The Department of Energy’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Wednesday released its final site-wide environmental impact statement and its record of decision to implement an “expanded operations alternative” at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
“Expanded operations” means exactly what it sounds like: all activities at Los Alamos will continue as they are, but the lab would work to increase capabilities “beyond those that currently exist” with construction of new facilities “to respond to future national security challenges,” the agency said.
“LANL is critical to the Stockpile Stewardship/Weapons mission; Global Security Program; and the Nation’s excellence in science, technology, and engineering,” the record of decision said. “NNSA has concluded that the Expanded Operations Alternative would best fulfill its statutory missions and responsibilities. Therefore, NNSA has decided to fully implement the Expanded Operations Alternative.”
Some of these expanded operations will include construction and operation of another supercomputing complex and a new electron laser facility to work with the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, the agency’s press release said.
A site-wide environmental impact statement, or SWEIS, is a requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act to review the environmental effects of continued operations at the lab through 2038. Last year, the DOE and NNSA gave a 60-day public comment period as part of the SWEIS process for any affected parties and the general public to weigh in on the impacts of the lab’s operations.
The SWEIS discussed three alternatives: no action, modernized operations, and expanded operations. “No action” would mean operations would continue at Los Alamos as they are, including legacy cleanup, environmental remediation, decontamination, decommissioning, and demolition. “Modernized operations” would have meant continuing operations and upgrading existing facilities and infrastructure while constructing replacement facilities.