Los Alamos nuclear lab: New Mexico fire forces closure

[Gerald]

Doug Tucker, Los Alamos fire chief: "We're doing our best to keep it off the lab"

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.

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.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13937781


Note: 28 June 2011 Last updated at 14:36 GMT