Nov. 19 -- An Española-based nonprofit is criticizing Los Alamos National Laboratory over its plans for disposing of radioactive gas.
Tewa Women United released two scientific technical reports Tuesday that assess LANL's proposal to release tritium near White Rock.
Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen gas that does not occur often on Earth naturally. It is also a key component in nuclear weapons.
LANL has four high-pressure storage containers of tritium that were packaged in 2007 at the lab's Weapons Engineering Tritium Facility, according to a LANL guide on the containers. For current operations, the lab ships tritium waste containers offsite for permanent disposal, according to LANL spokesman Steven Horak.
The laboratory wants to release a small amount of the radioactive hydrogen, plus hydrogen and oxygen, to relieve some of the pressure in the containers so they can be moved to another LANL location, then offsite, for disposal. The project is designed to release below 8 millirem, and potentially even 0 millirem, according to the LANL guide. A date has not been set yet for venting the containers, Horak said.
A millirem is a measure of radiation dose. In the U.S., the average person is exposed to approximately 620 millirem per year, according to an Environmental Protection Agency radiation calculator. Background radiation in the area of White Rock is about 350 to 400 millirem per year, according to the LANL guide.
The reports released by Tewa Women United found that the concentration of tritium in the most loaded container could lead to radiation doses that significantly exceed the annual EPA regulatory limit, 10 millirem per year, if vented during unfavorable weather.
The reports were authored by Bernd Franke, a director of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Heidelberg, Germany, and nuclear engineer Arjun Makhijani from the anti-nuclear organization Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.
According to one of the reports, the LANL application does not include how venting the tritium could impact infants or children. Children are more likely to get sick from radiation exposure than healthy adults, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guide on radiation exposure health effects.
"I utilized the same model as LANL and incorporated weather data from the station in Area G, while also considering adverse weather conditions, such as days with low humidity and increased wind frequency directed towards White Rock," Franke said in a statement.
"Additionally, I compared these factors across various age groups of the public, in contrast to LANL, which solely includes adults in their compliance calculations. Using this analysis, I found that infants and small children have a potential radiation exposure three times that of adults."
The laboratory has not had an opportunity to review the reports yet, said Horak, but environmental protection is "integral to our mission."
"While the EPA does not specify regulatory limits for children or infants, the limits established by the EPA are protective of even the most vulnerable members of the public, including children, the elderly, and pregnant women," Horak said.
The National Nuclear Security Administration and the lab have a proven safe and effective method to vent the containers in controlled conditions, Horak said. The lab processed a tritium waste container in 2019, but has not vented tritium waste containers in Technical Area 54, where the four containers are located, before, Horak said.
The lab has also established hard stop limits that will trigger a pause and more in-depth evaluation of data as the containers are being vented.
"Using these hold points and a controlled, methodical process to vent the four flanged tritium waste containers, we will ensure that operational releases are kept within EPA regulatory limits," Horak said.
An EPA spokesperson said the agency needed until Thursday to respond to questions about the reports.
"Until LANL considers impacts to children as members of the public and files a completely new application, the EPA should not permit the venting of the flanged tritium waste containers," Maslyn Locke, senior staff attorney at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, said in a statement.
"It would be especially egregious if fetal health is compromised by LANL venting radioactive water vapor and making our rainwater and food radioactive," Tewa Women United's Environmental Justice Program Manager Talavi Cook said in a statement. "It is a matter of simple environmental justice for future generations."
Why does the laboratory want to vent the containers?
Los Alamos National Laboratory found a small amount of lead in the containers' materials, so the four containers have been classified as hazardous waste. Because of that, the lab plans to move the containers for offsite disposal.
There is a potential for a flammable, pressurized mix of hydrogen and oxygen within the containers, which is why the lab wants to vent some of the tritium into the atmosphere before moving them, according to the guide.
LANL considered other strategies for dealing with the waste, like leaving it there, moving it without mitigating the pressure, or using a different strategy for relieving the pressure in the containers.
"The selected option, while more complex and expensive than many alternatives, was deemed to be the safest option for both the workers and the public," the LANL guide reads.