fossil fuels.

PLUS:

Made in NM: pits, detonators, explosives, and more
A director emeritus remembers growing up in Los Alamos
The Laboratory collaborates with noteworthy neighbors

Table of Contents & Photobomb

IN THIS ISSUE 2 Letters: The New Mexico issue Los Alamos National Laboratory’s home state is rich with partners and people committed to national and global security.

4 Abstracts: Notes and news from around the Lab New Mexico products, place names, partners, and more—including one very long dinosaur.

FEATURES 32 Norris Bradbury, the man who made Los Alamos The Laboratory’s second—and longest-serving—director ensured that Los Alamos not only survived, but thrived, after World War II.

46 Flying high over the Land of Enchantment Location helps Los Alamos scientists test new technology.

54 Mentor of methods and mountains Physicist and mountaineer Len Margolin celebrates more than half a century of science and adventure at the Lab.

60 From coal to clean The Los Alamos-led Four Corners Rapid Response Team helps facilitate a regional shift away from fossil fuels.

70 Analysis: The town that raised me Los Alamos director emeritus Terry Wallace Jr. reflects on growing up in Los Alamos.

72 Being essential: Advancing an ancient art form Classification analyst Dominic Roybal creates art from nature.

74 Accolades: The distinguished achievements of Los Alamos employees

75 Looking back: 73 years ago In 1951, Omega Bridge was built to connect the Laboratory to the town of Los Alamos.

About the cover: New Mexico abounds with places to see the stars, thanks to low levels of light pollution. With that in mind, Los Alamos National Laboratory student Aerin Jacobson set out one August evening to photograph the Milky Way above this radio telescope, which is located on Lab property and is part of the Very Long Baseline Array—a network of 10 radio telescopes across the United States that is operated from the Array Operations Center in Socorro, New Mexico. Scientists use the radio telescopes to study radio signals from astronomical sources.

PHOTOBOMB: Three targets manufactured at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Target Fabrication Facility are displayed on top of a New Mexico quarter for scale. Each target contains components only a few microns in size (one micron is one-millionth of a meter). The largest target and the tiny target in the center of the Zia will be used at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility to conduct fusion and high-energy-density physics experiments. The third target will be used in experiments at the University of Rochester’s Omega Laser Facility. Learn more about these targets and other items that are manufactured at Los Alamos on page 6.

THE NEW MEXICO ISSUE Los Alamos National Laboratory’s home state is rich with partners and people committed to national and global security. BY JAMES OWEN, ASSOCIATE LABORATORY DIRECTOR FOR WEAPONS ENGINEERING & CHIEF ENGINEER

This issue of National Security Science focuses on the state—New Mexico—where Los Alamos National Laboratory is located. In the following pages, you’ll read about the Laboratory’s work and partnerships that span the Land of Enchantment—from clean-energy efforts in the Four Corners area to transuranic waste storage near Carlsbad. This issue also highlights the Laboratory’s many Albuquerque-based partners (including Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base), our academic connections at many colleges and universities, and our colleagues at Spaceport America and White Sands Missile Range who are critical to the success of our flight-testing program.

Of course, the Laboratory’s largest impact is local, which I can speak to personally. I grew up in a close-knit community about 50 miles northeast of Los Alamos. As a kid, that distance seemed very far—until one day in high school when a teacher said we were taking a field trip to the Lab’s Bradbury Science Museum. Little did I know that field trip would change my life. That visit sparked my interest in science and technology. I began participating in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs at the Laboratory. Fast forward nearly 30 years, and I’ve made a career here.

Moving from student to employee isn’t unusual at Los Alamos. Every summer, the Laboratory hosts hundreds of students, many of whom are eventually hired on as staff members following graduation. Whether employees are native New Mexicans, like me, or they come from other corners of the country and even the world, they come here to support national and global security and pursue meaningful careers.

The work we do at the Laboratory is like no other. In the Weapons Engineering associate directorate, we ensure and sustain credible scientific and engineering expertise in support of the nation’s deployed nuclear weapons stockpile. We work in areas of high explosives, weapons assembly, production engineering, ground and flight testing, hydrodynamics, and many other interdisciplinary fields.

Many people who don’t plan to settle in New Mexico end up committed to both the Laboratory and the Land of Enchantment. That was certainly the case for Norris Bradbury, the Lab’s second director (and the Bradbury Science Museum’s namesake). Bradbury came to Los Alamos for a short-term position and ended up retiring from the Lab more than a quarter-century later. You can read more about his legacy on page 32.

J. Robert Oppenheimer was, of course, our first director, and he’s often quoted as saying “my two great loves are physics and New Mexico.” Although I am an engineer, not a physicist, I still appreciate his sentiment, and I hope that you discover the magic of both the Laboratory and New Mexico in these pages.

NSS STAFF SPOTLIGHT: En route to a spring break adventure in Big Bend National Park in Texas, editor Whitney Spivey and her family camped at a missile silo just east of Roswell, New Mexico. Twelve of these sites were built around Roswell in the early 1960s; each cost $22 million to construct, and each held a nuclear-tipped Atlas F intercontinental ballistic missile—the first ICBMs ever developed by the United States. Spivey’s family toured the site, which included going underground to see the launch control center and a short tunnel that leads to the 186-foot-deep silo (for context, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is 183 feet). Here, she and her twin daughters cartwheel across the silo door.

MASTHEAD: EDITOR: Whitney Spivey ART DIRECTOR: Brenda Fleming WRITERS: Jake Bartman, Jill Gibson, Ian Laird, J. Weston Phippen, Brittany St. Jacques COPY EDITOR: Anne Jones DESIGNERS: Margaret Doebling, Hans Sundquist ILLUSTRATOR: Paul Ziomek PHOTOGRAPHER: David Woodfin EDITORIAL ADVISOR: Michelle Mosby

National Security Science (NSS) highlights work in the Weapons and other national security programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory. NSS is unclassified and supported by the Lab’s Weapons programs and Center for National Security and International Studies. Unless otherwise credited, all images in the magazine belong to Los Alamos National Laboratory. Current and archived issues of the magazine are available at lanl.gov/magazine. To subscribe, email [email protected], or call 505-667-4106. LA-UR-24-27279 Los Alamos National Laboratory, an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, is operated by Triad National Security, LLC, for the National Nuclear Security Administration for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract 89233218CNA000001.

Abstracts: The Intersection & By the Numbers

THE INTERSECTION: Science and culture converge in northern New Mexico—and beyond.

In the early 1950s, Los Alamos physicist George Irving Bell contributed to the design of the first thermonuclear weapon. In 1960, Bell made the first ascent of Masherbrum, the 22nd highest peak in the world. Located in Pakistan, Masherbrum is 25,659 feet above sea level. To read about another Los Alamos scientist and mountaineer, turn to p. 54.
Dancing Oppenheimers and a model of the Gadget appeared toward the end of actor Ryan Gosling’s April 13 Saturday Night Live monologue, in which actress Emily Blunt (who played Kitty Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer) sang “talking to Albert Einstein, sipping a margarita…” We are pretty sure she meant one of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s famous martinis, but because this is the New Mexico issue, we can get on board with a margarita. Photo: Universal Studios
Los Alamos biologists are taking steps to protect the pinyon jay, which is listed as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need by the state of New Mexico and may soon be listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Biologists have begun a study to monitor the birds, understand their use of Lab habitats, and ensure their safety on site.
Building manager James Valdez poses with his lowrider—a customized vehicle with hydraulic jacks that allow the chassis to be lowered nearly to the road. Española, New Mexico, just 20 minutes from the Lab, is often called the lowrider capital of the world. Photo courtesy James Valdez
A capacitive discharge unit, also called a fireset, is a device that supplies electrical energy to detonators (see p. 6). This particular fireset was designed in 2022 and decorated to match the New Mexico state flag. The red sun symbol is called a Zia and “was put on this fireset to represent the Laboratory wherever the fireset went,” says fireset engineer Tim Walrath, who explains that the device traveled to sites across the nuclear security enterprise. “Since then, the decals have received a lot of positive feedback,” he notes.
The Laboratory’s Sigma facility is located in Technical Area 66; a sign on the building is reminiscent of U.S. Route 66, which runs across central New Mexico.
In downtown Los Alamos, J. Robert Oppenheimer (the statue) holds an Oscar (a replica) shortly after the Oppenheimer film won seven Academy Awards in March. Photo: LA Daily Post

BY THE NUMBERS: As one of New Mexico’s largest employers, Los Alamos National Laboratory has a substantial economic impact across the state.

15,932: number of regular employees
1,133: number of contractors employed by the Lab
$4.65B: total Laboratory budget
$1.8B: total salaries earned by employees (contractor salaries not included)
$931M: amount the Lab spent with New Mexico businesses
$616M: amount spent with New Mexico small businesses
1,433: number of union employees at the Laboratory
$155M: amount the Lab paid in New Mexico gross receipts tax
$130M: contracts with New Mexico–based Native American–owned businesses
$61M: contracts with New Mexico–based veteran-owned businesses
$48M: contracts with New Mexico–based women-owned small businesses
28.8%: percentage of regular employees who have at least one degree from a New Mexico college or university
39.6%: percentage of regular employees who are native New Mexicans
65%: percentage of employees who live outside of Los Alamos County, benefitting their home communities *Numbers are for fiscal year 2023

Getting involved: Many Lab leaders serve on the board of local nonprofits.

