Next week, the National Nuclear Security Administration will host a second virtual meeting with the public to discuss a planned release of tritium from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to a notice posted online.
The second virtual meeting about venting flanged tritium waste containers is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Mountain time, according to the notice. Those interested in attending can register online.
Los Alamos decided to host these meetings after members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation, including both U.S. Senators, asked it to.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) wants to vent headspace gas in four 50-gallon containers of tritium-contaminated waste now held in Building 1028 in the lab’s Technical Area 54, Area G.
The NNSA says it has to vent the gas so that it can remediate and eventually dispose of the other waste in the containers. The agency said it will probably move the containers to another building for venting, and that the proposed operation complies with federal rules about emissions from Department of Energy facilities.
Environmentalists and anti-nuclear groups in the state oppose the venting. Some of those people say the NNSA could avoid venting any tritium by partially remediating the waste containers where they are.
10/29/2020 11:36 a.m. Eastern. The story was corrected to include the right date for the scheduled meeting.
