NNSA Assessing Environmental Impact of Pit Production

June 2025
By Lipi Shetty

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) gave formal notice May 9 that it would prepare a nationwide, programmatic environmental impact statement on its proposed plutonium pit production plans.

U.S. plans to build 50 plutonium pits per year at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina is in abeyance until the National Nuclear Security Administration prepares a nationwide, programmatic environmental impact statement. (Photo courtesy of the Savannah River site)

According to the notice, the NNSA has identified 13 potential focal issues for inclusion in the statement, including the impacts of the generation, transportation, and disposal of radioactive waste. Two virtual public meetings were held May 27 and May 28, to gather initial feedback on the impact statement. NNSA is also accepting written public comments until July 14.

The environmental impact statement is the result of a September 2024 ruling by a U.S. district judge that the NNSA violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to properly consider environmental impacts and analyze alternatives to its plutonium pit production plans announced in 2018. (See ACT, November 2024.) As a part of a rapid expansion of U.S. nuclear weapons production, the 2018 plan aims to produce 30 pits per year at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and 50 pits at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

The lawsuit, which resulted in a January 2025 settlement, was filed by the South Carolina Environmental Law Project representing the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition and Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Savannah River Site Watch, and Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment. (See ACT, March 2025.)

According to a Jan. 17 press release by the plaintiffs, the settlement required the NNSA to halt all production preparations at the Savannah River Site until completion of the environmental impact statement within two and half years.

In a joint statement May 9, the plaintiffs highlighted the centrality of the plutonium pit production effort to the broader U.S. nuclear modernization plan and urged the public to engage in the commenting process.

Comments on the scope of the programmatic environmental impact statement can be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of Pit Production Modernization, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585. The NNSA expects it will issue the draft impact statement in one year and will issue the final report and record decision within two years.