NNSA GREEN LIGHTS CMRR-NF

The National Nuclear Security Administration, as expected, issued a Record of Decision yesterday to go forward with the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Nuclear Facility—CMRR-NF—at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The unsurprising move was needed as a part of the agency’s National Environmental Policy Act compliance process for the project. The ROD left open which if two constructions option would be used for the project, a deeper or shallower building foundation. Engineers are still working out design details to determine the best way to meet seismic safety criteria. The ROD’s greatest significance may be its role in possible future litigation over the project. The NNSA is already being sued in federal appeals court by the Los Alamos Study group over the project’s NEPA compliance. Other activist groups critical of the project also have been lining up legal arguments, though none would say Thursday whether they are planning to sue.