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Article: New Mexico goes head-to-head with a nuclear juggernaut; As Los Alamos National Laboratory embarks on a new era of weapons development, critics drag its unfinished business out into the light
- Article from:
- High Country News
- Article date:
- November 24, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright High Country News Nov 24, 2003. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The thing most people notice about northern New Mexico is the clarity of its sunlight: On most days, the sky is a crystalline blue. The sagebrush, juniper and piñon offer three distinct shades of green, while the mesas have their own variations of sandstone red and volcanic black.
But "sunshine" is not a word that comes to mind for most people when they think of Pajarito Plateau. Perched above the Rio Grande Valley, 35 miles from Santa Fe, this tableland mesa is flanked by the Jemez Mountains and sliced by jagged canyons. For 60 years, the plateau has been shrouded in secrecy.
In 1943, Pajarito Plateau became home to the nation's atomic experiment when the Army Corps of Engineers built ...