"After years of missed deadlines, New Mexico is demanding that the Energy Department expedite the cleanup of so-called legacy nuclear and hazardous waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace of the atomic bomb, state environmental regulators announced on Wednesday. The state will also fine the agency up to $16 million for violating groundwater safety standards near the lab, civil penalties outlined by the New Mexico Environment Department in a series of regulatory enforcement actions."
""The continued presence of a large volume of unremedied hazardous and radioactive waste demonstrates a longstanding lack of urgency by the U.S. Department of Energy," regulators wrote in a statement, "and elevates the risk of waste storage failures" at the lab, in northern New Mexico. The regulators' action comes amid rising fears of a new global arms race. Just days ago, the only remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expired, lifting limits on their arsenals."
New Mexico is ordering the Energy Department to speed up cleanup of legacy nuclear and hazardous waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory and is preparing civil penalties up to $16 million for groundwater safety violations. Regulators warn that large volumes of unremedied radioactive and hazardous byproducts elevate the risk of waste storage failures and reflect a lack of urgency. Los Alamos is restarting plutonium core production while legacy contamination remains, increasing concerns amid the lapse of a major U.S.-Russia arms control treaty. The Energy Department says it is committed to safety, efficiency, and transparency and is reviewing the actions.
Read at High Country News
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]