LANL Plans to Release Up To ~100,000 Curies of Radioactive Gas

Sophia MerynMarch 19, 2020December 11, 2023DNFSB, Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., Uncategorized

Santa Fe, NM – On March 11, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) sent the federal Environmental Protection Agency a formal notice that the Lab will intentionally release up to some 100,000 curies of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen gas, beginning April 17, 2020.

An internal Lab document states that actual “anticipated emissions” could be half that because of tritium remaining behind in equipment but offers no documentation to substantiate it. During the 1980’s LANL arbitrarily used a self-declared “building shielding factor” not approved by the EPA that reduced its legally required annual calculated radioactive air dose to the public by a third. When that reduction was disallowed LANL was in fact in legal violation of the Clean Air Act. With that as an example, undocumented reductions in radioactive doses claimed by LANL should be viewed with suspicion.

Shop at City of Mud and Support NukeWatch

Scott KovacApril 30, 2019December 11, 2023Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., Uncategorized

May 4 – 5

City of Mud presents

Mom/Prom/Ban the Bomb

A two-day trunk show of
eight mighty jewelers
(and one acclaimed textile artist)
will benefit Nuclear Watch New Mexico
as they fight proliferation and pollution.

Saturday, May 4 from 11 to 6.
Sunday the 5th from 11 to 4.

1114 A Hickox St, Santa Fe, NM 87505

Related Media: NukeWatch Appeal to Stop WIPP Expansion

Sophia MerynJanuary 29, 2019February 2, 2019Uncategorized

Kenney noted the agency is looking into a decision made at the end of 2018, during the administration of Gov. Susana Martinez. In December, the
state agreed to allow the U.S. Department of Energy to change how it calculates the amount of waste stored underground at WIPP.

Budget talks for New Mexico energy, water and environment agencies

Please Help Support NukeWatch

Scott KovacNovember 27, 2018November 27, 2018Uncategorized

Dear Friends of Nuclear Watch New Mexico:

The Los Alamos and Sandia Labs are the tip of the spear for a one-trillion dollar “modernization” program that will completely rebuild every type of warhead in the nuclear stockpile while giving them new military capabilities. This so-called modernization program will also rebuild the production side of the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex, including the proposal to quadruple production of plutonium pit bomb cores at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This so-called modernization will be at enormous cost to the taxpayer and our disappearing middle class, robbing citizens of better schools, highways, hospitals, etc.

Join In Giving Tuesday

Scott KovacNovember 26, 2018November 27, 2018Uncategorized

Join In Giving Tuesday

We have two days for getting deals – Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On #GivingTuesday, we have a day for giving back. Together, people are creating a new ritual for our annual calendar. #GivingTuesday is the opening day of the giving season.

Founded by the team in the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact at 92nd Street Y, #GivingTuesday is a global giving movement that has been built by individuals, families, organizations, businesses and communities in all 50 states and in countries around the world. This year, #GivingTuesday falls on November 27. #GivingTuesday harnesses the collective power of a unique blend of partners  to transform how people think about, talk about, and participate in the giving season. It can inspire people to take collective action to improve their communities, give back in better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they believe in, and help create a better world. #GivingTuesday demonstrates how every act of generosity counts, and that they mean even more when we give together.

LANL Ships Waste Offsite Illegally, Again and Again

Sophia MerynNovember 14, 2018December 11, 2018Uncategorized

LANL Ships Waste Offsite Illegally, Again and Again

Posted by Scott Kovac Nov 14, 2018

New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to LANL for several problems. The first problem was that the Lab sent a drum to a disposal company offsite that was improperly labeled. It should have been labeled “flammable liquid, corrosive.” The Lab also mislabeled two containers by failing to note that they had lead inside. LANL also sent a container with flammable and toxic liquids with the incorrect container number and label on it. These violations occurred in 2015. The NOV reports several other shipping manifest discrepancies in 2016 and 2017. NMED is happy with the Lab just correcting the manifests. These were mistakes by the old contractor, Los Alamos National Security (LANS).

Possibly more serious violations occurred under DOE’s watch in 2017 and 2018 when LANS failed to characterize waste before shipping it to local landfills, including the Santa Fe landfill.