A coalition of watchdog organizations is pressing the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to release three documents it argues are essential to public review of the agency’s draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for expanded plutonium pit production.
The South Carolina Environmental Law Project (SCELP) – which is representing Savannah River Site Watch, Tri-Valley CAREs and Nuclear Watch New Mexico – notified NNSA in a letter that withholding the documents during the ongoing public comment period could violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The groups are also requesting that NNSA extend the July 16 comment deadline by 30 days following the documents’ release, according to a Monday press release by Nuclear Watch New Mexico.
“We assert that NNSA would further violate NEPA if it were to not consider and address this information in the current PEIS,” the press release said, adding that the coalition believes NNSA has failed to disclose information directly relevant to evaluating that proposal.
Barring an extension, the public comment period for the PEIS ends July 16.
According to the groups, the new JASON assessment – or an independent scientific experiment and assessment of the lifespan of aging plutonium – could address whether aging existing pits necessitates producing new, replacement pits. (JASON is a publicity-averse scientific advisory board for the U.S. military. The watchdog groups also noted that a 2006 JASON report concluded most pit types would remain reliable for more than a century, while the average pit in the current stockpile is roughly 43 years old, the release said.
“Plutonium “pits” are the radioactive fissile cores or “triggers” of nuclear weapons,” the release said. “None of NNSA’s future pit production is to maintain the safety and reliability of the existing nuclear weapons stockpile. Instead, it is all for new-design nuclear weapons that could prompt the U.S. to return to testing and accelerate the new arms race.”
The organizations also said that DOE has not publicly released a special study evaluating management of the pit production program or an updated seismic analysis referenced in the draft PEIS.