Laboratory officials told the Science, Technology and Telecommunications Committee that Los Alamos National Laboratory is continuing weapons support, expanding computing and science facilities and investing in workforce and community partnerships.

A senior LANL official said the lab assembled the first B61‑13 gravity bomb ahead of schedule and that the Venato supercomputer recently moved onto classified networks. The lab has begun 24‑7 operations at a plutonium facility to support pit production, the official said.

Kathy Keith, director of LANL's Community Partnerships Office, described workforce and education programs: the lab hosted about 1,900 students on campus this summer and has traveling STEM trailers that reached roughly 5,000 New Mexico students since January 1. Keith gave a multi‑pronged summary of higher‑education investments: $3,000,000 for project management and nuclear engineering at the University of New Mexico; $4,400,000 in radiological control, materials and engineering at New Mexico State University; and $3,100,000 for materials and engineering at New Mexico Tech.

The laboratory also said it has begun production of the medical isotope actinium‑225 for clinical cancer trials and launched Monsoon‑1, a suborbital flight test from White Sands intended to support stockpile responsiveness experiments.

Officials discussed workforce pressures in northern New Mexico: about 8,000 people commute daily to the laboratory, and roughly 60 percent of LANL employees live outside Los Alamos County, the lab said. The lab said it will pursue student‑housing solutions and has supported an expanded bilingual Montessori childcare facility licensed for up to 170 children. Laboratory leaders told members they expect to hire 800–1,000 people in the next fiscal year depending on federal funding.

Ending: The briefing did not propose legislation; committee members said the lab's work and workforce plans will shape parts of their oversight and constituent engagement during the site tour and follow‑up sessions.