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Los Alamos nuclear lab: New Mexico fire reaches border Los Alamos nuclear lab: New Mexico fire forces closure
(about 14 hours later)
A New Mexico wildfire has breached the boundary of Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the top nuclear weapons research facilities in the US. One of the top nuclear weapons research facilities in the US will remain closed until Thursday as fire fighters battle a wildfire raging at its boundary.
On Monday, officials said that they had detected "no off-site releases of contamination" and said the facilities face "no immediate threat". Only "essential-duties" staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory will be permitted on site on Wednesday.
The lab was closed on Monday and was to remain so on Tuesday. The surrounding town has been ordered evacuated. Officials at the New Mexico facility have said they detected "no off-site releases of contamination".
The town outside the laboratory in the state of New Mexico was evacuated on Monday as the fire raged nearby.
Officials said the nuclear facilities faced "no immediate threat" but warned of damage to houses.
The lab, opened during World War II, led the development of the atomic bomb.The lab, opened during World War II, led the development of the atomic bomb.
By Monday evening, the Las Conchas fire had burned through 49,000 acres of forests, canyons, and mesas to the south and west of the lab in northern New Mexico. By late Monday, the Las Conchas fire had grown to 68 sq miles (176 sq km), burning through forests, canyons, and mesas, fuelled by dry timber and powered by strong winds.
Authorities warned it could triple in size in the coming days, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The fire had reached the lab's southwestern boundary and leapt a state road onto the land, burning roughly an acre, state fire officials said.The fire had reached the lab's southwestern boundary and leapt a state road onto the land, burning roughly an acre, state fire officials said.
"No facilities face immediate threat, and all nuclear and hazardous materials are accounted for and protected," officials said in a statement."No facilities face immediate threat, and all nuclear and hazardous materials are accounted for and protected," officials said in a statement.
The lab employs about 11,800 people, and about 12,000 people live in the town of Los Alamos.The lab employs about 11,800 people, and about 12,000 people live in the town of Los Alamos.
"That's the biggest threat we have right now to homes in the community," Deputy Los Alamos County Fire Chief Mike Thompson told the Associated Press.
The southwestern US has been stricken by giant wildfires this year, with millions of acres scorched in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
To the west of New Mexico, the largest wildfire in the history of the state of Arizona has been burning for nearly a month.