The study — prepared by Finis Welch, professor emeritus at Texas A&M University — was released to the New Mexico Hispano Roundtable, the New Mexico Legislature's LANL Oversight Committee, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the New Mexico Congressional Delegation, staff for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Laboratory employees and other interested parties.
The Welch Study is the culmination of years of data collection and evaluation and examines pay and hiring issues at the Laboratory as well as how those issues affect minority and female workers. The Laboratory received the study late Friday and released it today, fulfilling a promise by Director Nanos, who pledged to have the study completed quickly and accurately, and to release it as soon at it became available.
"Today I have fulfilled an important promise to the people of Northern New Mexico and the employees of this Laboratory," Nanos said. "Now that the study is complete, I have asked several key departments within the Laboratory to review the findings of the Welch Study and provide recommendations for appropriate future actions. Our next steps forward will be guided by the highest principles of honesty, equity, fairness and openness. My commitment to this issue is unwavering."
The report can be found at http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/news/welch.shtmlonline.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.