Los Alamos

Los Alamos, uninc. town (1990 pop. 11,455), seat of Los Alamos co., N central N.Mex. It is on a long mesa extending from the Jemez Mts. The U.S. government chose the site in 1942 for atomic research, and the first atomic bombs were produced there. In 1947 the Atomic Energy Commission took over the town. In 1962 government control ended and Los Alamos became a self-governing community; the county was incorporated in 1969. The Los Alamos National Laboratory, operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, is a national historic landmark. Research there has broadened to include work on environmental (oceanographic models, clean air and water), energy, computer, laser, chaos theory, and biomedical (gene mapping) issues. Los Alamos is home also to the Bradbury Science Museum and a historical museum. Valles Caldera National Preserve, Santa Fe National Forest, Bandelier National Monument, and Santa Clara pueblo are nearby.

Town (pop., 2000: 11,909), north-central New Mexico, U.S. It lies on the Pajarito plateau of the Jemez Mountains, northwest of Santa Fe. The site was chosen by the U.S. government in 1942 as the location for the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb. After World War II, the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory developed the first nuclear fusion bomb. The town was built to house laboratory employees; it is still the site of a major nuclear research facility.

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Los Alamos usually refers to the U.S. national laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico which was founded during the World War II effort to develop the atomic bomb (the Manhattan Project). The facility was one of the two laboratories developing the USA's nuclear weapons during the Cold War, and is today a major laboratory for both classified and unclassified scientific research:

• Los Alamos National Laboratory

(See also: Bradbury Science Museum - the museum that is part of the Los Alamos.)

It is also the name of a number of geographical locations in the USA:

• Los Alamos, California
• Los Alamos, New Mexico — the city where the laboratory is located
• Los Alamos Ranch School — the boys' school the laboratory replaced
• Los Alamos County, New Mexico

And in Chile:

• Los Álamos

At least one ship also carried the name:

• Los Alamos (AFDB-7) was a large floating dry dock.

It is also the name of a book by the photographer William Eggleston.