The state of New Mexico is fining the US Department of Energy (DOE) for some $16m, alleging that the department has failed to prioritise the removal legacy nuclear waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
The fines were part of three enforcement actions issued by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) related to th DOE’s current operations at LANL. In addition, NMED issued a formal initiation of an operating permit modification at WIPP that would require the DOE to prioritise the disposal of legacy waste at WIPP. DOE’s deep geologic repository for defence-related transuranic waste near Carlsbad.
“The US Department of Energy has failed to meet the Environment Department’s requirements to clean up legacy waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory and prioritise the disposal of such waste in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant,” said NMED Secretary James Kenney. “New Mexicans have stepped up to help solve the nation’s cleanup problem in a way that residents of no other state have. The US Department of Energy must prioritise their health and welfare by expediting cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory and ensuring there’s space for New Mexico’s legacy waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.”
According to NMED, between 2021 and 2025, the DOE disposed of five times more waste in WIPP from Idaho National Laboratory (INL) than from LANL. The state is also contesting the DOE’s deferral of the clean-up of LANL’s Material Disposal Area C (MDA-C), an 11.8-acre unlined landfill containing radioactive waste, heavy metals, and hazardous chemicals. New Mexico has recommended that the waste from MDA-C be exhumed and shipped to WIPP for disposal. In October 2023, NMED approved a 10-year renewal of WIPP’s hazardous waste permit.
NMED said it has issued the following actions to the DOE:
- Enforcement action – Administrative compliance order related to hazardous waste violations that requires the DOE to submit documentation to NMED to support the department’s request to defer the clean-up of MDA-C.
- Enforcement action – An administrative compliance order and civil penalty of $6,026,124 related to hazardous waste violations and the 2024 consent order regarding LANL’s management of the groundwater chromium plume that migrated off-site and onto land of the San Ildefonso Pueblo. NMED is requiring DOE to submit a revised interim measures plan with an implementation schedule to for approval.
- Enforcement action – An administrative compliance order and civil penalty of $9,784,503 related to groundwater standards violations for chromium at LANL. NMED is requiring DOE to develop a corrective action plan for mitigation and clean-up within 60 days and submit a revised groundwater discharge permit application to the state.
- Permit modification – NMED has initiated a department modification to WIPP’s operating permit to require explicit standards and metrics for the disposal of waste from LANL.
The Los Alamos complex, first built in 1943 for the Manhattan Project atomic bomb mission now comprises nearly 900 individual facilities. It the only US site for plutonium pit production and testing for the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal. Other key missions include advanced research related to national security, materials science, supercomputing, renewable energy and nuclear physics. DOE estimates that about 500,000 cubic metres of legacy waste remains on its site, although more recently, Los Alamos is researching use of its nuclear waste as a source of tritium, a rare and expensive element now in demand for next-generation fusion energy development.
