LANL Declares Tritium Venting “Success” — Communities Demand Disclosure as Operation Raises More Questions Than Answers

The Communities for Clean Water (CCW) coalition is calling on the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) to immediately release all data, monitoring results, and analytical records from the recent tritium venting operation at LANL.  https://www.ccwnewmexico.org

CCW is also calling for the release of the final report and supporting air monitoring data be made public at least two weeks prior to any announced public meeting, to allow Tribes, local governments, independent experts, and community members adequate time for review.

The coalition’s call follows LANL’s recent press statement claiming “successful depressurization” of the four flanged tritium waste containers (FTWCs), “no health or environmental consequences,” and a total tritium release of “less than 123 curies.”

“LANL is congratulating itself for cleaning up its own negligence,” said Chenoa Scippio, Project Coordinator with Tewa Women United. “This operation wasn’t a success story — it was the outcome of 20 years of mismanagement that NMED itself acknowledged. Despite years of preparing to vent radioactive tritium into the environment, LANL has yet to provide real data or independent verification of that data.”  https://tewawomenunited.org/

Contradictory Statements and Misleading Assurances

LANL’s official updates [ https://www.lanl.gov/engage/environment/ftwc ] and press release [ https://losalamosreporter.com/2025/10/14/lanl-flanged-tritium-waste-containers-successfully-depressurized/ ] following the conclusion of the operations contain multiple inconsistencies and omissions that raise serious concerns.  CCW provides the following examples:

• No Pressure, Yet “Depressurization”:
  LANL’s daily reports showed no internal pressure in all four containers. This implies no measurable buildup of gas or explosion risk. Yet the lab continues to describe the operation as “depressurization,” contradicting its own data and the emergency justification used to obtain NMED’s expedited temporary authorization. No internal pressure indicates that LANL’s calculations on which it based the urgency of venting were wrong. It also implies that the FTWCs could have been transported without depressurization. In that case the emission of any tritium would violate DOE Order 458.1 – to keep radiation exposure As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA).
• Ambiguous “Background” Claims:
  LANL’s statement that offsite impacts were “indistinguishable from background” offers reassurance without real information. LANL has not disclosed the detection limits of its instruments or the raw data necessary for independent verification.
• Compliance Is Not Safety:
  The reported offsite dose of “0.0123 millirem” is calculated for a hypothetical “maximally exposed individual (MEI)”— a 30-year-old, 150 lb white male with a Western diet — not infants, pregnant people, or Pueblo communities who rely on land-based practices. Compliance with outdated federal models does not guarantee protection for vulnerable populations.
• Unverified “Independent” Review:
  The so-called independent technical review was led by [the] DOE NNSA’s own Office of Environment, Safety, and Health, with only one outside reviewer.

“LANL’s claim that offsite impacts were ‘indistinguishable from background’ is meaningless without knowing the detection limits,” said Dr. Arjun Makhijani, President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER). “Despite requests, LANL has failed to disclose key details, including why any tritium was released if there was no pressure in the FTWCs.”  https://ieer.org/

Outstanding Technical Questions

CCW continues to seek clear, verifiable answers to the following:

• What was the measured pressure in the headspace of each FTWC prior to venting? How does the measured pressure in each FTWC compare to the 5 psi per year increase that LANL modeled?
• What was the full chemical composition of the gases in each FTWC?
• Did any container exhibit an explosive gas mixture, and if so, what were the measured concentrations of hydrogen, tritium, and other gases?
• How was the venting compatible with ALARA for the FTWCs that did not have explosive gas mixtures in the headspace??
• Where and how was atmospheric tritium monitored for each FTWC, given LANL’s claim that levels were “consistent with background”?
• Were stack emissions measured in real time as previously stated? If so, what instruments were used and where were they located?
• If emissions were estimated, what was the method of estimation?
• Was tritium captured in molecular sieves for each FTWC? If not, why not? If so, what quantities were retained, and where will the captured material be managed?
• What were the minimum detectable limits (MDL) of tritium for the atmospheric and stack air sampling instruments?
• What specific instruments, calibration records, and Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) documentation were used for real-time detection?
• What is the local background concentration of tritium at and near Technical Area 54 (TA-54) and the Weapons Engineering Tritium Facility (WETF) prior to venting?
• How and when will all raw monitoring data and corresponding meteorological data be disclosed to the public and affected Tribal governments?