Thom Mason, Laboratory Director — LANL Foundation (Mission: to inspire excellence in education and learning in northern New Mexico through innovative programming, collaboration, and advocacy.)
Frances Chadwick, Laboratory Staff Director — Los Alamos Historical Society (Mission: to preserve, promote, and communicate the remarkable history and inspiring stories of Los Alamos and its people for our community, for the global audience, and for future generations.)
Angela Mielke, Executive Officer for Science, Technology, and Engineering — Española Pathways Shelter (Mission: to help provide individuals and their families access to emergency shelter, transitional housing, comprehensive care, and essential supportive services.)

“Los Alamos National Laboratory plays a critical role in New Mexico’s economy and its communities. We feel strongly that it is our responsibility as a significant employer in New Mexico to support the places where we live and work.” —Laboratory Director Thom Mason

DID SOMEONE SAY FLANNEL? A journalist recently wrote that the acronym for Los Alamos National Laboratory is “LANL, pronounced like flannel minus the f.” Flannel, coincidentally, is the fabric of choice for many LANL employees. This was confirmed by a quick scroll through the Lab’s image library, which revealed the following [photos].

Abstracts: Made in Los Alamos & Coming Soon: The B61-13

MADE IN LOS ALAMOS: Los Alamos National Laboratory produces key components for national security, space exploration, and more. BY WHITNEY SPIVEY Although Los Alamos National Laboratory is primarily a research and development institution, the Laboratory has always done some manufacturing work. Here are seven products that are made right here at Los Alamos.

Accelerator cells: The Laboratory designed the accelerator cell modules that are key components of the 400-foot-long Scorpius linear accelerator, which will create radiographic images of subcritical plutonium experiments. When completed, Scorpius will be located in a tunnel nearly 1,000 feet underground in the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experiments at the Nevada National Security Site. The first two modules are being built at Los Alamos this year. For more, see p. 26.
Detonators: For a plutonium pit to implode inside a nuclear weapon, the pit must be compressed uniformly by the high explosives that surround it. The high explosives are triggered by small devices called detonators. Since 1989, the detonators for all nuclear weapons in the U.S. stockpile have been manufactured by Los Alamos.
Explosives: The Laboratory’s High Explosives Science and Technology group develops and manufactures precision high explosives to meet current and future national security needs. This work involves chemical synthesis of new explosives, materials research, performance testing, and related problem-solving. The plastic-bonded explosives developed by this group were the first truly precision explosives controlled down to the micron scale; they can be pressed and machined to the most exacting tolerances. Los Alamos also produces the explosives that are used in detonators.
Heat sources: For more than 50 years, the Laboratory has manufactured heat sources, which are power sources made from plutonium-238. The radioactive isotope generates heat as it decays. This heat is converted to electricity by a generator and can power a device in deep space for a very long time. In addition to powering the Mars rovers, heat sources manufactured at Los Alamos have powered the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn. In 2027, plutonium-238 will power the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
Plutonium pits: A plutonium pit is the core of a nuclear weapon; when compressed by explosives inside a warhead or bomb, a pit generates incredible amounts of energy. Los Alamos is currently developing the processes for manufacturing at least 30 pits per year, starting with pits for the W87-1 warhead. The first stockpile-bound pit is on track to be produced this summer.
Space instruments: The Lab’s Intelligence and Space Research division creates and delivers innovative sensing systems for space-based instrumentation for national security applications. Two examples are ChemCam, which performs rapid chemical and microscopic reconnaissance aboard the Mars Curiosity rover, and SuperCam, which collects geologic data and samples aboard the Mars Perseverance rover.
Targets: At the Laboratory’s Target Fabrication Facility, engineers create one-of-a-kind targets for experiments carried out at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) and other locations. At NIF, a target is bombarded with laser beams, which causes a tiny fuel capsule inside the target to implode and produce fusion—creating more energy than was initially put in by the laser beams. For more on targets, see the inside front cover of this issue.

COMING SOON: THE B61-13 A new variant of the gravity bomb is in development. BY WHITNEY SPIVEY Congress has approved and funded a new variant of the B61 gravity bomb, the B61-13. As the national laboratory responsible for the B61 family of bombs, Los Alamos will oversee the design, development, testing, and eventual certification of the B61-13.

