CCNS Update: Recent Episodes
CCNS
A Weekly overview of Nuclear Safety issues. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ccnsupdate/support
Nuclear weapons programs divert public funds from health care,
education, disaster relief and other vital humanitarian services. The nuclear-
armed countries spent over $91.4 billion [dollars] on their arsenals in 2023. At
the same time, the corporations fabricating these weapons of mass destruction
and their investors made billions in profit annually.
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Daniel Ellsberg was a nuclear war planner – his plans are still in use
today in the United States. He has provided a stark warning about the
dangers of nuclear weapons and above all the intercontinental ballistic
missiles, or ICBMs and his work is being acknowledged this week. Join in
virtual and live activities.
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It was announced at the June 5 th Los Alamos County Board of Public Utilities
meeting that there are two proposals to bring approximately 50 or more megawatts of
solar electricity to the County and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a federal
Department of Energy (DOE) facility. One of the County’s goals is to develop and
strengthen partnerships with Jemez Pueblo and Pueblo de San Ildefonso in their efforts
to develop solar farms.
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The Austin newspaper, the Texas Observer, chose Searchlight reporter
Alicia Inez Guzmán, to receive its 2024 MOLLY Prize on May 30 th . Guzmán
holds a Ph.D. in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester
in New York. Her article, “Buried Secrets, Poisoned Bodies,” is exemplary
investigative journalism. The prize, awarded to only one journalist a year,
honors Molly Ivins, the Observer editor for six years in the 70’s.
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Just as there were problems encountered with air monitoring during the February
14, 2014 explosion and release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a nuclear
bomb waste dump, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board continues to raise
questions about that issue.
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On March 12 th , the Department of Energy (DOE) submitted its Planned Change
Request to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use new Panels 11 and 12 in
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) underground nuclear waste facility. The Planned
Change Request also outlines the plans for seven additional panels for waste from
expanded plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the
Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the disposition of 34 metric tons of surplus
plutonium from that site.
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Beginning on Monday, May 13 th , at an in-person and virtual public hearing in
Santa Fe, the New Mexico Environment Department will present its proposal to vastly
expand the reuse of produced water from the production of oil and gas to the New
Mexico Water Quality Control Commission.
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Did you know the federal Departments of Defense and Energy, NASA and the
private industry sector currently operate more than 60 open burn pits across the U.S.
and its territories – causing the uncontrolled release of PFAS and other toxic chemicals
to the environment?
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This week, CCNS highlights portions of a recent press release by Nuclear Watch
New Mexico, Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (Tri-Valley
CARES), and the Savannah River Site Watch about the National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA). Their piece suggests NNSA does not have its priorities straight
in neither producing up-to-date information on the way plutonium appears to age nor
providing this information in a timely manner to the public. The entire press release is
posted at nuclearactive.org
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Recent monthly reports by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board relate
disturbing stories about near-miss operational incidents in the fifth shaft, under
construction, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The underground federal
radioactive waste disposal site is located 2,150 feet below ground surface in a salt
formation almost 30 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The Board has reported
broken cables, misaligned transport platforms for workers to reach the underground,
and workers stuck in the new shaft.
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The Coalition invites you to join the Saturday, April 6 th Caravan in your vehicle at
the Camel Rock geologic formation on the Camel Rock Frontage Road in Tesuque at
9:30 am.
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Did you know that the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) was supposed to
complete its 25-year waste disposal mission and begin closing on Tuesday, March 26 th ?
You may know about it because WIPP officials had a party.
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Did you know that on Friday, March 26, 1999, the first shipment of plutonium-
contaminated nuclear weapons waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
reached the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)?
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Thursday, March 28 th marks the 45 th anniversary of the Three Mile Island nuclear
power plant accident in Pennsylvania. A new documentary, “RADIOACTIVE: The
Women of Three Mile Island,” tells the harrowing story of the 1979 accident involving
the release of radioactive and toxic materials into the air, soils, water and into bodies
young and old.
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For twenty years, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has struggled to contain
the cancer-causing hexavalent chromium plume in the regional drinking water aquifer
below the nuclear weapons site. The horizontal and vertical reach of the deep plume
covers an area of unknown size and the depth of the contamination is unknown.
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Members of Indigenous communities provided testimony to the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights at a historic hearing in Washington, DC this week about
the impacts of uranium exploitation on their human rights.
