NNSA announces intent to prepare Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for plutonium pit production and hold public scoping meetings
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced today its intent to initiate a National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) process to ensure NEPA compliance for the production of plutonium pits for NNSA’s Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program.
The PEIS will evaluate the programmatic environmental impacts of producing pits at the Congressionally mandated rate (and potentially other reasonable rates) using various single site and multi-site alternatives; associated activities at other NNSA sites; and associated waste management and transportation activities.
DATES: NNSA invites all interested agencies (federal, state, Native American Tribes, county, and local), public interest groups, businesses, and members of the public to submit comments on the scope, environmental issues, and alternatives for consideration by NNSA in the draft PEIS until July 14, 2025. Comments received after this date will be considered to the extent practicable.
NNSA will hold two virtual public scoping meetings for the proposed PEIS as follows:
Tuesday, May 27, 2025: 3:00-5:30 pm MT
Meeting Link: https://bit.ly/PuPEISMtg1
Dial in by Phone: (571) 429-4592 Phone ID: 808 821 801#
Wednesday, May 28, 2025: 5:00 pm-7:30 pm MT
Meeting Link: https://bit.ly/PuPEISMtg2
Dial in by Phone: (571) 429-4592 Phone ID: 989 289 432#
NNSA will provide a brief presentation on the NEPA process and the PEIS and then NNSA will accept public comments on the scope of the PEIS.
Notice of Intent: https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/noi-eis-0573-plutonium-pit-production-2025-05_0.pdf
Sign the Petition to Deny LANL’s Request to Release Radioactive Tritium into the Air to Governor Lujan Grisham and New Mexico Environment Department
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) plans to begin large releases of radioactive tritium gas any time after June 2, 2025. The only roadblock is that LANL needs a “Temporary Authorization” from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), which could happen soon. Below are the facts:
• Why the rush? LANL has explicitly stated, “There is no urgency for this project beyond the broader mission goals to reduce onsite waste liabilities.”
• LANL claims need the need to vent based on modeling, not physical sampling of container headspace.
• LANL wants to vent about 9 grams of tritium (~100,000 curies) over the span of a few days. This is three times the amount of tritium as Japan is dumping into the Pacific Ocean over the span of 30 years from the tsunami and nuclear reactor explosions at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
• One teaspoon of tritiated water (HTO) can contaminate around 100 billion gallons of water.
• When calculating the risk, LANL only does so for adults – they are not required to do so for children, infants or pregnant women/fetuses – ignoring the real impact on our communities. The author of one report, Bernd Franke, stated, “In the case of tritium, infants and small children get a radiation dose about three times greater than adults, with the same concentrations of tritium in air, water, and food.”
Local Faith Communities to Host Interfaith Vigil for the 80th Anniversary of the Trinity Atomic Test, Calling for Global Nuclear Weapons Abolition
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first detonation of an atomic weapon on July 16, 1945 at the Trinity Test Site in southern New Mexico, the complete elimination of nuclear weapons must be prioritized. “80 Years and Still Waiting: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test,” will be held at St. Pius X School, located in Albuquerque at 5301 St. Joseph’s Dr. NW, featuring music, speakers, exhibitions, and moments of reflection and prayer. The free public event will be held July 13, from 2:30–5 p.m. Doors open at 2 p.m. Pre-registration is encouraged. The event will also be live-streamed.
Pre-register at jotform.com/build/251126623369053, where you will also find the livestream link.
the bomb Exhibit and Symposium: April 30 – May 30, 2025 at The University of New Mexico
the bomb is a groundbreaking multimedia installation that immerses audiences in the strange, compelling, and unsettling reality of nuclear weapons. Almost eight decades have passed since a city was destroyed by an atomic bomb, but the danger never went away. We are now confronted by a world in which nine nations possess about 12,000 nuclear weapons. All of those nations are modernizing their arsenals, and the United States, Russia, and China are poised at the brink of an unprecedented three-way nuclear arms race. the bomb places the viewer in the middle of the story of nuclear weapons, from the Trinity Test in 1945 to the extraordinary nuclear threats we face today. The hour-long film explores the intersection of art, politics, technology and existential risk.
In the Fall of 2024, a museum-version of the bomb began a nationwide tour of university campuses. UNM is one of those institutions. For more information on the exhibit, please visit their website.
the bomb Exhibit
April 30 – May 30, 2025
The University of New Mexico
The bomb will be on exhibit at Zimmerman Library at the University of New Mexico from April 30 – May 30, 2025.
Public Hearings: Submit Comments on the Draft LANL SWEIS
- Review and submit comments on the Draft LANL SWEIS through March 11, 2025.
- Comments may be submitted via one of the following means:
- By email to: LANLSWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov; By mail to Mr. Stephen Hoffman, LANL SWEIS Document Manager, DOE/NNSA, 3747 W. Jemez Road, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544; Verbally at one of the public hearings; In written form at one of the public hearings
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Public hearings are scheduled for:
- February 11, 2025, at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, Sweeney Room, 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. There will be a virtual option for these two meeting. Virtual hearing access instructions (g., website link or phone number) will be announced at least 15 days before the hearing and will be published in local newspapers, noticed to the GovDelivery mailing list, and available on the following websites: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-roomand https://www.energy.gov/nepa/public-comment-opportunities.
- February 12, 2025, in Española at Mision y Convento, 5-8 p.m. This meeting is in-person only.
- February 13, 2025, in Los Alamos at Fuller Lodge, Pajarito Room, 5-8 p.m. In-person only.
- Comments may be submitted via one of the following means:
Briefing on Plutonium Migration at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
Who: Nuclear Watch New Mexico and chemist Dr. Michael Ketterer, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Northern Arizona University
What: Nuclear Watch has mapped plutonium migration based on sampling data from Intellus, the Lab’s environmental sampling database. Our map graphically demonstrates widespread contamination down the Rio Grande to Cochiti Lake and vertically to deep groundwater. We believe it shows the need for comprehensive cleanup at LANL instead of proposed “cap and cover” that will leave toxic and radioactive wastes permanently buried in unlined pits and trenches.
When: 11:00 am MT Thursday April 25, 2024
Where: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/95570087953?pwd=R1hNUEIyb1BLaktDQzZQaWNEdlpoQT09
Meeting ID: 922 1214 9822 Passcode: 975887
This virtual briefing is for media and the public. Nuclear Watch and Dr. Ketterer will briefly present followed by Q&A. Media and reporters will be given preference for questions. Please feel free to forward this notice to others.
Our plutonium contamination map and background materials will be available at www.nukewatch.org by 10:00 am MT Thursday April 25.