Upon completion, scheduled for the spring of 2026, the B61-13 will be deliverable by modern aircraft, including the forthcoming B-21 Raider stealth bomber. According to a news release from the Department of Defense (DOD), “the B61-13 will strengthen deterrence of adversaries and assurance of allies and partners by providing the President with additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets.”

The B61-13 will rely on the current, established production capabilities supporting the B61-12, a recently updated version of the B61 that has been in production since 2022 (B61-12s are entering the stockpile as they are completed). The B61-13 will incorporate the same modern safety, security, and accuracy features as the B61-12.

“By taking advantage of ongoing B61-12 production activities, we will be able to quickly and effectively implement novel updates to the weapons system,” explains Dan Borovina, the B61 program manager at Los Alamos.

The yield (explosive power) of the B61-13 will be similar to that of the B61-7 (which is higher than the yield of the B61-12). The B61-13 will replace some of the B61-7s in the current stockpile and therefore will not increase the overall number of weapons in the U.S. stockpile.

“This initiative follows several months of review and consideration,” stated the DOD news release. “The fielding of the B61-13 is not in response to any specific current event; it reflects an ongoing assessment of a changing security environment.”

Abstracts: Noteworthy Neighbors

NOTEWORTHY NEIGHBORS Los Alamos National Laboratory’s convenient colleagues ensure mutually beneficial partnerships. BY JILL GIBSON

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 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.

• 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 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 and the Annular Core Research Reactor. Likewise, Sandia researchers head up the hill to Los Alamos to conduct experiments at the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) facility and the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). Sandia and Los Alamos even share a facility—the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT).

• Kirtland Air Force Base: When Los Alamos’ Z Division became Sandia Base, it grew 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. Kirtland Air Force Base is part of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). One of Los Alamos’ key partners located at Kirtland is the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center.

• The Defense Threat Reduction Agency: DTRA is a combat support agency aimed at reducing the threat of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. A large portion of DTRA’s New Mexico contingent works in the Defense Threat Reduction Information Analysis Center (DTRIAC).

• Kansas City National Security Campus: The New Mexico Operations (NMO) site of the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC) is located in Albuquerque. KCNSC makes 80 percent of the nonnuclear components in America’s nuclear weapons.

• White Sands Missile Range: White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), home to the Trinity site, is a U.S. Army installation supporting extended-range missile, munitions, and artillery testing.

• Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad permanently stores transuranic waste, which is a byproduct of the nation’s nuclear weapons work. In 1999, Los Alamos became the first DOE organization to send a waste shipment to WIPP.

Abstracts: Head South for Salt

HEAD SOUTH FOR SALT A little-known Los Alamos division facilitates research at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. BY JILL GIBSON

The six-passenger cart bounces across the rocky ground as we travel through a dark tunnel. Embedded crystals on the walls and ceiling sparkle, catching the light from the miner’s lamp on my hard hat… I am deep inside the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP—a transuranic waste repository in the remote desert of southeastern New Mexico.

About 250 million years ago, the Permian Sea covered this part of the desert. Over time, repeated evaporation cycles created a thick salt bed, forming an ideal, geologically stable environment for storing low-level radioactive waste. Most of the waste consists of things like contaminated clothing, equipment, and gloves used for nuclear weapons work dating back to the Manhattan Project.

Operated by the U.S. Department of Energy, WIPP is the only waste disposal facility of its kind in the nation. Waste arrives at WIPP weekly from “generator sites” across the country. Once unloaded at the repository, the waste containers head 2,150 feet underground where they are placed in 300-foot-long tunnels mined through the salt formation. Today, 25 years after it received the first shipment, the facility is approximately 44 percent full.

Doug Weaver, the Lab’s division leader for Repository Science and Operations, is leading the visit underground. In 2023, Los Alamos sent 68 shipments to WIPP.

WIPP employs more than 1,400 people, but it’s also an experimental facility where scientists conduct research. Scientist Shawn Otto, a member of the Test Coordination Office team, facilitates research in the underground salt bed, including physics-based experiments shielded from cosmic and terrestrial radiation, thermal load studies, robotics testing, and biological effects of low-background radiation environments.

Monitoring and regulations are integral to WIPP. The New Mexico Environment Department, the EPA, DOE, and others ensure safe operations.

Abstracts: Protecting Puebloan Places & The Eras Tour

PROTECTING PUEBLOAN PLACES The Lab executes its mission while respecting the living history of the land. BY IAN LAIRD

From approximately 100 to 1600 CE, a prehistoric Native American civilization thrived in the Four Corners region. Northern New Mexico’s Pajarito Plateau—now mostly occupied by Los Alamos National Laboratory—was among the places the Ancestral Puebloan people called home. Today, their descendants include members of New Mexico’s 19 Pueblos. One of these Pueblos, the Pueblo de San Ildefonso, shares a border with the Laboratory.

