State environment department adds terms for Los Alamos National Lab radioactive gas release
A Flanged Tritium Waste Container (FTWC) is a stainless-steel certified pressure vessel designed for long-term storage of tritium-contaminated waste items. The Laboratory is planning to vent headspace gases from four of these containers. (Photo courtesy Los Alamos National Laboratory)
The New Mexico Environment Department says Los Alamos National Laboratory will need to meet additional conditions before the state will sign off on a release of radioactive gas, and lambasted the lab for allowing the problem to mount over decades.
The issue concerns four containers the lab packed in 2007, which contain radioactive gas tritium and some hazardous waste, and require pressure release by 2028 in order to be transported and disposed of. LANL has requested state officials sign off on a plan to release small amounts of gas over time to relieve the pressure, and said the releases will not harm the environment and human health.
Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, can be naturally occurring or a byproduct from nuclear research, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA characterizes the gas as a lower threat, emitting radiation that often cannot penetrate the skin and leaves the body quickly when consumed as tritiated water.
In a June 9 letter to officials at the National Nuclear Security Administration and private contractor Triad National Security, which operate LANL, NMED Secretary James Kenney decreed the lab will need to hire an independent technical reviewer for the plan; hold public meetings and tribal consultations; and submit to an audit of hazardous waste disposal operations, before approval will be given.
'In closing, the historical gross mismanagement of these waste streams by DOE and NNSA have placed NMED in an untenable situation. Now, the risk of inaction poses a far greater threat than a technical solution, but no technical solution is free from risk,' Kenney wrote. 'Your disregard of state laws and rules governing these wastes for almost 20 years greatly exacerbated this situation and put New Mexicans, tribal communities, and our environment at risk.'
The state believes the laboratory can conduct the steps needed for approval within three months, New Mexico Environment Department Resource Protection Division Director Rick Shean said in an interview with Source NM Tuesday.
He said the time pressure from LANL on the plan could have been mitigated in the years since the waste containers were found in 2007.
'If they had dealt with that closer to that discovery time, we wouldn't be in this situation right now,' Shean said. 'So it was their lack of action when the problem was identified that has made this problem worse.'
The letter accompanied a complaint the New Mexico Environment Department filed over a failure of the federal government to fund the state's independent oversight of national lab activities. While the funding was eventually restored, the complaint said, the department incurred a little more than $8,400 in administrative costs and jeopardized water, air and soil monitoring programs — including for tritium releases.
The complaint requests that federal officials sign a commitment for future funds, issue reports to Congress on the funding and explicitly request the NNSA be named as a responsible party.
Federal officials have the chance to appeal the complaint in a hearing process before NMED.
Source NM emailed officials at Triad and the NNSA for comment late afternoon Tuesday, and will update the stories with further statements as needed.
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