From left, LANL Deputy Director of Public Affairs Lexi Petronis moderates a virtual town hall meeting Monday night hosted by LANL Director Thom Mason and NNSA Los Alamos Field Office Manager Ted Wyka. Screenshot/LADP

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

Economic development, Russia’s decision to exit the New START treaty and the status of various programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the NNSA Los Alamos Field Office were big topics during a virtual town hall meeting Monday night.

NNSA Field Office Manager Ted Wyka and LANL Director Thom Mason hosted the meeting, which was moderated by LANL Deputy Director of Public Affairs Lexi Petronis.

It would seem now more than any time since the Cold War, the laboratory’s importance is really evident, Mason said.

“…it is certainly true right now that perhaps more than any time since the height of the Cold War the importance of our mission at Los Alamos has been really highlighted,” he said. “With the two political tensions we see around the world – Ukraine, obviously, Russia, China, our people are helping ensure the reliability of the deterrent that serves as the ultimate guarantor of our security, (and) also detecting weapons of mass destruction, and we do that by advancing the frontiers of science, engineering (and) computing.”

Mason touched on a few areas of focus for the laboratory, including LANL’s transition to clean energy and tackling climate change. Mason noted that the laboratory has a road map to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Another major focus is the hiring and retention of employees. Mason said there is a desire for the laboratory to be the employer of choice. In Fiscal Year 2022, 2,077 new employees were hired, he reported, adding that 60 percent of those new employees came from New Mexico. To ensure people want to work and stay at the laboratory, Mason said good pay is offered. Starting salary is $103,000 and the laboratory offers compensation, fully paid disability insurance, longer maternity and parental leave, better matches in its 401K retirement program and increased childcare capacity.

Other employee needs being addressed are transportation and housing, Mason said.

While these are things that LANL relies on surrounding communities to provide, he said, “We are trying to encourage things like van pools … we are also launching a pilot park and ride bus system that will take employees from a secure parking location in Pojoaque directly to the TA 55 site … I am encouraged that the developer community … has been responding to some of the housing needs. Just in Los Alamos County alone there are around 370 units under construction and that takes a lot of work. We have been talking about the growth for a number of years and there is a pipeline to get new housing underway and we are starting to see the results of that …”

LANL not only has a significant impact on employment in the region but also economic development. Mason noted last year, its procurement totaled $2.1 billion. Additionally, the laboratory paid $136 million in gross receipts taxes to the state. Mason said that LANL awarded $915 million in contracts to New Mexico businesses and of that amount, $613 million was given to small businesses. He added that the laboratory attempts to spur economic development in the region by leasing facilities outside of Los Alamos such as in Santa Fe and Espanola. Mason further reported that LANL partners with Sandia National Laboratories through the New Mexico Small Business Assistance program and supports Regional Development Corporation.

As far as the work being done at the laboratory, Mason said the lab’s new supercomputers are on their way. He said Crossroads will be delivered later this year and it has already begun taking delivery of the initial test cabinets, which look promising. Furthermore, a machine called Venado is pushing the envelope on new novel technology that may represent the future of high-performance computing. Mason added that LANL is working with other national laboratories, industries and universities to collaborate on the Quantum Science Center to accelerate the design of novel quantum technologies. Finally, he said one of the roles in the lab’s nuclear nonproliferation programs is developing systems that are payloads in GPS satellites to detect nuclear detonation that has become a particular interest due to the war in Ukraine.

On the NNSA Los Alamos Field Office’s side, Wyka said major areas of focus include waste management, transporting waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), addressing fire mitigation and providing stakeholder engagement.

During the question-and-answer period, topics range from the environment and Russia to economic development and hiring.

Touching on the environmental responsibilities at the field office and lab, Wyka said, “Everything we do … it’s all about complying with the safety requirements, security requirements as well as the environmental regulations. We all have a role no matter what we do (to achieve) environmental compliance.”

Regarding Russia and its announcement to pull out of the New START treaty, Mason said, “…In our nuclear nonproliferation programs they develop technologies that allows us to verify compliance with treaties. That is a very important element of treaties … the recent announcement by Russia was actually simply a statement of what has been a situation for a while – that they are no longer willing to allow those inspections … that does make the job more challenging of verifying compliance but that’s one of the roles that the labs play – developing technologies for verifying compliance with partners that are cooperative and in the event that partners are not cooperative, we have a responsibility to try to understand what’s going on by other means, which are usually called national technical means of verification…”

When asked about the economic impact of LANL, Mason said, “If you look at the economic footprint … we are the largest employer and the largest contractor to other companies in the whole region and that has a huge impact on the economy.”

On a related topic, both Wyka and Mason discussed the hiring situation at the lab.

Wyka said it is important to reach out to the youth and partner with schools and universities to communicate what the lab’s needs are.

“…it’s all about getting to the youth early (and getting) into the junior high schools, high schools to let them know the opportunities are out here, that they can have a 30-year career … (and) do something exciting …,” he said.

Mason put in a plug for LANL’s job portal, which is lanl.jobs.

“We need pretty much every imaginable skill,” he said.

When asked about the status of the transuranic (TRU) waste, Mason said shipments to WIPP have increased from just one shipment a week in 2019 to up to three or four shipments a week. He added that the waste is getting removed faster than it is being produced.

Finally, when asked about pit production, Mason said five pits were made in the first quarter of the 2023 fiscal year and since then another two were produced and a third is on its way.

“We are ramping up production,” he said.