Plutonium from MDA-C

MDA-C served as the main disposal site for LANL before Material Disposal Area G (MDA-G) and was in operation between 1948 and 1974. At MDA-C, more than 3,000,000 cubic feet of transuranic waste has been disposed of within the nearly 12-acre area across 7 pits and 108 shafts at depths up to 25 feet (Los Alamos Study Group, n.d.; U.S. DOE: Office of Environmental Management, 2019). The transuranic wastes of concern include plutonium, uranium, americium-241, sodium-22, cobalt-60, strontium-90, uranium-233, and other fission products (Los Alamos Study Group, n.d.). The nature of this waste ranges from extremely radioactive products such as plutonium-239 that pose immense danger to humans and animals to contaminants with minimal toxicity such as mercury, copper, cobalt, boron, beryllium, and silver (Iryna, 2017). Remediation at MDA-C is an important precursor to an eventual clean-up of MDA-G which is home to more than double the amount of waste that is buried at MDA-C (S. Kovac, personal communication, 2020).

Environmental sampling has demonstrated that plutonium has leaked into the surrounding soil and groundwater over time. This has created a toxicity problem, one that now shows evidence of faster-than-anticipated migration (Marty et al., 1997). Plutonium appears to have now migrated into the Espanola Basin, which is becoming an increasingly important water source for 270,000 people across the towns of Espanola, Santa Fe, and Los Alamos (NukeWatch, 2020). Furthermore, plutonium has also been observed at depths that exceed 1,300 feet and threaten the regional aquifer (Nuclear Watch New Mexico, 2020). This migration raises concern for human health since its path could extend in the direction of nearby communities and the Rio Grande, a source of drinking water for millions of people (International Boundary & Water Commission, n.d.). For example, the town of White Rock, is directly in the path of the migration pathway. The town’s aquifer lies directly under LANL property and is supplied through the Pajarito Canyon. This groundwater transportation pathway runs through White Rock and into White Rock Canyon where it empties into the Rio Grande River (Color Plates, n.d.). Plutonium contamination in this water pathway has the potential to spread into the drinking water of thousands of New Mexicans.