DARHT - an `adequate` EIS: A NEPA case study Page: 4 of 17
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The author was the project manager in charge of preparing the DAR=T EIS for
the DOE.
INTRODUCTION
The Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) Facility Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) provides a case study that is interesting for many
reasons. The EIS was prepared quickly, in the face of a lawsuit, for a
project with unforeseen environmental impacts, for a facility that was deemed
urgently essential to national security. Following judicial review the DARHT
EIS was deemed to be "adequate."
DARHT is a facility now being built at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
as part of the Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons stockpile
stewardship program. DARHT will be used to evaluate the safety and
reliability of nuclear weapons, evaluate conventional munitions and study
high-velocity impact phenomena. DARHT will be equipped with two accelerator-
driven, high-intensity X-ray machines to record images of materials driven by
high explosives. DARHT will be used for a variety of hydrodynamic tests, and
DOE plans to conduct some dynamic experiments using plutonium at DARHT as
well.
THE DARHT DILEMMA
In May 1994, DOE and LANL officials participated in a sparsely-attended
ground-breaking ceremony in a remote part of the Laboratory's extensive
property in northern New Mexico. The event initiated the construction of a
new LANL building, to be called the DARHT Facility, planned to upgrade and
replace an older test facility which had been in use since the 1960's. A
picture or two of the ground-breaking, showing men in suits and hard hats
digging small shovelfuls of dirt, appeared in the local newspaper but was
given little press interest elsewhere.
Over the course of the summer, foundations for the new building were dug, a
large earthen berm was built, and concrete trucks began to roll into the
construction site. Two large accelerator halls began to take shape, forming a
symmetrical "L" -- two long thin buildings at right angles to each other, each
with windowless concrete walls 225 feet long, each about 50 feet wide, each
reaching three to five stories above the construction grade. The engineering
work for the accelerators was underway, and paperwork for the purchase of the
first long-lead accelerator components was being prepared. The construction
project was proceeding on schedule, within the expected budget, with no major
delays anticipated.
However, the DARHT project had not gone totally unnoticed. Two citizen
interest groups from Santa Fe made inquiry of the local DOE office regarding
this project. What was the purpose of the new facility? How much was
budgeted? What environmental reviews had been completed? The local office
answered the questions: the facility was to provide an enhanced hydrodynamic
testing capability to assist with stewardship of nuclear weapons; Congress had
approved a line item of about $120 million; the facility had undergone a
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Webb, M. Diana. DARHT - an `adequate` EIS: A NEPA case study, article, August 1, 1997; New Mexico. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc691348/m1/4/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.