Los Alamos National Laboratory finishes venting containers of radioactive waste

Four radioactive waste containers stored at Los Alamos National Laboratory have been successfully vented so they can be moved.

The containers hold tritium waste, materials contaminated by a radioactive form of hydrogen. Tritium is a byproduct of nuclear weapon production. The National Nuclear Security Administration, the federal agency that oversees Los Alamos, was concerned that pressure had built up in the top of the containers, which were packaged in 2007, so wanted to vent them and release some of that pressure before moving them for permanent disposal. No measurable pressure was actually found when venting the containers, according to NNSA.

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