“This place—the land used by the Lab—has a lot of history behind it,” says Gerald Martinez, an environmental technician at the Laboratory and member of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso. Laboratory archaeologists Ali Livesay and Sam Linford describe the landscape as living. In 1950, the Lab hired its first professional archaeologist. Today, the Environmental Stewardship group helps assess project impacts, consult with Pueblos and government agencies, and coordinate cultural visits for Pueblo youth.

THE ERAS TOUR (Los Alamos version):

Ancestral Puebloan: For hundreds of years, these Native Americans inhabited the area known as the Pajarito Plateau. Likely driven by drought, the Ancestral Pueblo people eventually moved to the fertile Rio Grande Valley. Today, the remains of many Ancestral Puebloan structures are on Laboratory property.
Homestead: Hispanos from the Rio Grande Valley, descendants of early Spanish settlers, farmed the Pajarito Plateau during the summer. They and other settlers staked claims to their plots under the Homestead Act.
Los Alamos Ranch School: The Los Alamos Ranch School, a boarding school for boys, strengthened mind and body with its unique combination of college preparatory academics and rigorous outdoor life.
Project Y: The Manhattan Project was the government’s top-secret effort to develop atomic weapons to help end World War II. Project Y, located in Los Alamos, was one of many Manhattan Project sites across the country. The name helped keep the location and purpose of the laboratory secret. However, most people working there simply referred to the lab as “the Hill” because of its mesa-top location.
Los Alamos Scientific Lab: After World War II, Project Y’s location no longer needed to be a secret, and so Project Y became Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. The first known reference to this name change is in October 1945, at which time Norris Bradbury became the Lab director.
Los Alamos National Lab: In 1981, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory became Los Alamos National Laboratory. This change was prompted by Congress’ decision that the Department of Energy’s laboratories would all have “national” in their official names to emphasize the breadth of the work they perform on behalf of our nation’s interests.

Abstracts: Digging for Dinosaurs & A Mammoth Discovery

DIGGING FOR DINOSAURS More than 30 years ago, Los Alamos scientists helped detect and date the bones of the world’s longest sauropod. BY WHITNEY SPIVEY

In 1985, David Gillette, a paleontologist at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, gave a lecture at Los Alamos National Laboratory about dinosaur vertebrae found in the Ojito Wilderness Study Area. He asked if there was a way to “see” into the ground to know where to dig. Los Alamos scientists, along with colleagues from Sandia and Oak Ridge national laboratories, volunteered time and equipment to help excavate “Sam,” the first known Seismosaurus (later classified as Diplodocus hallorum).

Experiments included examining fossil bone fluorescence under ultraviolet light and testing underground detection tools such as gamma-ray detectors, sonar, ground-penetrating radar, and magnetometry. In 2017, Los Alamos also lent its neutron-imaging and high-energy x-ray capabilities to image the fossil skull of the Bisti Beast (Bistahieversor sealeyi), discovered near Farmington in 1996.

A MAMMOTH DISCOVERY: In 1997, remains of a prehistoric mammoth were unearthed during the construction of the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Jeff Paisner, now a project-program manager at Los Alamos, oversaw construction when the skull, jawbone, bones, and tusk were found and dated to about 10,000 years old using accelerator mass spectrometry.

Abstracts: Trinity and Beyond

TRINITY AND BEYOND New Mexico’s nuclear tests reflect the nation’s atomic history. BY JAKE BARTMAN

In addition to the historic Trinity test in July 1945, New Mexico hosted two other nuclear tests in the 1960s as part of Project Plowshare (peaceful uses of nuclear explosives): Gnome and Gasbuggy.

• Trinity: Detonated atop a 100-foot steel tower on July 16, 1945, at the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range (now White Sands Missile Range). • Gnome: Conducted on December 10, 1961, in an underground salt bed near Carlsbad, New Mexico, at a depth of 1,200 feet, creating an underground salt cavern 70 feet high and 150 feet in diameter. It evaluated potential heat/steam power generation. • Gasbuggy: Conducted on December 10, 1967, near Dulce in the Carson National Forest, at 4,227 feet underground, in an attempt to stimulate natural gas flow. The explosion created radioactive gas, helping rule out the use of nuclear explosions for natural gas extraction.

