The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) will actively monitor Los Alamos National Laboratory’s controlled capture of tritium that was scheduled to start Saturday, Sept. 13.
NMED has “strict safeguards and oversight in place to ensure public safety,” the state agency said Sept. 12. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is venting and capturing tritium from four flanged containers, NMED said.
The tritium operation, which falls under the regulatory authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is being monitored by onsite NMED staff at Los Alamos.
The venting operation is expected to last only a couple of weeks, although the Department of Energy and NNSA have been granted a 180-day temporary authorization that runs through early March 2026.