The Town of Taos, N.M. last month approved a resolution opposing the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) plans to expand plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), calling for further environmental review.
Resolution 26-37, adopted June 9, cites a Feb. 11 NNSA Defense Programs memorandum, Responsive Today, Dominant Tomorrow: Enhancing American Nuclear Dominance, which outlines plans to complete modifications to the Plutonium Facility (PF-4), enable production of 100 plutonium pits annually and achieve a near-term production rate of at least 60 pits per year at Los Alamos.
The resolution says those objectives represent a significant expansion beyond assumptions underlying previous environmental analyses for the laboratory. Taos officials argue the existing Los Alamos Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) does not adequately evaluate the environmental, health and safety consequences of increased pit production and should not be relied upon without supplemental review.
The Taos resolution comes as NNSA has already faced litigation over its expanded pit production. Environmental organizations have challenged the agency’s reliance on the 2020 Los Alamos SWEIS and a subsequent supplement analysis, arguing the documents do not fully evaluate the impact of NNSA’s evolving pit production mission. The plaintiffs of the case came forward recently in a letter calling for more documentation.
Earlier this year, NNSA completed a new SWEIS for Los Alamos as part of a settlement agreement to satisfy National Environmental Policy Act requirements, and concluded that expanding plutonium pit production was how the agency would proceed.
The town also expressed concern over language in the NNSA memorandum calling for efforts to validate execution strategies, optimize funding and remove what it describes as “needless regulatory constraints.” According to the resolution, accelerating weapons modernization should not come at the expense of worker safety, environmental protection or opportunities for public participation in federal decision-making.
While the resolution carries no legal effect on NNSA’s modernization program, it adds to local government scrutiny of the agency’s evolving plutonium pit production strategy.