A top nuclear laboratory in the United States is at risk from wildfires because some mitigation measures have been ignored in recent years, an audit found. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) inspector general said the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico is prone to “future large, high-intensity wildfires that could threaten to seriously interrupt mission work,” as a large fire did in 2000. The Cerro Grande Fire that year burned over 7,500 acres of department land, damaging or destroying over 100 structures and ruining a variety of lab projects and scientific records and forcing the lab to close for 15 days. Another wildfire in 2011, the Las Conchas Fire, burned an acre of department land and its intensity and proximity to the lab forced it to close for nine days. In light of the fires, the inspector general undertook an audit to see whether its Los Alamos office and …
-
Recent Posts
-
Archives
- May 2025
- April 2025
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- September 2013
- July 2013
- March 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- December 1
-
Meta