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Wildfire Threatens Los Alamos Labs

Posted by timothy on from the batten-down-the-hatches dept.

1sockchuck writes "A fast-moving wildfire has closed the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a Department of Energy facility responsible for weapons design and a vast array of research, as well as two of the world's top supercomputers. Lab officials said all radioactive and hazardous material had been accounted for and protected." Adds an anonymous reader: "I live near LANL and apparently they have begun to evacuate the whole town. Here is some information I've received through an email chain: 'Our main concern is that the Las Conchas fire is about 3 1/2 miles from Area G, the dumpsite that has been in operation since the late 1950s/early 1960s. There are 20,000 to 30,000 55-gallons drums of plutonium contaminated waste (containing solvents, chemicals and toxic materials) sitting in fabric tents above ground. These drums are destined for WIPP. ... We understand that LANL has been working since late last night to build a fire line in Water Canyon, between the fire and Area G. ... Over the last 26 hours the fire has grown from 0 acres to about 45,000 acres – about the size of the Cerro Grande fire in 2000."

5 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. More info by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is a fire very close to Los Alamos National Laboratory. They have begun to evacuate the whole town. Here is some info from someone on the ground: Our main concern is that the Las Conchas fire is about 3 1/2 miles from Area G, the dumpsite that has been in operation since the late 1950s/early 1960s. There are 20,000 to 30,000 55-gallons drums of plutonium contaminated waste (containing solvents, chemicals and toxic materials) sitting in fabric tents above ground. These drums are destined for WIPP. We understand that LANL has been working since late last night to build a fire line in Water Canyon, between the fire and Area G. Over the last 26 hours the fire has grown from 0 acres to about 45,000 acres – about the size of the Cerro Grande fire in 2000.

  2. I Live in New Mexico by DrJimbo · · Score: 4, Informative

    The fire danger has never been higher. Some places make it against the law to even smoke outside. Over the past month there have been days when we've been inundated with smoke from the wildfires in Arizona. It is hot, dry, and windy.

    You would think that selling and setting off fireworks would also be illegal this year (it is usually allowed for a week before and after July 4th, but this hasn't stopped people from lauching fireworks whenever they want to) yet there are huge tents in the parking lots of all the grocery stores selling fireworks. The reason is that in New Mexico there is a state law that makes it illegal for communities to ban the sale and use of fireworks. Instead of working to fix this crazy law, the governor asked New Mexicans to "exercise caution and restraint when it comes to using fireworks."

    Is this a great state or what?

    --
    We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
    -- Anais Nin
    1. Re:I Live in New Mexico by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      I too, live in New Mexico. Most people I've talked to don't realize how dry it is right now. It has been over 9 months since some parts of the state, like Silver City, have had rain. We are supposed to be in the rainy season right now, but instead we are in the worst drought since the dustbowl. I went camping last weekend and I saw 3 different fires all on my way back to town. It regularly snows ash, and sometimes the city is so covered in smoke it looks like thick fog. The air quality gets so low that you can't go outside. Normally that wouldn't be an issue, but around here, most people have swamp coolers, these devices that cool the outside air via evaporation and pump it inside. It's a really cheap way of cooling your house, but it doesn't filter the air well, so it doesn't really change anything. I regularly feel like I'm not getting enough oxygen. Its a really scary feeling..

  3. It's going to be bad by DesertJazz · · Score: 3, Informative

    I was up in the mountains about 7 miles away when it started... It's ridiculously dry right now, high winds, and high temps. All that's going to be possible is evacuating people. The bad thing is it's going in the opposite direction of the 2000 fire, so there's plenty of fuel. The Bandalier National park has had about half of it's area burned so far as of earlier today. Thoughts and prayers to all who are in its path.

  4. Re:Oh geee. by Gertlex · · Score: 2, Informative

    Haha. No. (At point 2)

    Fukushima has six reactor cores worth of nuclear material (25000 kg of Uranium per core - example is specifically the 1 GW Westinghouse AP1000 reactor), plus the spent fuel. The weapons program testing stuff has largely been moved to Nevada deserts, from what I've heard. It's not the good ole days of putting two hemispheres of HEU (on the order of several inches diameter) together and counting neutrons... there's minimal material of note in Los Alamos. (That's why we have the super computers that were mentioned.)

    Yes, I work(ed?) at LANL.

    (Point 1 has, IMO, been addressed by the Lab's press release... Not that the media cares.)