New Report Says Plutonium Misplaced by LANL
The South Fork of Acid Canyon is located in Los Alamos County between the municipal swimming pool and the skateboard park. It is less than a mile from a local high school and within 1,000 feet of a residential neighborhood. Between 1944 and 1964 it was used as a nuclear waste dump by LANL. During this time untreated and treated liquid radioactive waste was discharged directly into the canyon. As a result, the canyon was contaminated by radionuclides such as plutonium, uranium, americium, strontium and tritium. Today this area is open to the public for recreation.
Before opening the site to the public, the Department of Energy (DOE) made efforts towards cleanup. IEER investigated the methodology that LANL used to set the cleanup goals for Acid Canyon. Although LANLŐs methodology focused on the threat to children, IEER found that rather than calculating the dose for a child, LANL estimated the dose for a 154-pound adult male worker. LANL also underestimated the exposure that children may receive during their everyday activities.
Another principle finding by IEER is that additional clean up of the South Fork of Acid Canyon will most likely be required to ensure the safety of the surface water. The IEER report states, "we have concluded that the present level of residual contamination is likely too high by at least a factor of ten."
The second half of IEER's report identifies a major discrepancy in the bookkeeping for weapons plutonium at LANL. Analysis of the official data indicates that at least 660 pounds, and possibly more than 2,200 pounds, of plutonium are missing, although the higher figure is unlikely.
The missing plutonium could be mixed in with nuclear waste. The report found deficiencies in the documentation of both the waste buried at LANL and that planned to be disposed of at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, which could conceal the missing plutonium.
If the plutonium was improperly buried at LANL along with lower level waste, it poses serious environment and health risks. IEER found that once the soil around the buried plutonium erodes the radiation dose to the environmental would be 100 times greater than the maximum set by LANL.
Likewise, unaccounted for plutonium poses a major security risk. Even the lowest estimate, 660 pounds of plutonium, is enough to construct at least 60 warheads.
In 2004 three non-government organizations, IEER, CCNS and Nuke Watch New Mexico, sent a letter to then LANL Director Pete Nanos asking for an investigation. No response was received at that time, however DOE has responded positively to this report. Arjun Makhijani, of IEER, said, "DOE has promised a preliminary response and a more thorough investigation. I am glad that they have promised the response, but we await action on this very serious issue."
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