Lab's Role in Complex Transformation

Summary Sheet

Los Alamos National Laboratory plays a vital role in U.S. national security and national defense

No other laboratory is equipped to fill that role quickly or efficiently.

• Los Alamos National Laboratory plays a lead role in ensuring the safety, security, and reliability of US stockpile of nuclear weapons, and has done so for decades.
• The Lab's experience, capabilities, and location allow it to perform nuclear and nuclear-related work that cannot be efficiently performed elsewhere.
• Sustaining the safety and reliability of our weapons stockpile, while simultaneously reducing the number of actual weapons and streamlining the overall national defense system, requires on-going research and innovation.
• Los Alamos National Laboratory provides the fundamental science-based understanding of nuclear weapon physics and performance, and that understanding allows the U.S. to have confidence in our weapons systems without the need for further nuclear testing.

At the frontline of deterrence and national security

Maintaining the security of the U.S. requires us to have both a nuclear weapons stockpile and a nuclear weapons research and development and production capability.

• Today's stockpile is dramatically smaller than it was just a few years ago, and it has been reduced by more than 50% since 2001.
• As stockpiled weapons age, however, they must be maintained to the highest standards to ensure constant readiness.
• To maintain the current stockpile, and the option to eventually replace aging weapons if Congress chooses to do so, Los Alamos must maintain the ability to conduct advanced nuclear research, understand nuclear performance, verify weapons systems, and further refine and improve nuclear weapons technology.
• Put more simply, it is critical that LANL maintain the ability to fix anything in need of repair and to replace critical weapons components when they eventually become inoperable. To accomplish this effort, Los Alamos must maintain cutting-edge research, development, experimental, and computing technologies.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is the most diverse scientific institution in the world

The scientific innovation and technologies that maintain and enhance our nation's nuclear defense capability also make major contributions in meeting today's pressing healthcare, environmental, energy, and technological needs.

• Healthcare: LANL is conducting breakthrough research in the treatment of communicable diseases, including AIDS and avian flu. The Lab also produces vitally important medical radioisotopes for diagnostic purposes and is assisting with the Human Genome Project, which began at LANL.
• Environment: LANL is directly involved in advancing hydrogen fuel cells to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, as well as developing and mapping key global climate change data.
• Energy: LANL is supporting the FutureGen project, designed to develop the world's first coal-fueled, zero-emissions electric generating plant.
• Technology: LANL is home to one of the world's fastest supercomputers, the Roadrunner, which can perform 70 trillion calculations per second and provides solutions to the most complex math, science and physics problems that confront scientific, technological, business, and social advancement. LANL has also been directly involved in
  • the re-armoring of Humvees being used in Iraq, making them more resistant to attacks
  • the development and operation of "Project Angel Fire," which provides real-time information to soldiers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regarding opposition activities and troops

The global security environment is changing

The U.S. must maintain its leadership positions in both technology and weapons systems in order to reassure U.S. allies and dissuade adversaries.

• Today's U.S. nuclear weapons complex is becoming outdated and inefficient, and the facilities and infrastructure that support our national defense need to be modernized and streamlined.
• Key facilities at LANL, which are not replicated at other national labs, are in need of replacement due to aging and advances in technology.
• The personnel who will maintain our national defense systems in the future need to be educated, recruited,, and trained today, and a key element in achieving those goals is having the best facilities and technology available.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is playing a key role in transforming our nation's nuclear complex

The Laboratory and the NNSA Complex will be smaller, more efficient, and more capable of meeting today's challenges to our national security.

• By constantly advancing technology and improving our understanding of nuclear weapons systems, LANL's research work enables further reductions in the actual number of nuclear weapons we need to maintain a credible deterrent.
• Using cutting-edge technology and sophisticated computer modeling, LANL can verify the effectiveness of weapons systems, and assess changes to weapons in the stockpile, without direct nuclear testing.
• Several key facilities at LANL are outdated and in need of replacement. The replacement facilities will be smaller and more modern, use 21st century security technology, and consolidate functions that are today performed at several locations around the country. This will result in cost savings through greater workplace efficiency, increased safety through the use of state-of-the-art equipment and reduced movement of nuclear materials, and an enhanced ability to meet evolving national security challenges.