Lawsuit Forces U.S. To Review Nuclear Plans

March 2025

The U.S. National Security Administration (NNSA) was ordered by a federal judge to complete a nation-wide programmatic environmental impact statement on expanded plutonium “pit” bomb core production within two-and-a half years after several nonprofit groups challenged the agency's failure to do so. The groups announced the agreement Jan. 16 in a joint statement.

The lawsuit was filed by Savannah River Site Watch of Columbia, SC; Nuclear Watch New Mexico of Santa Fe, NM; Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (CAREs), based in Livermore, CA; and the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition of coastal Georgia.. It argued that NNSA violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not properly assessing alternatives before proceeding with pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Savannah River Site in South Carolina. In September 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Mary Lewis Geiger ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, leading to a settlement requiring the programmatic environmental statement and public participation (see ACT, November 2024).

According to the groups’ statement, the agreement would effectively halt preparations for plutonium pit production at the Savannah River Site. It would give NNSA two-and-a-half years to complete the environmental statement and hold public hearings before a final decision. Citizens can comment on NNSA’s draft statement and voice health and environmental concerns. In the meantime, NNSA is prohibited from installing classified equipment, introducing nuclear materials, or constructing key facilities at the Savannah River Site, where the agency is planning to produce pits by the mid-2030s. Pit production could continue at the Los Alamos lab. —SHAGHAYEGH CHRIS ROSTAMPOUR