Final LANL SWEIS Released; Draft Nationwide Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production to Follow

On Wednesday, the Department of Energy (DOE) released the final Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory, or the LANL SWEIS, and its Record of Decision, or ROD. Expanded production of triggers for nuclear weapons, or the pits, would highlight future operations at LANL until at least 2038. https://www.energy.gov/nepa/articles/doeeis-0552-final-environmental-impact-statement-march-2026

Importantly, the process is flawed. In early January, 2026, the President signed a new Executive Order to eliminate a 30-day opportunity for the public to provide comments about the final SWEIS and the ROD, as formerly required by the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Those comments were documented in the Federal Register, a daily journal of the federal government, which is published every business day.  https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/08/2026-00178/removal-of-national-environmental-policy-act-implementing-regulations

Specifically, in 2008, Santa Clara Pueblo and many non-governmental organizations, including CCNS and Robert H. Gilkeson, provided informed public comments about the final SWEIS and the ROD. DOE responded to the public’s comments, which provided a historic record of the 2008 LANL SWEIS process, and were published in the Federal Register. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2008-09-26/pdf/E8-22678.pdf

In CCNS’s opinion, eventually the 30-day comment period on the ROD will be reinstated. However, it may take time. In the meantime, please review the current Federal Register notice and let’s get our ROD comments into DOE, the New Mexico congressional delegation, your New Mexico legislators, as well as in letters to the editor. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/08/2026-00178/removal-of-national-environmental-policy-act-implementing-regulations

Your efforts will set the stage to respond to the next comment period for the draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production, or the draft PEIS. It will include analyses of future LANL operations, but also operations at DOE’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the Pantex Plant north of Amarillo, Texas, the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the Nevada Test Site (now named the Nevada National Security Site), north of Las Vegas, Nevada, all in support of expanded plutonium pit production at LANL.  As background, see 2025 Notice of Intent to Prepare a PEIS for Plutonium Pit Production at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/05/09/2025-08140/notice-of-intent-to-prepare-a-programmatic-environmental-impact-statement-for-plutonium-pit

The draft PEIS may be released in May or June. Public hearings may take place shortly after its release. Your preparations now will help in the big push to encourage the public to get involved and to prepare public comments for the hearings and in written form. The goal is to create a unified voice saying NO to expanded plutonium pit production.

As Jay Coghlan, of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, has said, “The PEIS should be a referendum against a new nuclear arms race.”

1. Friday, March 27^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the nuclear disarmament community at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval in Santa Fe for the weekly peaceful protest in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Join with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners.

2. Saturday, March 28^th at 11 am at NM State Capitol Roundhouse for NO KINGS! NO NUKES! The Clamshell Alliance is calling on all activists to carry NO KINGS! NO NUKES! signs in recognition of the March 28, 1979 nuclear power meltdown at Three Mile Island and to oppose nuclear power.  For more information see Karl Grossman and Harvey Wasserman’s article that explains how the resistance to the current push for nuclear power is connected to NO KINGS.  https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/27/on-march-28-lets-say-no-kings-and-no-nukes/

Let’s carry signs to raise up this issue:

NO KINGS! NO NUKES!

Remember the 3/28/79 MELTDOWN at Three Mile Island!

DEMOCRACY, NO NUKES, SAFE ENERGY

NO NUKES! REMEMBER TMI MELTDOWN 3/28/79.

DEMOCRACY NEEDS CLEAN ENERGY. NO NUKES!

CLIMATE Sí! SAFE ENERGY Sí! NO NUKES!

3. Sunday, April 5^th to Saturday, April 11^th – Spring Action Week – Shut Down Drone Warfare at Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, Southern NM. Nonviolent Resistance to Military Drones & War.  For more information:  https://www.shutdowndronewarfare.org/,  Nmvetsforpeace@gmail.com

Tags: 2008 LANL SWEIS, CCNS, DOE, Federal Register, Jay Coghlan, LANL, LANL SWEIS, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, Nevada National Security Site, nevada test site, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Pantex Plant, PEIS, Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production, Record of Decision, Robert H. Gilkeson, ROD, Santa Clara Pueblo, Savannah River Site, Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex