Los Alamos to host inaugural nuclear forum with national leaders

Los Alamos will host the inaugural Nuclear Forum on Aug. 25 at the SALA Event Center & Theater, drawing U.S. Department of Energy leadership, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories experts, utility executives, investors, Tribal representatives and community stakeholders into town for a day focused on nuclear policy and deployment. The forum’s public materials make clear it is meant to be more than a ceremonial stop: in-person registration is $299, virtual attendance is $199, and the lineup is built around people who shape investment, regulation and technology choices in the nuclear sector.

The event website frames the forum with the slogans “Where history inspires innovation” and “Powering the next generation of nuclear deployment,” and describes it as “Built in New Mexico. Deployed for the Nation.” A posted agenda for Aug. 25 schedules registration, networking and breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the SALA Event Center & Theater, followed by welcome remarks under the title “Building in New Mexico. Deploying for the Nation.” The agenda also puts the county’s role front and center with the question, “Why New Mexico — and why now?”

For Los Alamos County, the practical stakes are local as well as national. A ticketed forum at SALA will bring outside visitors into the county’s downtown event space, while the mix of federal officials, lab leaders, investors and utilities points to conversations that could affect future contracting, research partnerships and business activity tied to New Mexico’s nuclear economy. The agenda’s assertion that America cannot deploy advanced nuclear at scale without rebuilding the full fuel cycle, infrastructure systems, workforce pipelines and long-term stewardship capacity suggests the discussions will reach beyond speeches and into the machinery needed to get projects built.

New Mexico Nuclear Alliance, founded in July 2025 as a New Mexico registered 501(c)(6) non-partisan membership organization, says its mission is to support and advocate for nuclear energy in the state’s carbon-free energy transition and to grow economic development potential. That helps explain why Los Alamos is the setting: the county still carries outsized influence in nuclear circles, and this first forum will test whether that reputation can translate into concrete policy attention, private-sector relationships and a repeat event on the local calendar.