Editing Sandia National Laboratories (section)

== Technical areas ==
[[File:Sandia national laboratories researcher (46702906002).jpg|thumb|A researcher displays a model of the Big Hill cavern field in Texas, part of the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve]]
SNL/NM consists of five technical areas (TA) and several additional test areas. Each TA has its own distinctive operations; however, the operations of some groups at Sandia may span more than one TA, with one part of a team working on a problem from one angle, and another subset of the same team located in a different building or area working with other specialized equipment. A description of each area is given below.

TA-I operations are dedicated primarily to three activities: the design, research, and development of [[weapon]] systems; limited production of weapon system components; and energy programs. TA-I facilities include the main [[library]] and offices, [[laboratory|laboratories]], and shops used by administrative and technical staff.

TA-II is a {{convert|45|acre|m2|adj=on|abbr=on}} facility that was established in 1948 for the assembly of chemical [[explosive material|high explosive]] main [[explosive material|charges]] for [[nuclear weapons]] and later for production scale assembly of nuclear weapons. Activities in TA-II include the [[decontamination]], [[nuclear decommissioning|decommissioning]], and [[Environmental remediation|remediation]] of facilities and [[landfills]] used in past research and development activities. Remediation of the Classified Waste Landfill which started in March 1998, neared completion in FY2000. A testing facility, the Explosive Component Facility, integrates many of the previous TA-II test activities as well as some testing activities previously performed in other remote test areas. The Access Delay Technology Test Facility is also located in TA-II.

TA-III is adjacent to and south of TA-V [both are approximately {{convert|7|mi|km|spell=in}} south of TA-I]. TA-III facilities include extensive design-test facilities such as [[rocket sled]] tracks, [[centrifuge]]s and a radiant [[heat]] facility. Other facilities in TA-III include a paper destructor, the Melting and Solidification Laboratory and the Radioactive and Mixed Waste Management Facility (RMWMF). RMWMF serves as central processing facility for packaging and storage of low-level and mixed waste. The remediation of the Chemical Waste Landfill, which started in September 1998, is an ongoing activity in TA-III.

TA-IV, located approximately {{convert|1/2|mi|km}} south of TA-I, consists of several inertial-confinement [[nuclear fusion|fusion]] research and pulsed power research facilities, including the High Energy Radiation Megavolt Electron Source (Hermes-III), the [[Z Pulsed Power Facility|Z Facility]], the Short Pulsed High Intensity Nanosecond X-Radiator (SPHINX) Facility, and the Saturn Accelerator. TA-IV also hosts some computer science and cognition research.

TA-V contains two research [[nuclear reactor technology|reactor]] facilities, an intense [[gamma ray|gamma]] irradiation facility (using [[cobalt|cobalt-60]] and [[caesium|caesium-137]] sources), and the [[Hot Cell]] Facility.

SNL/NM also has test areas outside of the five technical areas listed above. These test areas, collectively known as Coyote Test Field, are located southeast of TA-III and/or in the canyons on the west side of the Manzanita Mountains. Facilities in the Coyote Canyon Test Field include the Solar Tower Facility (34.9623 N, 106.5097 W), the Lurance Canyon Burn Site and the Aerial Cable Facility.

=== DOE/SNL Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWIFT) Facility ===
In collaboration with the Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) of [[United States Department of Energy|U.S. Department of Energy]], [[Texas Tech University]], and the [[Vestas]] wind turbine corporation, SNL operates the Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWiFT) Facility in Lubbock, Texas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DOE/SNL Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWiFT) Facility {{!}} National Wind Institute {{!}} TTU |url=https://www.depts.ttu.edu/nwi/research/facilities/swift.php |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=www.depts.ttu.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sandia National Laboratories |url=https://energy.sandia.gov/ |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=Energy |language=en-US}}</ref>