{"id":226615,"date":"2025-09-11T10:11:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=226615"},"modified":"2025-09-16T11:19:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T16:19:01","slug":"source-new-mexico-native-women-warn-about-release-of-radioactive-gas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/09\/11\/source-new-mexico-native-women-warn-about-release-of-radioactive-gas\/","title":{"rendered":"Source New Mexico: Native women warn about release of radioactive gas"},"content":{"rendered":"<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"629\" data-attachment-id=\"226680\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/09\/11\/source-new-mexico-native-women-warn-about-release-of-radioactive-gas\/losalamosnationallaboratory-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/16\/losalamosnationallaboratory-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1200,629\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Los Alamos National Laboratory\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Los Alamos National Laboratory&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;The Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, played host to the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. The facility is located in Pueblo territory. Photo: Los Alamos National Laboratory&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/16\/losalamosnationallaboratory-1.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/16\/losalamosnationallaboratory-1.jpg\" alt=\"Los Alamos National Laboratory\" class=\"size-full wp-image-226680\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\"> The Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, played host to the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. The facility is located in Pueblo territory. Photo: Los Alamos National Laboratory<\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">LANL announces tritium venting to begin September 13<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Thursday, September 11, 2025<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Danielle Prokop, <a href=\"https:\/\/sourcenm.com\">Source New Mexico<\/a> <\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n <p>Los Alamos National Laboratory will start venting radioactive gas on September  13 to release pressure from legacy waste containers, officials said Tuesday. The announcement followed\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/sourcenm.com\/2025\/09\/08\/nmed-allows-lanl-to-proceed-with-tritium-venting\/\">state environment officials\u2019 approval of the plan on Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p>Over the next two weeks, LANL aims to vent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lanl.gov\/engage\/environment\/ftwc\">four waste containers<\/a> filled with tritium and hazardous waste that it packed in 2007 and left at the lab\u2019s legacy waste disposal site, called Area G. In 2016, a laboratory audit found the containers had been packed incorrectly and posed a threat of exploding.<\/p>\r\n<p>Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, can be naturally occurring or a byproduct from nuclear power and weapons. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/radiation\/radionuclide-basics-tritium\"> characterizes the gas as a lower threat<\/a>, emitting radiation that often cannot penetrate the skin. Tritium is<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/doc\/january-2020-health-physics-society-tritium-fact-sheet\/download\"> only considered hazardous in large quantities<\/a> from inhalation, skin absorption or consumed in tritiated water \u2013 when tritium replaces the hydrogen molecules in water.<\/p>\r\n<p>New Mexico Environment Department\u2019s conditional approval came after pressure from federal officials urging the state in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1X4MU5iG69uJc82Gp5pisR1qT7OEqPA6s\/view?usp=sharing\">recent letter<\/a> to finalize a decision and <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1wA7Xck_54M8kRvxzemrEp7uYPdNZh6gS\/view?usp=sharing\">pushback from anti-nuclear and Indigenous groups<\/a> about the proposal.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cThe operation is scheduled to take place over a two-week period and avoids impacting neighboring Pueblo Feast Days,\u201d LANL\u2019s Tuesday notice stated. \u201cIt also considers weather conditions to ensure activities occur at the best and safest time possible.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FTewaWomenUnited%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02TDj7JaGS7vfMmutHazYfE65sbW5Z9bMoXFweHiQ7NAzdB4Ju4Kj9KUy3Lo3Xxu1Dl&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"671\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe><p><\/p>\r\n<p>Tewa Women United and other groups raised concerns that the federal government based its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/radiation\/subpart-h-national-emission-standards-emissions-radionuclides-other-radon-department\">tritium exposure levels<\/a> of 10 millirem \u2014 a measure of radiation dose \u2014 on men, and did not take into account the impact on pregnant women and young children.<\/p>\r\n<p>Based on those concerns, the state will require a \u201chard stop\u201d limit at 6 millirem, versus LANL\u2019s proposed limit of 8 millirem.<\/p>\r\n<p>Chenoa Scippio (Navajo\/Santa Clara), the environmental justice project coordinator at Tewa Women United, told Source NM the group is still concerned about the potential impacts for pregnant people, noting that tritium can pass through the placental barrier.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes to the knowledge that\u2019s shared between the labs or the government and the community, it really puts the burden onto the community to research these things to find out what it does to the body to find out how it impacts the land and water,\u201d Scippio said. \u201cThat\u2019s not transparency.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>Scippio said people concerned about exposure should stay indoors during the weekend venting sessions.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s really the best we can offer, which is unfortunate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n<p>Representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state environment department will be onsite to view the venting process, officials told Source NM on Monday.<\/p>\r\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/sourcenm.com\/subscribe\">\r\n        <div class=\"subscribeShortcodeContainer\">\r\n            <div class=\"subscribeTextContainer\">\r\n                <i><\/i>\r\n                <p>GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.<\/p>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            <div class=\"subscribeButtonContainer\">\r\n                SUBSCRIBE\r\n            <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n        <\/a>\r\n        \r\n<style> figure, .tipContainer, .socContainer, .subscribeShortcodeContainer, .donateContainer {display:none !important;} .youtubeContainer { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; margin-bottom:12px; } .youtubeContainer iframe, .video-container object, .video-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100% !important; height: 100%; margin: 12px 0px !important; } .newsroomSidebar {width:35%;max-width:35%;padding:10px;border-top:solid 2px black;background-color:#d3d3d3;float:right;margin-left:50px;} .snrsInfoboxSubContainer {padding:10px;border-top:solid 2px black;background-color:#d3d3d3;} .halfwidth {float:right;width:50%;max-width:50%;} .indent2Container {margin-left: 1em;margin-bottom:1em; border-left: solid 1px black;padding-left: 2em;} @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {.newsroomSidebar {max-width:95%;width:95%;margin-left:4%} .halfwidth {float:none;width:100%;max-width:100%;} }<\/style>\r\n<HR>\r\n<P><strong>This story originally appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/sourcenm.com\/briefs\/lanl-announces-tritium-venting-to-begin-sept-13\/\">Source New Mexico on September 10, 2025<\/a>. It is published under a Creative Commons license (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\">CC BY-ND 4.0<\/a>).<\/strong><\/P>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n <p><a href=\"https:\/\/sourcenm.com\">Source New Mexico<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Goldberg for questions: <a href=\"mailto:info@sourcenm.com\">info@sourcenm.com<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<HR>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is releasing radioactive gas amid concerns about the impacts on human health and the environment.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":226680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,19,1],"tags":[2796,559,167,929,182,2005,6752],"class_list":["post-226615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-health","category-national","tag-chenoa-scippio","tag-epa","tag-new-mexico","tag-nuclear","tag-pueblo","tag-source-new-mexico","tag-tewa-women-united","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/16\/losalamosnationallaboratory-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-WX5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226615"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226682,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226615\/revisions\/226682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}