Abstracts: By Any Other Name

BY ANY OTHER NAME From streets to facilities, National Security Science explores the meaning behind names. BY JILL GIBSON

An exploration of naming conventions across Los Alamos National Laboratory:

Manhattan Project lettered sites: V-Site, R-Site, S-Site (Sawmill), TD Site (Trap Door Site for Fat Man).
Nuclear test names used for streets: Bikini Atoll Drive, Enewetak Drive, Mercury Road, Crossroads, Able, Castle, Greenhouse, Ice Cap.
Machines and experiments: Tokamak, Clementine, Jumbino, Flattop, Godiva.
Cultural and geographic names: Puye, Pajarito, Chama.
Comic strip Li’l Abner and whimsical references: Lower Slobbovia, DP (Dogpatch / Displaced Persons), and firing/magazine sites named Eenie, Meenie, Minie, and Moe.

Abstracts: Driven by Science & Chile Poll

DRIVEN BY SCIENCE Scientists’ creativity extends to their vehicles. BY WHITNEY SPIVEY

A showcase of science-themed personalized New Mexico license plates owned by Lab employees:

1SOTOPE: Anthony Pollington (Nuclear and Radiochemistry group)
DRK MTR: Keith Rielage (Dynamic Imaging and Radiography group leader)
SCIENCE: Mike Cleveland (Geophysicist)
NACHOS: Maureen Lunn (referencing the Nano-satellite Atmospheric Chemistry Hyperspectral Observation System)
0253EV: Mike James (referencing the energy of room temperature neutrons: 0.0253 eV)
FE2O3: Reg Rocha (Nuclear and Radiochemistry deputy group leader)
02B00STD: Keith Bradley (Analytics, Intelligence, and Technology division leader)
1TSAFE: Jim Hill (referencing one-point nuclear safety)
DELTA P: Hugh Selby (radiochemistry assessment of plutonium-238 to 239 ratio change)
A BOMB & H BOMB: Glen McDuff (retired physicist)
U: Tyler Brunstein-Ellenbogen (Materials Recovery and Recycle group)

RED, GREEN, OR CHRISTMAS? CHILE POLL: In a poll of 1,966 Lab employees:

Christmas (red + green): 38%
Green: 35%
Red: 27%

Abstracts: Restoring Project Y

RESTORING PROJECT Y Manhattan Project National Park preserves historic sites at Los Alamos National Laboratory. BY JILL GIBSON

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park (MAPR) encompasses sites in Hanford, Los Alamos, and Oak Ridge. At Los Alamos, preservation projects include:

V-Site: Where early implosion weapon prototypes were tested and the Trinity device’s high-explosives package was assembled. Roofs were replaced on the two surviving buildings in 2023.
Slotin Building: Site of the fatal May 21, 1946 criticality accident involving Louis Slotin; interior walls are being restored to their historical configuration.
Guard shacks: Historical checkpoint buildings sent to the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training in Vancouver, Washington, for restoration and architectural documentation.

Abstracts: More Ways to Explore & Pre-LinkedIn Recruiting

MORE WAYS TO EXPLORE In addition to Manhattan Project National Historical Park, six sites and museums offer perspectives on New Mexico’s nuclear history:

The Bradbury Science Museum (Los Alamos)
The Los Alamos History Museum (Los Alamos)
The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History (Albuquerque)
The New Mexico Museum of Space History (Alamogordo)
The Trinity Site (White Sands Missile Range)
The White Sands Missile Range Museum (White Sands Missile Range)

LOS ALAMOS PRE-LINKEDIN: A 1956 Scientific American recruitment advertisement titled “Leisurely living… and Career Opportunities” highlighting northern New Mexico’s outdoor recreation and career offerings in physics, mathematics, and metallurgy.

Abstracts: Scorpius Takes Shape

SCORPIUS TAKES SHAPE A new machine will enhance scientists’ understanding of nuclear weapons. BY JILL GIBSON

Assembly of the Scorpius Advanced Sources and Detection (ASD) project linear accelerator began on March 7, 2024 at Los Alamos. Scorpius will be a 400-foot-long linear accelerator installed 1,000 feet underground at the PULSE facility (Nevada National Security Sites).

Key features:

Designed to capture multi-pulse high-speed radiographic images of subcritical plutonium experiments without full-scale nuclear testing.
Collaboration between Los Alamos, Sandia, Lawrence Livermore, and the NNSS.
Consists of 102 accelerator cells grouped into 34 three-cell modules (plus one spare module), accelerating electron pulses to over 20 MeV.
Full operation expected by 2030.

Abstracts: Mending Gaps in Waste Processing & Blazing Partnerships

MENDING GAPS IN WASTE PROCESSING A new decontamination system prioritizes worker safety and environmental responsibility. BY BRITTANY ST. JACQUES

In 2022, Los Alamos developed the Modular Electrochemical Nuclear Decontamination System (MENDS), a portable, closed-loop instrument that dissolves and removes radioactive contamination from lab tools and equipment in under 30 minutes, converting potential transuranic waste into low-level waste and recycling the decontamination chemical solution.

