NMED Approves LANL Tritium Venting Plan — Radioactive Releases to Begin Saturday Despite Community Opposition
For Immediate Release: September 10, 2025
[https://www.ccwnewmexico.org/tritium]
Los Alamos, NM — This Saturday, September 13, 2025, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will begin the depressurization of four Flanged Tritium Waste Containers (FTWCs), initiating the release of radioactive tritium into the air above northern New Mexico. The operation is scheduled to last two weeks.
On September 4, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) granted a temporary 180-day authorization for LANL to proceed. While NMED imposed new restrictions — including lowering the emissions limit, requiring pre-notice to Tribes and the public, and mandating a post-activity public meeting — the agency acknowledged in its letter that, “ the primary reason [DOE NNSA and LANL] requested a temporary authorization stems from the Permittees failure to properly manage hazardous waste at the time of generation followed by almost a 20-year disregard of compliance obligations under state laws and rules.”
NNSA and LANL announced that they selected the timing of the operation to “avoid impacting neighboring Pueblo Feast Days” and to consider weather conditions. Yet community members see this as a superficial gesture that fails to address the deeper risks of radioactive releases.
Community Response
Public health advocates, Pueblo communities, land-based communities, and environmental organizations warn that this action represents an immediate and unacceptable threat. Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, travels quickly through air, water, soil, and food. Once inside the human body, it can cause cancer, genetic damage, cross the placental barrier, and impact future generations.
“DOE and LANL are trying to portray this as safe and routine, but there is nothing routine about exposing entire populations to radiation,” said Kathy Sanchez with Tewa Women United. “Pregnancy, children, and breastfeeding are uniquely vulnerable because water is the medium of life. The same way rivers carry sustenance through the land, water flows through our bodies–amniotic fluid, breastmilk, blood. When tritium enters the cycle, it harms not just one person, but generations.”
“This project is the direct result of decades of mismanagement,” said Joni Arends of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. “Instead of investing in real solutions like filtration or long-term storage until decay, DOE is forcing our communities to accept dangerous shortcuts.”
“Using LANL’s own limit of 8 millirem, or even the new NMED limit of 6 millirem, for stopping venting for the year, doses to infants would be well over the regulatory limit of 10 millirem, ” said Dr. Arjun Makhijani, Communities for Clean Water’s tritium technical expert. “ LANL acknowledged during the public meeting that infant doses would be three times adult doses. In effect, they are saying that for regulatory purposes infants are not members of the public and can be ignored.”
A Pattern of Environmental Injustice
LANL’s website frames the FTWC Mitigation Project as “protective of worker safety, public health, and the environment.” But NMED’s own decision letter contradicts that narrative, citing DOE and LANL’s failure to meaningfully engage Tribes or the public, and reserving the right to suspend the authorization if health or safety are endangered.
“LANL’s manufactured negligence created this crisis,” said Marissa Naranjo with Honor Our Pueblo Existence. “No one can pretend this is safe. Children, elders, pregnant people, and families will be put at risk. Despite our Pueblos doing all they can to protect us, our communities and our lands will carry this burden long after LANL has moved on.”
“As a farmer, I know the importance of clean water,” said Olivia Chavez, a local grower from northern New Mexico who is also raising young children on her family’s farm. “Our fields, soil, and our irrigation systems are all interconnected with the water cycle. It’s about our livelihoods, our traditions, and our ability to feed our next generations safely.”
Communities Demand Accountability
Communities for Clean Water and allied organizations demand:
An immediate halt to tritium venting scheduled for two weeks, beginning on Saturday, September 13.
Truly independent, conflict-free review of alternatives.
Public and Tribal review of Tewa Women United’s technical reports documenting unique exposure pathways.
A commitment to prioritize human health and environmental justice over nuclear weapons production.
“We are being asked yet again to sacrifice our health, our traditions, and our future,” said Talavi Denipah-Cook of Amigos Bravos. "We will not tolerate radioactive releases as a routine practice. Saturday must not signify yet another period of silence and contamination.”
