Intense Neutron Source facility, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico. Final Environmental Statement

A final environmental statement is presented which was prepared toward compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and in support of the Energy Research and Development Administration's proposed actions to construct and operate a deuterium-tritium gas target intense neutron source at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) in Los Alamos, Los Alamos County, New Mexico. The purpose of the proposed facility is to provide an experimental neutron irradiation facility providing a neutronic environment similar to that anticipated in a fusion power reactor. In addition, the facility will provide prototypic testing of tritium pumping, purification, containment, and cleanup systems necessary for future experimental power reactors. The benefits of developing radiation resistant structural materials, insulators, and tritium handling systems suitable for use in fusion reactors would be substantial and far outweigh the nominal environmental impacts associated with construction and operation of this facility. The principal environmental impacts of the proposed facility result from routine construction activities including clearing approximately six acres of land for the building, parking areas and an access road. Liquid waste discharges consist primarily of cooling tower blowdown during operations. Significantly contaminated liquid and solid waste will be disposed at the existing LASL waste disposal area. Very small quantities (less than 100 curies per year) of tritium and traces of other radioactivity will result in site boundary doses not exceeding 5 mrem per year, or less than 5 percent of applicable radiation protection guidelines and less than 5 percent of the natural radiation background from naturally occurring radioactivity. Alternatives considered included abandoning or postponing the project, selecting alternative designs, and selecting alternative locations for the facility