Key Concerns and Coalition Positions

• LANL did not meet NMED’s prerequisites for authorization.
  The required public meeting and “independent” technical review were both deficient and failed to meet standards for public participation or scientific integrity.
• There was no true emergency.
  LANL has previously stated that venting could wait until 2028. Its own data now confirm that all containers were unpressurized, disproving the claimed urgency.
• Alternatives remain obscured.
  LANL has acknowledged identifying 53 alternatives to venting in communications with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6, yet it has never released the technical analysis explaining why they were rejected.
• Dose modeling excluded vulnerable populations.
  Independent experts (Dr. Arjun Makhijani, IEER; Dr. Bernd Franke, ifeu – Institut für Energie und Umweltforschung, Heidelberg gGmbH – https://www.ifeu.de/en/ ) found that LANL’s modeling ignored infants, pregnant people, and cumulative community exposures. LANL admitted that infant doses could be three times higher than adult doses, exceeding regulatory limits.
• ALARA compliance has not been demonstrated.
  LANL failed to meet DOE Order 458.1 requirements to keep radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), and did not account for cultural or land-based exposure pathways critical to Pueblo communities. The fact that there was no internal pressure also indicates ALARA non-compliance, since the lowest emission indicated would appear to be zero.

Demands for Transparency and Accountability

CCW calls on DOE, NNSA, LANL, and NMED to:

1. Release the full final report and all supporting data for the September and October venting operations at least two weeks before the public meeting.
2. Disclose raw, time-stamped emission data and meteorological readings correlated with each venting event.
3. Make public the headspace modeling and alternatives analysis that justified venting.
4. Commit to independent third-party verification of air monitoring results by EPA Region 6 or the New Mexico Department of Health.
5. Engage in government-to-government consultation with affected Pueblos and include public health agencies in post-operation evaluation.

Conclusion

LANL and NNSA’s “successful completion” narrative does not substitute for transparency, accountability, or truth. Communities deserve verified data — not public relations spin. Until LANL provides full disclosure and independent review, its assurances of safety remain unsubstantiated and unacceptable.

1. Friday, October 24^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the nuclear disarmament community at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour 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. Friday, October 24 through Saturday, October 25 – Ways of Knowing: A Navajo Nuclear History film showing at the Institute of American Indian Arts (campus), 83 Avan Nu Po Road, Santa Fe, NM. Limited to 18 seats per screening in the FullDome Theater.  For more information and FREE tickets:   https://www.waysofknowing.us/

3. Monday, October 27 at 5 pm – Ways of Knowing: A Navajo Nuclear History film showing at UNM Sub Theatre at UNM – Albuquerque. FREE admission.  https://www.waysofknowing.us/

4. Monday, October 27^th from 6 to 8 pm – Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament – at Santa Maria de la Paz Catholic Community, 11 College Avenue, Santa Fe, NM. Join Archbishop John C. Wester for a special HYBRID evening where he will share reflections from his pastoral letter, Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace, and speak about the importance of dialogue and hope in working toward nuclear disarmament.  Livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/@SMDLP/streams  For more information, contact the Santa Fe Ecumenical Conversations Toward Nuclear Disarmament Committee at

5. Tuesday, October 28^th – Public comment period ends for the draft NM Environment Department amendments to the NM Standards for Ground and Surface Water Protection at 20.6.2 NMAC and the new NM draft regulations known as the New Mexico Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NMPDES) at 20.6.5 NMAC.

 For more information:  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D189342697

Tags: ALARA, as low as reasonably achievable, Bernd Franke, CCW, Chenoa Scippio, Communities for Clean Water, Department of Energy, DOE, DOE Order 458.1, Dr. Arjun Makhijani, Flanged Tritium Waste Containers, FTWCs, IEER, ifeu - Institut für Energie und Umweltforschung, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, LANL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Nuclear Security Administration, New Mexico Environment Department, NMED, NNSA, TA-54, Technical Area 54, Tewa Women United, tritium venting, TWU, Weapons Engineering Tritium Facility, WETF