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This week, at the same time as the National Nuclear Security Administrative was
requesting public comments about its need for 173 megawatts (MW) of electricity, the
County of Los Alamos Board of Public Utilities was considering a proposal for 170
megawatts from the proposed Foxtail Flats Solar and Battery Energy Storage System in
San Juan County, New Mexico.
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CCNS has prepared talking points and a sample public comment letter you can use
to craft your oral and written comments about the proposed 14-mile long, 115-kilovolt
electrical line across the Caja del Rio before it would cross the Rio Grande to Los
Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
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Please mark your calendar to attend one or more of these meetings or submit public comments before the deadlines. Links and more information are available under Did You Know? at nuclearactive.org
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As promised, a second public meeting on the proposed Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) upgrade project to expand electrical power capacity will begin at 4 pm on Thursday, February 15 th at the Santa Fe Community College. The first virtual and in-person public meeting was held at the same location on January 11 th .
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Twenty years ago, the hexavalent chromium plume was discovered in the regional aquifer 1,000 feet below ground surface at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Since then the debate about how to remove the dangerous hexavalent chromium from the regional drinking water aquifer has been ongoing between LANL, the New Mexico Environment Department, and the public.
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In July 2022, the Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the Tularosa Basin Range Services, a Bechtel affiliate, a 10-year, $3 billion dollar management and operating contract for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to continue the disposal of Cold War radioactive and hazardous wastes from the fabrication of plutonium-based nuclear weapons.
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Monday, January 22 marks the third anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This year’s focus is the lie of deterrence. For decades policy makers have declared nuclear weapons necessary to deter enemy attacks, all the while ignoring the humanitarian costs of the nuclear arms race and the global devastation promised by the nuclear weapons should deterrence fail.
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In an utterly confusing move, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) released an environmental assessment for public review and comment that claims it contains the final remedy for the cleanup of the hexavalent chromium plume in the regional drinking water aquifer.
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On December 19 th , Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) released a draft environmental assessment that would allow the installation and operation of a 14-mile, 115 kiloVolt overhead electrical line basically in parallel to the two electrical lines that already cross the Caja del Rio Plateau and the Rio Grande to the Pajarito Plateau, where LANL is located. It is named the Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade, or EPCU Project. A thirty-day public comment period was announced, ending on Wednesday, January 17 th , 2024.
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Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has a habit of releasing environmental documents requiring public comment during the winter holiday season. That habit continued this winter with not one, but two draft environmental assessments (EA). One involves the hexavalent chromium plume in Mortandad Canyon. The second, and the topic of this Update, is the proposed Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project where an approximately 14-mile, 115 kiloVolt overhead electrical line would be added to the two that already cross the Caja del Rio and the Rio Grande to the Pajarito Plateau, where LANL is located.
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An on-going David versus Goliath fight occurred last week during a public hearing before the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board, a board charged to prevent or abate air pollution.
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For the first time, an agreement was made by the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to challenge the false narrative of nuclear deterrence. It holds that possession of nuclear weapons will prevent another nation with nuclear weapons from attacking.
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Since at least 1999 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has proposed running an additional 12-mile, 115 kilovolt electrical line to the two that already cross the Caja del Rio and the Rio Grande to the Pajarito Plateau, claiming it needs the additional power line to run its supercomputers.
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You are invited to join the Global Day of Action Against Nuclear Weapons on Sunday, November 26 th at 2 pm on the Santa Fe Plaza. Come with your friends, family and colleagues and call for an end to nuclear weapons by bringing attention to the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the TPNW.
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What would happen to the fields of amber waves of grain in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana and North Dakota that feed so many, as well as the area’s population, should a concerted nuclear attack occur in those same fields housing silos of intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs?
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From Monday, November 27 th to Friday, December 1 st , the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will meet at the United Nations in New York to review progress on the treaty’s implementation and agree on further action to strengthen it. This will be the second meeting of the States Parties.
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Over one hundred years ago, in 1918, the world celebrated peace as a universal principle. The first World War had just ended and nations mourning their dead collectively called for an end to all wars. Armistice Day was born and was designated as "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated.”
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Please join the effort to submit public comments in support of the excavation of a 12-acre unlined dump at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Public comments are due to the New Mexico Environment Department by Monday, November 6 th at 5 pm Mountain Time.