BLAZING PARTNERSHIPS Los Alamos scientists work with the New Mexico Fire Training Academy to better understand how fires behave. BY IAN LAIRD

Atmospheric scientist Jon Reisner collaborates with Kip Carrico (New Mexico Tech) and the New Mexico Fire Training Academy in Socorro. Using drones flying through smoke plumes in realistic structural mockups, researchers gather data on modern urban building fires (burning steel, concrete, and glass under restricted ventilation) to validate nuclear thermal burn models.

Abstracts: Tech Transfer

TECH TRANSFER Los Alamos National Laboratory works with private industry to develop technologies for public use. BY J. WESTON PHIPPEN

Mechanisms include the Los Alamos Licensing Program, Lab-Embedded Entrepreneur Program, CRADAs, TRGR Initiative, New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) Program, and Community Technical Assistance.

Highlighted Partner Companies:

Mercury Bio (Santa Fe): Developing novel drug-delivery mechanisms for targeted cancer therapy using supercomputers and AI to design synthetic proteins.
Kairos Power (Albuquerque): Fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor utilizing TRISO fuel pebbles produced at LANL’s Low-Enriched Fuel Fabrication Facility.
Pajarito Powder (Albuquerque): Developing advanced catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells via bottom-up synthesis.
xLight: Developing compact bus-sized particle accelerators for semiconductor lithography.
UbiQD (Los Alamos): Commercializing quantum dot nanomaterials for solar windows and greenhouse films that enhance crop growth.

Feature: Norris Bradbury, the Man Who Made Los Alamos

NORRIS BRADBURY: THE MAN WHO MADE LOS ALAMOS The Laboratory’s second—and longest-serving—director ensured that Los Alamos not only survived, but thrived after World War II. BY JAKE BARTMAN

Norris Bradbury assumed leadership of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in October 1945 following J. Robert Oppenheimer’s departure. What began as a temporary six-month directorship lasted 25 years until 1970.

Key Highlights of Bradbury’s Life and Directorship:

Background: Born in California in 1909; graduated from Pomona College; PhD in physics from UC Berkeley; professor at Stanford; naval officer working on ballistics at Dahlgren.
Manhattan Project: Recruited by William ‘Deak’ Parsons; oversaw the non-nuclear assembly of the Gadget for the Trinity test.
Postwar Transition: Prevented the shuttering of Los Alamos, setting expiration dates for relocation compensation to stabilize the workforce; oversaw infrastructure upgrades in the townsite.
Stockpile & Scientific Development: Transitioned weapons production to facilities like Sandia Base, Pantex, and Rocky Flats, focusing Los Alamos on R&D.
Hydrogen Bomb Controversy: Defended the Lab’s diligent development schedule against accusations from Edward Teller, James Shepley, and Clay Blair Jr.
Diversification: Expanded the Lab beyond weapons into nuclear power, rocket propulsion (Project Rover), space detection (Project Vela), and the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility (LANSCE).
Retirement: Retired in 1970, receiving the Enrico Fermi Award. Remained active in the community, the New Mexico Archaeological Society, and church activities until his death on August 20, 1997.

Feature: Flying High over the Land of Enchantment

FLYING HIGH OVER THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT Location helps Los Alamos scientists test new technology. BY JILL GIBSON

Under the Stockpile Responsiveness Program (SRP), established by Congress in 2018, Los Alamos leverages New Mexico’s geography to rapidly prototype and flight-test weapons systems and diagnostic instruments.

Key Aspects:

Utilizes suborbital rocket launches over White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) and Spaceport America.
Partnering with private aerospace firms X-Bow Systems and Up Aerospace to build dedicated rockets (Spyder and XL rocket families) rather than surplus military boosters.
Developed additively manufactured titanium flight vehicles in collaboration with the Kansas City National Security Campus New Mexico facility.
Suborbital tests cost $5-10 mi l l i o n co m p a r e d t o$ 50–100 million for ocean-based flights.
Joint testing partnerships include collaborations with the UK Ministry of Defence.

