SRS Watch news release, May 12, 2020: Inadequate Los Alamos Lab Environmental Analysis of Plutonium “Pit” Production for 4000 New and Refurbished Nuclear Warheads Must be Amended by DOE to Cover Key Issues Overlooked
Options to “Reuse” Pits and Method to Purify Plutonium are Key Matters Totally Lacking from Draft Supplement Analysis, Raising Legal Questions of Adequacy of NEPA Review
Columbia, SC – The U.S. Department of Energy’s draft environmental review of production of plutonium “pits” (cores) for all new and existing nuclear warheads at the Los Alamos National Laboratory lacks discussion of key issues and a revised document must be prepared, according to the public interest group Savannah River Site Watch.
The environmental review conducted by the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration for LANL pit production totally leaves out at least two issues of paramount concern: 1) “reuse” of existing pits in nuclear warheads rather than use of new pits and 2) methods to produce purified plutonium used for pit production. Lacking any discussion whatsoever of these essential issues, the ill-prepared document must be amended and reissued for public comment, according to SRS Watch, based in Columbia, South Carolina.
full news release: SRS Watch news on need for amended SA May 12 2020