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Holtec International, a corporation with a license for a consolidated interim storage facility in southeastern New Mexico for 173,600 metric tons of irradiated nuclear fuel from atomic power plants, submitted a secret application to the Department of Energy seeking at least $2 billion dollars to restart Palisades, a closed nuclear reactor in Michigan. Holtec’s request also includes plans to build small nuclear modular reactors, or SMRs, with electric generation capacity of 160 Megawatts, on site.
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There are two measurements the Department of Energy (DOE) uses for the waste shipped for disposal in the deep underground repository at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), located 26 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The first measurement is the most important, which is the volume of waste measured in cubic meters. A cubic meter fits into a cube measuring 39 inches in width, depth and height. The second measurement is the number of waste shipments.
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Increasing numbers of workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory
have tested positive for radiation exposure both at LANL and on
foreign soils.
Six employees and the equipment they used tested positive for
exposures to radioactive Iodine-125 following official foreign travel to an unknown location in March.
They traveled on commercial airlines and in personal vehicles.
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The comment period is open for the public to review the New
Mexico Environment Department’s recommendation to excavate
the 11.8 acre unlined dump, called Material Disposal Area C, or MDA
C, at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Public comments are
due Monday, November 6 th .
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On Wednesday, September 19 th , the landmark Treaty on the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons had been signed by almost half of
all countries in the world after a ceremony at the United Nations
General Assembly in New York where Sri Lanka acceded to the
Treaty and the Bahamas signed it.
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Friday, September 22 nd will be the last opportunity to make your public
comments about the changes to the operating permit for the nuclear
waste dump, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP. WIPP is a
deep geologic repository for plutonium- contaminated radioactive waste
from the production of nuclear weapons, located 26 miles east of
Carlsbad, New Mexico.
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In a July 2023 report the federal Government Accountability Office
recommended that a third-party facilitator be brought in to improve the
relationship and build trust between the New Mexico Environment
Department and the Department of Energy (DOE) as they try to resolve
outstanding cleanup issues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
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CCNS provided the following response to a recent Santa Fe New Mexican Our View:
“In response to Stop Stalling: Clean up chromium plume, no one is stalling.
The plume does need immediate attention and does need to be analyzed
with a computer model that everyone can use. The consequences of
getting the cleanup of the toxic hexavalent chromium plume wrong would
be disastrous.
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Did you know that in 2008 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
designated the 3,000 square mile Española Basin System as a Sole Source Drinking Water Aquifer? One ongoing concern is that Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) sits on its western edge, near the Valles Caldera. And a recent dispute between the New Mexico Environment Department and the Department of Energy about the LANL hexavalent chromium plume, which is being pushed deeper into the regional drinking water aquifer, highlights the need for state agencies to have the resources to protect it.
Hexavalent chromium is a known human carcinogen.
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On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 peaceful demonstrators from across the United States of America joined together for the first March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. They came together to demand voting rights and equal opportunity for African Americans and to appeal for an end to racial segregation and discrimination.
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More than 100 medical journals, including the Lancet, the British Medical Journal, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the JAMA, have issued a joint call for urgent steps to decrease the growing danger of nuclear war and to move rapidly to the elimination of nuclear weapons. At a time of expanded fighting in Ukraine and increased tensions in Korea, leaders of the global health community underscore that any use of nuclear weapons would be catastrophic for humanity.
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Near the end of World War II, on August 6 th , 1945, the United States dropped a uranium atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, the United States dropped a plutonium atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. To acknowledge the harm done in the development, testing and use of the atomic bombs by the United States, two events are taking place on Saturday, August 5 th in Albuquerque and one event on
Wednesday, August 9 th in Los Alamos. For more information or to find similar
commemorative events in your area, please see the Physicians for Social Responsibility
website at psr.org.
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A delegation from the Archdioceses of Santa Fe and Seattle is embarking on a transformative Pilgrimage of Peace to the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Akita, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, from July 31 to August 12, 2023. The delegation comprises Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, and Most Reverend Paul D. Etienne, Archbishop of Seattle, along with representatives from various organizations and archdiocesan offices dedicated to nuclear disarmament and social justice. Funding for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe delegation is strictly through grants and personal contributions; no funds from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe are being used.
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Rain or shine, please join diverse organizations and individuals at the
Inaugural Albu(r)querque Peace Festival on Saturday, August 5 th from 2 to
6 pm at Roosevelt Park for music, speakers, informational tables and food
trucks.. The Albu(r)querque Peace Festival is an effort by multiple
organizations to bring attention to the danger of nuclear weapons, the
horror of nuclear war, and promote efforts toward longstanding peace
locally, nationally, and globally.
