DOE Shield DOE Openness: Human Radiation Experiments: What's New
Finding Aids
What's New
HomeRoadmapWhat's NewSearch HREXMultimediaRelated SitesFeedback
Finding Aids
Radioactive Fallout

LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
Los Alamos, New Mexico

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) holds what is probably the largest single collection of records outside the CIC related to fallout from weapons tests. LANL has maintained both central and divisional files since the laboratory was established in 1943, and the collections are essentially complete. None of the pertinent records have been retired to federal records centers, and virtually none have been destroyed.

Most of the pertinent records are held at the LANL Records Center, which is well organized and maintained. Records on fallout in this collection fall into four categories:
  1. records of LANL divisions;
  2. classified records of the Communications and Records Management Office (CRMO);
  3. unclassified CRMO records; and
  4. records of the Manhattan Project.

Additional records are also held by operating divisions and by the Reports Library. The records of these organizations as well as those of the Records Center were screened and 34 cubic feet were copied for inclusion in the CIC. Size figures in all tables refer only to pertinent records and not entire collections.

Records of LANL Divisions

All materials transferred to the Records Center by LANL divisions are recorded on Transfer Requests (TRs), which are retained as the principal inventory documents for these materials. The division records are often files kept by individual scientists, and they are therefore somewhat eclectic in content and may contain documents duplicated in the central files; but, on the other hand, they often contain detailed information not available elsewhere. The TRs are filed by the organizational unit from which they came. For purposes of this survey, the TRs for the Weapon Test Division (J) and Health Physics Division (H) were used.

DESCRIPTION

POTENTIALLY RELEVANT (FEET)

HIGHEST CLASSIFICATION

VALUE

J Division Records 41 Secret/RD Essential
H Division Records 18 Secret/RD Essential

Classified CRMO Records

Since the establishment of the laboratory in 1943, LANL has maintained central files. From time to time, portions of these files have been transferred to the Records Center. Because these transfers have been within the CRMO, no Transfer Requests are prepared; but the Records Center does maintain a general description of the files. The files are organized on the Dewey Decimal System. All Dewey Decimal categories in the index were examined. Pertinent information was found in the following categories:

DESCRIPTION

POTENTIALLY RELEVANT (FEET)

HIGHEST CLASSIFICATION

VALUE

200.5 Accidents 2 Secret/RD Essential
230.61 Fallout 1 Secret/RD Essential
635 Projects 36 Secret/RD Useful

In 1983, HAI reviewed all but approximately 70 cubic feet of these documents.

Unclassified CRMO Files

The unclassified CRMO files have been microfilmed and the hard copy destroyed. The Records Center has an index covering approximately 2,500 rolls of microfilm. The index was examined for the same categories used for the classified CRMO files. Pertinent records were found as follows:

DESCRIPTION

POTENTIALLY RELEVANT (FEET)

HIGHEST CLASSIFICATION

VALUE

200.5 Accidents 22 Unclassified Essential
635 Projects 33 Unclassified Essential
230.61 Fallout 4 Unclassified Essential
334 Boards and Committees 11 Unclassified Useful
319.1 Reports 3 Unclassified Useful
471.6 Weapon Tests 5 Unclassified Useful
314.7 Histories 6 Unclassified Peripheral
322 Organizations 9 Unclassified Peripheral

Manhattan Project Records

The Records Center holds the laboratory's records documenting the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. The collection consists of 29 boxes, of which 3 contained information pertinent to fallout.

DESCRIPTION

POTENTIALLY RELEVANT (FEET)

HIGHEST CLASSIFICATION

VALUE

Manhattan Project Records 29 Secret/RD Peripheral

Records Still Held by LANL Divisions

Although many divisions have transferred their records to the Records Center, some still retain files relating to fallout in their offices. Files of the J Division are still retained by the NSP/T&V Division. H Division also continues to hold pertinent files. The entire collection was surveyed, and the following pertinent files were identified:

DESCRIPTION

POTENTIALLY RELEVANT (FEET)

HIGHEST CLASSIFICATION

VALUE

J Division Files 17 Secret/RD Essential
H Division Files 4 Secret/RD Essential

CONTACTS AT RECORDS CENTER

Tony Rivera or Clara Salazar
Mail Stop C-322
CRM-1
Archives Records, Forms, & Micrographic Management
University of California
Los Alamos National Laboratory
P.O. Box 1663
Los Alamos, NM 87545

(505) 667-5079

Los Alamos Reports Library

The LANL Reports Library contains thousands of reports, both classified and unclassified, on all aspects of weapons testing. The reports are cross-indexed by topic, author, test series, subheadings within the test series, and research organizations. Thus, not all pertinent material is to be found under "Fallout" as a heading. By utilizing the subheadings under "Fallout" and checking each test series for related reports, it was possible to develop a list of specific reports pertinent to the survey. More than 900 reports were identified.

DESCRIPTION

POTENTIALLY RELEVANT (FEET)

HIGHEST CLASSIFICATION

VALUE

LANL Technical Reports 25 Secret/RD Useful

CONTACT AT TECHNICAL REPORTS LIBRARY

Dan Baca, IS-4
Los Alamos Report Library
Los Alamos National Laboratory
P.O. Box 1663
Mail Stop 5000 (for classified) and Mail Stop P364 (unclassified)
Los Alamos, NM 87545

(505) 667-4446

HAI COLLECTION EFFORT
(volume in cubic feet)

DESCRIPTION

SCREENED

SELECTED

IN PROCESS

SENT TO CIC

LANL Collections 266 34.8 0 34.8


lefttable of contentsforward