Scientist says there’s legacy plutonium contamination in Los Alamos

A map of the areas sampled by analytical chemist Michael Ketterer who released his findings of legacy plutonium waste in Los Alamos' Acid Canyon. (Courtesy of Michael Ketterer)

Los Alamos, the Atomic City, is facing a legacy of its nickname.

High levels of plutonium present in samples taken in July from soil, plants and water in Los Alamos’ Acid Canyon may be the oldest contamination in the state, predating the 1945 Trinity Site atomic test, said Michael Ketterer, an analytical chemist and retired professor of chemistry from Northern Arizona University.

“There are some references to contamination being introduced into Acid Canyon starting in 1943,” he said Thursday. “It is very logical to me that this is some of the earliest produced material.”

The legacy plutonium contamination estimated to have lasted into the 1960s is still impacting the land, water and potentially human health, he said in a presentation hosted by Nuclear Watch NM.

“What I’ve found here in Acid Canyon, my friends, is I’d say pretty much the most extreme plutonium contamination scenario I’ve seen in an offsite, uncontrolled environmental setting,” Ketterer said, alluding to thousands of plutonium samples he’s analyzed in his 20-year career.

He said that contamination levels surpass samples he took at private properties around the former plutonium pit production site in Rocky Flats, Colorado.

What is plutonium?

Plutonium is a heavy, radioactive metal at the core of the U.S. nuclear weapons program. Most plutonium is man-made. It emits alpha particles, neutrons, beta particles and gamma rays.

The element’s toxicity comes from the alpha particles – a type of radiation that is often short-range and can be stopped by skin. If it’s inhaled or consumed, even in very small doses of micrograms (one millionth of a gram), it increases cancer risks. Plutonium, when ingested or in the bloodstream, most often deposits in the lungs, liver or bones . It remains in the body for decades, continuing the damage.

One concern, which he said warrants immediate federal or state environment protection intervention, was the levels of plutonium contamination in water flows in Acid Canyon.

“To see plutonium in water anywhere, really, you have to work hard to even detect it in any water sample,” he said.

All four samples taken in July exceed the federal standard for gross alpha radiation, he said, and far exceed guidance levels in New Mexico, or Colorado.

Ketterer emphasized he was not a toxicology expert, but said he’s concerned about people ingesting or inhaling it, as it’s in a public open space, owned by the county. He said he’s not concerned that people are drinking it, but their pets might.

“I think making sure that people don’t drink it, don’t ingest it, and they don’t inhale it, is the starting point,” Ketterer said.

One Los Alamos County Councilor, Randall Ryti, attended the presentation. Los Alamos County spokesperson Leslie Bucklin said employees at the county were reviewing Ketterer’s findings.

“At this time, Los Alamos County has not received any notification from our regulators or [U.S. Department of Energy] indicating that Acid Canyon is unsafe. The County continues to support the importance and efforts of legacy waste clean-up in and around our community,” Bucklin wrote in a statement.

Ketterer’s samples followed findings from NuclearWatch NM published in April finding plutonium migrating from Los Alamos down the Rio Grande . NuclearWatch NM built the map with the Intellus database , which uses Los Alamos National Laboratory monitoring data.

Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch NM, said the findings come as the budget for weapons production has ballooned with Los Alamos National Laboratory projecting to spend an estimated $8 billion to restart new plutonium pit production.

He said the priority of spending billions on weapons while cleanup budgets for legacy waste has only been about $225 million per year .

“We need the environment around Los Alamos comprehensively cleaned up,” he said. “We don’t need more nuclear weapons for the nuclear arms race.”

Findings for the first ‘downstreamers’

Ketterer opened the presentation with an apology to New Mexicans, pointing to the disproportional impacts of the nuclear industry on the state and its communities.

“You’re the first downwinders, New Mexicans, you’re also among the first downstreamers,” he said, putting forward a term he said he coined for people impacted by nuclear contamination pushed down by water.

“It’s moving downstream, the water is pushing this plume of contamination continuously,” he said. “It’s been doing this for 80 years. It’s going to continue for centuries and millennia.”

The samples were taken from just around a walking trail behind the Los Alamos Aquatic Center, and from the Totavi gas station at the base of the canyon on NM Highway 502. The name Acid Canyon sprung from the nitric acid used to dissolve plutonium waste and was part of the waste dumped into the canyon from 1943 to 1964 .

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, after some soils were removed, the site was deemed “ sufficiently free of contamination” and released to Los Alamos County in 1967.

Ketterer disagreed.

“I don’t know how DOE Legacy Management can call this clean in any way,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Energy did not immediately return an emailed request for comment Friday.

‘You need to think about where you are living’

During the more than 500 above ground nuclear tests performed around the world, the fallout of Plutonium-239 rained down from the atmosphere, building up as sediment in the earth’s layers, and exposing people to small amounts of plutonium.

Ketterer said his findings shows that the pollution is older, saying that it can’t be dismissed as “fallout” contamination.

He closed by warning about concerns of wildfire danger to the area, comparing it to the threat the 2021 Marshall Fire posed to Rocky Flats .

“It is shocking to see this fire danger right in the midst of a public area. If this vegetation burns, you’re going to get fly ash all over the proximity,” he said.

The U.S. Environmental Department Agency Region 6, which oversees New Mexico and surrounding states, declined to issue a statement or provide answers to emailed questions Friday.

State environment officials did not offer if the department is investigating Ketterer’s findings any further. New Mexico Environment Department spokesperson Drew Goreztka wrote in a statement that regulating nuclear material is a federal responsibility, and that only certain areas, like water quality, are delegated to the state.

Ketterer directed some of his comments directly to people living in Los Alamos.

“Those of you who live in Los Alamos, you really need to think about where you are living. You who are downwinders in every sense of the word, you are downstreamers,” he said.