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Los Alamos nuclear lab: New Mexico fire forces closure | |
(about 14 hours later) | |
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. | |
Only "essential-duties" staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory will be permitted on site on Wednesday. | |
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 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. |