Contamination incidents, work outages and declining infrastructure have plagued the site, but the lab remains the linchpin in an effort to modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons.
U.S. Department of Energy
Posted inArticles
La carrera armamentística nuclear pone a prueba el laboratorio de Los Álamos
El laboratorio donde Oppenheimer desarrolló la bomba atómica es el eje del esfuerzo de EE. UU. por modernizar sus armas nucleares. Pero el centro ha enfrentado incidentes de contaminación, interrupciones de obras e infraestructuras obsoletas.
Posted inArticles
Contamination threatens the last source of clean groundwater in west New Mexico
The toxic legacy of Cold War uranium mining and milling has shattered lives, destroyed homes and created a pollution problem for an entire region.
Posted inIssues
What happens after Utah’s coal-fired power plants close?
Department of Energy grants are helping eastern Utah plan for the energy transition.
Posted inArticles
The Department of Energy promised Yakama Nation $32 million for solar. It’s nearly impossible to access.
Held up by a series of bureaucratic hurdles, the funding could expire before the government lets the tribal nation touch a dime.
Posted inArticles
The New Mexico utility that wants to go all in on green hydrogen
The project, like the larger green hydrogen economy, will need to overcome skepticism from local communities and funding challenges.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods
Indigenous celebration of Hanford remembers the site before nuclear contamination
At the fourth annual Hanford Journey, Yakama Nation youth, elders and scientists share stories about a land that is a part of them.
Posted inJuly 2024
How the Nez Perce are using an energy transition to save salmon
The tribe is working to replace the generating capacity of the Lower Snake River dams with solar power.
Posted inArticles
Endangered wildflower threatened by Nevada lithium mine
Tiehm’s buckwheat is found nowhere else in the world, and the planned mine would sit square in its habitat.
Posted inArticles
Is carbon capture the solution for jobs and climate action in fossil fuel country?
A project in Wyoming’s coal region brings the new technology, but critics say it carries unacceptable risks.
Posted inArticles
The untold story of the Pacific Northwest’s nuclear past
‘Atomic Days’ offers a compelling, fact-packed introduction to the most toxic place in the nation.
Posted inArticles
A community sacrificed to uranium mine pollution
A mining company and government agencies repeatedly said they’d clean up waste in Homestake, New Mexico. Instead, they’re buying out homeowners.
Posted inArticles
In Alaska, coal is dwindling as green energy is on the rise
The closure of Healy Unit 2 signals a rise in renewable energy projects around Alaska.
Posted inArticles
Will carbon capture help clean New Mexico’s power, or delay its transition?
A virtually unknown company has a $1.4 billion plan to extend the life of the state’s largest coal-fired power plant. Critics say it’s likely to be a costly distraction from a just transition.
Posted inArticles
The shift to green energy, obstructed
A whole host of factors has thrown the transition away from fossil fuels to more sustainable forms of energy off track.
Posted inArticles
Two Southwest tribes raise concerns over uranium storage
Tribal communities in Arizona and Utah face environmental problems connected to the same radioactive resource: uranium.
Posted inArticles
40 years after its closure, the Jackpile Mine’s toxic legacy continues
‘They have to look at it every day and wonder if that’s the reason why they’re dying.’
Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities
As coal plants close, Wyoming looks toward nuclear
Is a new generation of nuclear technology a ‘shiny object’ or a solution to a faltering fossil fuel economy?
Posted inArticles
How yellowcake shaped the West
The ghosts of the uranium boom continue to haunt the land, water and people.
Posted inArticles
New Mexico eyed for major nuclear waste storage facility
Critics say virtual meetings bypassed rural communities and raise concerns about the company behind the proposal.