The public information session will be hosted via Webex; people who wish to attend can join by following this link (meeting password GckhzZ5nv33), or call in by phone at 415-527-5035, access code 199 995 9074 if people do not have internet access.
Media Advisory
CONTACT: Peter Hyde, [email protected]
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Oct. 8, 2020—The National Nuclear Security Administration is hosting a virtual public information session at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, to inform the public about the process of venting Flanged Tritium Waste Containers (FTWCs) that are located at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Flanged Tritium Waste Containers are pressure vessels specifically designed to contain waste metal that has been exposed to tritium. As the tritium ages and separates into helium and hydrogen, those gases can create pressure inside the container. This is expected and accounted for in the design.
To reduce the amount of waste stored on site, Los Alamos National Laboratory will ship the containers off-site to a licensed storage facility. In order to ship the containers, the pressurized gases inside the containers must be vented to meet regulatory requirements of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
The Laboratory has developed a safe, proven and reliable process for venting FTWCs. Emission controls, including a filtering system, are in place to capture tritium during venting. The venting process will undergo real-time monitoring to ensure that public health and safety is protected and that no regulatory limits are exceeded in accordance with Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements.
The venting process will be carefully controlled and monitored and the final results will be made available to the public in the Laboratory’s Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) and the Laboratory’s Electronic Public Reading Room
The public information session will be hosted via Webex; people who wish to attend can join by following this link (meeting password GckhzZ5nv33), or call in by phone at 415-527-5035, access code 199 995 9074 if people do not have internet access.
Because the session will be 90 minutes long, attendees are asked to register for the event by sending their name and organization to [email protected] along with any questions they may have.
Attendees should join the webinar 15 minutes early. This will allow time to install or download any needed software or applications and confirm that attendees are able to connect to both audio and video. All required software is free of charge to all participants. While Webex software is intended to run on all commercial internet browsers (such as Internet Explorer and Safari), Webex recommends using Chrome or Firefox internet browsers for the best experience. Tip for Webex use can be found here.
About Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is managed by Triad a public service oriented, national security science organization equally owned by its three founding members: Battelle Memorial Institute, The Texas A&M University System and The Regents of the University of California for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and global security concerns.
Energy.