Feature: Mentor of Methods & Mountains

MENTOR OF METHODS & MOUNTAINS Physicist and mountaineer Len Margolin celebrates more than half a century of science and adventure at Los Alamos National Laboratory. BY JILL GIBSON

Celebrating 55 years at the Laboratory, computational physicist Len Margolin reflects on his career, mentorship, and climbing adventures:

Career: Joined Los Alamos in July 1969 from the University of Michigan, programming early supercomputers like the IBM Stretch using punch card decks.
Scientific Impact: Pioneered fluid dynamics, numerical methods, and 3D simulation codes for the nuclear stockpile stewardship program.
Outdoor Passion: Climbed fifty-four 14,000-foot peaks (‘fourteeners’) across Colorado, California, and Washington; established numerous rock climbing routes in White Rock Canyon and Brazos Cliffs.
Mentorship: Actively mentors students and early-career staff in examining foundational physical principles, computational assumptions, and applying emerging tools such as artificial intelligence.

Feature: From Coal to Clean

FROM COAL TO CLEAN The Los Alamos-led Four Corners Rapid Response Team helps facilitate a regional shift away from fossil fuels. BY JAKE BARTMAN

As coal-fired power plants (such as the Navajo Generating Station and San Juan Generating Station) close across the Four Corners region, Los Alamos leads one of six federal Rapid Response Teams (RRT) under the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities.

Initiatives and Focus Areas:

Assisting local and tribal communities (Navajo Nation) in navigating federal grant applications from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.
Technical support in carbon capture and storage (CCS) modeling using the SimCCS software tool.
Hydrogen energy planning and research into using supercritical water desalination to convert oil-field produced water into clean water for hydrogen production (OPERATE-H2).
Fostering regional economic diversification and workforce retraining.

Feature: Connecting with Colleges and Universities

CONNECTING WITH COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES The Four Corners Rapid Response Team helps Los Alamos form new partnerships with regional schools. BY JAKE BARTMAN

Partnerships with regional institutions to train local talent and advance energy research:

Navajo Technical University (Crownpoint, NM): Native American Fellowship program supporting hydrogen fuel cell and additive manufacturing research.
San Juan College (Farmington, NM): Center of Excellence of Renewable Energy and Sustainability supporting worker retraining in hydrogen, electric vehicle systems, and solar energy.
Additional academic partner universities across New Mexico: New Mexico Highlands, New Mexico Tech, NMSU, Northern New Mexico College, Santa Fe Community College, SIPI, and UNM.

Analysis: The Town That Raised Me

THE TOWN THAT RAISED ME Growing up in Los Alamos ignited my passion for learning. BY TERRY WALLACE JR., DIRECTOR EMERITUS

Former Laboratory Director Terry Wallace Jr. recounts his childhood in Los Alamos and White Rock as the son of uranium chemist Terry Wallace Sr. He shares memories of Lab Family Days at the CMR building, analyzing mysterious coffinite radioactive mineral samples via x-ray diffraction as a high school student, and participating in debates with fellow community scientists about geology and Earth’s core composition.

Being Essential: Advancing an Ancient Art Form

ADVANCING AN ANCIENT ART FORM Classification analyst Dominic Roybal creates art from nature. BY IAN LAIRD

Dominic Roybal, a classification analyst in the Office of Classification and Controlled Information, creates traditional New Mexico straw appliqué (‘el oro de los pobres’). Sourcing natural earth pigments, soils, and straw, Roybal combines traditional craftsmanship with modern artistic expressions while drawing parallels between natural pigments and engineering.

Accolades, Looking Back, & In Memoriam

THE DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENTS OF LOS ALAMOS EMPLOYEES

Awards: National Security Science won three awards in the New Mexico Press Women’s Contest. NNSA Defense Programs Awards of Excellence presented to multiple project teams.
Leadership: J. Patrick Fitch named Deputy Director for Science, Technology and Engineering; Sean Finnegan named Director for the Office of Experimental Sciences.
Honors: Kevin John named AAAS Fellow; Wojciech Hubert Zurek elected to the National Academy of Sciences; Bjørn Clausen named Neutron Scattering Society of America Fellow.
Patriot Awards: Landry Milnes, Laila Badran, Victoria Baca, Kevin Brake, and Christian Rittner.

IN MEMORIAM: Explosives scientist Philip Leonard (1981–2024), a program manager in Weapon Stockpile Modernization, passed away on February 27, 2024.

73 YEARS AGO: In 1951, the Omega Bridge was constructed across Los Alamos Canyon to link the town of Los Alamos to the main technical laboratory areas.

Back Cover: Then & Now

THEN & NOW Nearly 100 years separate these photographs of patriotic Los Alamos residents on horseback. In the small photo, students at the Los Alamos Ranch School parade in front of Fuller Lodge. In the large photo, Rodeo Queen Brittany Hollowell rides her horse, Blue Star Moon, in the opening ceremony of the annual Los Alamos County Rodeo as the national anthem plays.

Photo Credits: Los Alamos Historical Society / Leslie Bucklin