If you approach Bandelier from the east, you'll pass
Los Alamos National Laboratory
, the main US center for the research and development of
nuclear weapons
(as well as neurobiology, computer science, and solar and geothermal energy). Virtually all the work at this, one of the foremost scientific research establishments in the world, is military-based, and consequently most of the complex is off limits - the small and over-simplified
Bradbury Science Museum
(Tues-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat-Mon 1-5pm; free) is the only part you can visit. What's both remarkable and unnerving about the place is that the people who work here seem oblivious to the fact that not everybody has learned to love the Bomb. The local radio station is called KBOM, and museum guides glow with excitement as they describe their weapons' devastating power. Judging by the visitors' register, a sizeable percentage of visitors come here as a sort of pilgrimage from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Copyright Rough Guides Ltd as trustee for its authors. Published by Rough Guides. All rights reserved. The Rough Guides name is a trademark of Rough Guides Ltd.
Copyright © 2006 United States.biz
