Editing Los Alamos National Laboratory (section)

===Safety management===

In August 2011, the close placement of eight plutonium rods for a photo nearly led to a criticality incident. The photo shoot, which was directed by the laboratory's management, was one of several factors relating to unsafe management practices that led to the departure of 12 of the lab's 14 safety staff.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-28 |title=A near-disaster at a federal nuclear weapons laboratory takes a hidden toll on America's arsenal |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/near-disaster-federal-nuclear-weapons-laboratory-takes-hidden-toll-america-s-arsenal |language=en |doi=10.1126/science.aan7026}}</ref> The criticality incident was one of several that led the Department of Energy to seek alternative bids to manage the laboratory after the 2018 expiration of the LANS contract.<ref name=sciencemag-20180119/>

The lab was penalized with a $57&nbsp;million reduction in its 2014 budget over the February 14, 2014, accident at the [[Waste Isolation Pilot Plant]] for which it was partly responsible.<ref>W.J. Hennigan and Ralph Vartabedian: [http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-los-alamos-fine-20150111-story.html ''Los Alamos lab contractor loses $57 million over nuclear waste accident'']. Los Angeles Times, January 11, 2015.</ref>

In August 2017, the improper storage of plutonium metal could have triggered a [[criticality accident]], and subsequently staff failed to declare the failure as required by procedure.<ref name=sciencemag-20180119>{{cite news |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/after-safety-breaches-new-los-alamos-director-pushes-accountability-nuclear-weapons-lab |title=After safety breaches, new Los Alamos director pushes for accountability at nuclear weapons lab |last=Reese |first=April |newspaper=Science |date=January 19, 2018 |access-date=January 20, 2018}}</ref><ref name=abqjournal-20170922>{{cite news |url=https://www.abqjournal.com/1067835/report-criticality-event-occured-at-lanl-plutonium-facility.html |title='Criticality safety event' occurred at LANL's plutonium facility |last=Oswald |first=Mark |newspaper=Albuquerque Journal |date=September 22, 2017 |access-date=January 20, 2018}}</ref>