NNSA issues Notice of Intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for its plutonium pit production mission

WASHINGTON – The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) published a Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register on May 9, 2025 to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for plutonium pit production. The NOI is posted in NNSA’s NEPA Reading Room webpage.

The PEIS will meet NNSA’s obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The PEIS will evaluate the programmatic environmental impacts of producing pits at the Congressionally mandated rate, and other reasonable rates, at various single and multi-site alternatives, pit production-associated activities at other NNSA sites, and associated transportation activities. Previous analyses and decisions have evaluated production at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Savannah River Site, the Nevada National Security Site, Pantex Plant, and the Y-12 National Security Complex. 

Following this publication of the NOI in the Federal Register, NNSA will host a virtual public scoping meeting to invite other federal agencies, Native American Tribes, state and local governments, and members of the public to provide scoping comments, which may include reasonable alternatives, key issues, and important environmental resource areas that should be analyzed in the PEIS.