New Mexico Demands Faster Cleanup of Nuclear Waste at Los Alamos Lab

State regulators will fine the Energy Department up to $16 million for exceeding groundwater safety standards near the nuclear facility.

Published on Feb. 12, 2026

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The New Mexico Environment Department is demanding that the U.S. Department of Energy expedite the cleanup of legacy nuclear and hazardous waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The state will also fine the agency up to $16 million for violating groundwater safety standards near the lab, which is currently producing plutonium bomb cores as part of a $1.7 trillion federal effort to modernize the nation's nuclear weapons.

Why it matters

The concerns over the nuclear waste at Los Alamos date back decades, when the lab buried waste in unlined landfills and released contaminated water into nearby canyons. This legacy of failed cleanup efforts has elevated the risk of waste storage failures and poses environmental and human safety risks. The dispute between New Mexico and the federal government over waste cleanup and disposal highlights the challenges of managing the nation's nuclear weapons production and research sites.

The details

New Mexico regulators say the Energy Department has a longstanding lack of urgency in remediating the large volume of hazardous and radioactive waste at Los Alamos, which includes an estimated 500,000 cubic meters of legacy waste. The state is pushing for priority disposal of the lab's legacy waste over new waste being generated from current plutonium production. However, federal funding for legacy cleanup has been reduced, and progress has been slow, with over 2,000 drums of waste stored in tents on the lab's campus that critics fear are at risk of wildfires.

  • Between 1956 and 1972, workers released water contaminated with hexavalent chromium from the lab's cooling towers into a nearby canyon.
  • In November 2025, the highly toxic chemical was detected outside the lab's eastern border, in the groundwater of the San Ildefonso Pueblo.
  • This year, over 500 containers filled with the remnants of 34 glove boxes were removed from the plutonium facility at Los Alamos to make room for new ones.

The players

New Mexico Environment Department

The state environmental regulators who are demanding the Energy Department expedite the cleanup of nuclear and hazardous waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and fining the agency up to $16 million for violating groundwater safety standards.

U.S. Department of Energy

The federal agency responsible for the cleanup and management of nuclear waste at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is being fined by the state of New Mexico for its lack of progress.

Los Alamos National Laboratory

The nuclear research facility in New Mexico that is the birthplace of the atomic bomb and is currently producing plutonium bomb cores as part of a $1.7 trillion federal effort to modernize the nation's nuclear weapons.

San Ildefonso Pueblo

A Native American tribe whose groundwater was found to have elevated levels of the highly toxic chemical hexavalent chromium that had drained from the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

James Kenney

The head of the New Mexico Environment Department who stated that the continued presence of a large volume of unremedied hazardous and radioactive waste at Los Alamos demonstrates a longstanding lack of urgency by the U.S. Department of Energy.

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What they’re saying

“The continued presence of a large volume of unremedied hazardous and radioactive waste demonstrates a longstanding lack of urgency by the U.S. Department of Energy, and elevates the risk of waste storage failures at the lab.”

— James Kenney, Head of the New Mexico Environment Department (abqjournal.com)

“It's a legacy of failed legacy waste cleanups.”

— James Kenney, Head of the New Mexico Environment Department (abqjournal.com)

What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow the Energy Department to defer the cleanup of the Material Disposal Area C landfill at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The takeaway

This dispute over nuclear waste cleanup at Los Alamos highlights the ongoing challenges of managing the legacy of the nation's nuclear weapons production, as well as the tensions between state and federal authorities over environmental regulations and public safety concerns.