‘There’s not a lot of space for expansion’
LANL town hall addresses community concerns on housing, road safety, the environment
Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Thom Mason and LANL’s Science, Technology, and Engineering Executive Officer Angela Mielke held a virtual town hall Tuesday evening, Jan. 21, addressing several local concerns while also promoting the Lab’s recent achievements and future plans. Questions were submitted both before and during the meeting via email.
LANL hiring and growth stabilizing
LANL's explosive growth appears to be tapering off. At the town hall, Mason announced that hiring will drop to 1,200 new employees this year — less than half of 2023’s historic peak of 2,500 hires.
The scale of LANL’s recent expansion is striking: the Lab’s workforce has grown from 11,743 employees in 2017 to about 18,000 today. This growth has dramatically impacted both commuting patterns and housing costs. Currently, 67% of LANL employees commute from outside the county, while housing prices have soared — the average Los Alamos home now sells for $524,750, up from $298,892 in 2017.
There are some signs the housing market might be loosening: available listings have increased from just 13 homes two years ago to 36 homes today. However, Mason acknowledged that even with hiring slowing down, housing pressures won’t disappear. He expects the Lab’s population to stabilize within two to three years but said that many recent hires are early-career staff who will likely seek larger homes as they advance.
The challenge? Los Alamos has virtually no land left for traditional suburban development. “There’s not a lot of space for expansion, whether that’s for housing or commercial and retail,” said Mason. “That’s why I think some of the efforts to get a little bit more creative and maybe build up a little bit can help.”
Traffic safety remains a priority
Mason said that speed-monitoring efforts are beginning to show results, citing declining numbers from both on-site cameras and GPS tracking of government vehicles. While he didn’t provide specific statistics, this marks the Lab’s first public assertion of measurable improvement in traffic safety.
While LANL has deployed speed monitoring units on the Truck Route, Mason said the Lab itself cannot issue speeding tickets or fines. Though that road belongs to DOE, traffic enforcement falls to local police through mutual agreements. Meanwhile, the other main commuter route — NM 502, which includes Main Hill Road and Trinity Drive — remains under state jurisdiction, which complicates plans to improve road safety for the approximately 10,000 Lab workers who rely on it.
The jurisdictional tangle has created tensions with local officials. “Chief Sgambellone and I both feel we’re not engaging with our counterparts, with LANL and DOE,” said Juan Rael, now Deputy County Manager but then Public Works Director. He was addressing County Council during an October road-safety meeting. At Tuesday’s town hall, Mason did not address this reported communication gap, focusing instead on measures within LANL’s direct control.
With injury crashes more than doubling since 2017, and two fatal crashes on commuter roads in 2024 alone, pressure is mounting for more comprehensive solutions. “LANL created this problem,” resident James Wernicke told officials at October’s meeting, urging stronger action from the Lab. Mason conceded Tuesday that broader road safety improvements will require better coordination between DOE, state transportation officials, and local law enforcement, but he didn’t specify how that coordination might improve.
Remote work to continue despite executive order
Following President Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order requiring federal employees to return to in-person work, many LANL employees expressed concerns on social media about losing their telework arrangements. Mason clarified that the order applies only to federal employees, not LANL’s contractor workforce.
Because classified work and experimental research must be done on-site, “The vast majority of our employees are already at work every day,” Mason said. However, employees who telework will continue to do so — not just for flexibility, but out of necessity. “We do not have the space to accommodate everyone on site,” Mason said, citing the Lab’s recent growth. “Telework has become really important in just managing the sheer size of our workforce.”
Downtown impact: Lab seeks to ease commercial space pressure
Mason directly addressed ongoing community frustration about LANL’s impact on downtown Los Alamos real estate, particularly claims that the Lab drives up commercial lease rates by competing with local businesses for storefront space.
“It’s not in our best interest to crowd out local businesses because I think it would hurt us in terms of recruiting and retention,” Mason said, adding that the Lab would like to see a vibrant business district with restaurants and amenities to make Los Alamos more attractive to potential employees.
The Lab is exploring consolidating its leased space, using Santa Fe’s Pacheco Center as an example. Mason said Los Alamos County’s “landlocked” nature — constrained by Lab property, national forest, and tribal lands — requires thinking outside the box.
Environmental concerns and safety updates
Is Acid Canyon safe?
Mason addressed claims of plutonium contamination in Acid Canyon, popular with local hikers. Following a comprehensive cleanup in 2001, continuous monitoring confirms plutonium levels remain “well below any threshold of concern,” he said.
Mason dismissed recent comparisons to Chernobyl as baseless. He noted wryly that the real danger in the canyons comes not from plutonium but from feral cattle, referencing a recent incident where an employee was injured after a cow charged him during a run.
Wildfire preparedness
With the memory of the Cerro Pelado fire still fresh — Mielke said the 2022 wildfire came within 1,000 feet of her home — wildfire preparedness remains a pressing concern. Mason said the Lab’s extensive preparations include removing excess combustible material to prevent rapid fire spread, maintaining clearance between trees and power lines, and investing in equipment to assist firefighters, as was done during the Cerro Pelado fire.
Nearly 20 years of below-normal precipitation has created ongoing fire risks, making preparation nonnegotiable, he said: “We certainly want to be in that position in the future where the Laboratory is well prepared and able to assist the community, should such things occur.”
Power upgrade necessity
Mason addressed the controversial Electric Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) project, saying the transmission-line upgrade is critical for future operations, particularly a new supercomputer planned for 2027. While LANL explored renewable energy alternatives, Mason said Los Alamos’s geography and the need for 24/7 power make local generation impractical, necessitating the transmission upgrade.
“It’s really important that we complete this on time,” he said of the EPCU.
Lab achievements and future direction
Mason and Mielke spent the bulk of the town hall outlining Lab achievements and plans. After touting LANL’s first “excellent” rating from the National Nuclear Security Administration in more than 20 years, Mason and Mielke charted new directions for the Lab, particularly in artificial intelligence.
The New Mexico AI Consortium, a partnership between LANL, Sandia National Laboratory, and state educational institutions, aims to build a stronger tech-workforce pipeline, said Mielke: “Ultimately, the goal is to bring in new entrepreneurs and startups in the AI world into New Mexico.”
The Lab also plans to hold public consultation sessions throughout February regarding its Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS), where residents can provide input on future developments. “The intent is to describe what the future looks like,” said Mason, “And make sure that we plan for that future in a way that properly respects the environment, the beautiful environment in which we’re located.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that no live questions were allowed at the LANL town hall. In fact, live questions were accepted via email throughout the event. The article has been updated to reflect this.
I mean, how tall can you stack a pile of shit?
If there is no building space in Los Alamos then go up is a great idea! Wonder how Los Alamos would look.