Nuclear scientist, former NTS official Perez dies at 73

Tuesday, May 29, 2001 | 9:25 a.m.

Lino Perez may have been a high-ranking nuclear scientist through the heyday of underground weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site, but he also was a studious intellectual who treasured peace and championed liberal thought.

"He never had any problem balancing his work with weapons and his desire for peace," said Las Vegas attorney Ralph Denton, a longtime friend and bridge partner. "Yes, Lino was a man of peace, but he believed a strong defense was the answer for the safety and security of society and peace and freedom for the country he adopted as his own."

The Spanish-born Perez knew all too well the horrors of war, having graduated from his country's top military academy and serving with distinction in the Spanish Foreign Legion in Spanish Morocco, where he was promoted to major.

Lino Martinez Perez, a scientist who worked his way up to top management at the Test Site during a career from 1961 to 1989, died May 17 in his sleep at his Las Vegas home. He was 73.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 40 years and American citizen since 1956 will be 5:30 p.m. today at St. Anne Catholic Church, St. Louis Avenue and Maryland Parkway. Palm Mortuary is handling the arrangements.

"Lino was an absolute intellectual and very liberal in his political views," Denton said. "He read practically everything, including the early Greek philosophers, and his personal library must have consisted of 5,000 books. He loved opera and was a whiz with computers."

Denton said he was most impressed with Perez's forthrightness. Despite working in the nuclear industry, Perez was openly critical of what he felt was the mismanagement of nuclear power plants, often telling friends that nuclear energy is a safe form of energy only if properly managed.

Born Jan. 13, 1928, in Madrid, Perez was raised in La Coruna. He graduated from the Spanish Army Academy, the West Point of Spain.

In 1956 Perez came to the United States with his mother during the rule of Francisco Franco. They settled in Albuquerque, N.M., where Perez earned degrees in physics and chemistry and a master's in mathematics, all from the University of New Mexico.

In 1961 he came to Las Vegas to work for the Atomic Energy Commission, the predecessor of the Energy Department.

In 1965 Perez was hired by Edgerton, Germeshausen & Grier -- more commonly called EG&G -- a Boston-based firm that conducted high-tech monitoring of nuclear weapons tests. Over the years he served in various high-level management positions with the firm.

Perez retired in 1989 after serving briefly in management at EG&G's Idaho Falls operation before returning to Las Vegas.

Perez was a member of Kappa Mu Epsilon and Sigma Xi.

He leaves no survivors.

Friends request donations to the Southern Nevada Opera Association, P.O. Box 230658, Las Vegas NV 89123.