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You are invited to come to a free in-person and live stream public vigil entitled “From Reflection to Action: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test” on Sunday, July 16 th from 4 to 6 pm at Santa Maria de la Paz Church at 11 College Avenue in Santa Fe. The vigil will commemorate the 78 th year since the detonation of the first atomic weapon, called The Gadget, at the Trinity Test Site in south central New Mexico and provide you with tools to work for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. Doors open at 3:15 pm so you may view exhibits and visit with representatives of local organizations, including CCNS.
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To commemorate the 78 th anniversary of the first detonation of an atomic weapon
at the nearby Trinity Test Site, the complete elimination of nuclear weapons must be
prioritized. A free in-person and livestreamed public event entitled “From Reflection to
Action: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test” will be held at the Santa Maria de
la Paz Community Hall in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Sunday, July 16 th from 4 to 6 pm.
Doors open at 3:15 pm so you may view exhibits on nuclear issues and visit with
representatives of local organizations.
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CCNS and five other non-governmental organizations and one individual
successfully negotiated a settlement agreement last week to revise the draft ten-year
hazardous waste renewal permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Also at the
table were the New Mexico Environment Department and the co-Permittees, the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) and Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, LLC (SIMCO).
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Each week you depend on CCNS to provide you with the latest nuclear safety
issues through the radio, on the internet and by email. We’ve been producing the
weekly CCNS News Update for over 35 years! We need your financial support to keep
our programs going.
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Los Alamos National Laboratory plans to prepare an environmental assessment
to address the hexavalent chromium contamination in the deep regional drinking water
aquifer. In comments submitted this week, the Communities for Clean Water
recommended that LANL conduct a more detailed environmental impact statement in
order to protect the regional drinking water aquifer and the Environmental Protection
Agency-designated Española Basin Sole Source Aquifer from the migrating
contamination.
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You are invited to join the Ohio Nuclear Free Network for its important virtual public forum, Radioactive Contamination, Environment and Public Health and the
Future of the Portsmouth Nuclear Site, on Saturday, June 10 th beginning at 10:45 am Mountain Time. The in-person and virtual forum offers an opportunity to
learn from world-renowned experts about contamination at the Piketon, Ohio site and at
Department of Energy (DOE) sites across the country.
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CCNS has prepared sample public comments you can modify about the scope of a new draft site-wide environmental impact statement for Sandia National
Laboratories in New Mexico. Comments may be submitted electronically to SNL-
SWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov through Monday, June 5 th , 2023.
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In response to the lack of concrete progress on nuclear disarmament by the G7
leaders in Hiroshima last week, Ivana Nikolić Hughes, Ph.D., and President of the
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, wrote the following op-ed in Common Dreams. We
provide excerpts:
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On May 15 th , four Archbishops, including Archbishop John C. Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, sent a letter to the Group of Seven leaders gathering for
a three-day summit in Hiroshima, Japan to urge the leaders to take concrete steps toward nuclear disarmament.
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The New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission not only denied Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) and CCNS standing to challenge the groundwater
discharge permit DP-1132, but also denied the public any opportunity to provide comment during
Tuesday’s hearing.
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The health of the Rio Grande watershed in the area of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is at stake. The protection of the 3,000 square mile sole source
drinking water aquifer is at stake. LANL has contaminated it with hexavalent chromium and the plume is migrating towards the Pueblo de San Ildefonso, the Rio
Grande, and the Buckman wells and diversion facility. Every drop of water is precious and must be free from contamination. Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE)
and CCNS work to ensure that every drop is protected.
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Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) and CCNS will be before the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission on Tuesday, May 9 th at the New Mexico
State Capitol to argue that they have standing to challenge the groundwater discharge permit, DP-1132, for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The Hearing Officer, who reports to the Commission, recommended to the Commission that the non-governmental
organizations do not have standing.
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There has not been an adequate examination of the seismic vulnerabilities and increasing risk of seismic activity in the area of Valles Caldera, with Los Alamos
National Laboratory on the eastern slope.
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It was revealed at the Tuesday, April 11 th monthly meeting of the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission that the Department of Energy (DOE) had
approached Kelsey Rader, an at-large member of the Commission, on Good Friday about a job with DOE. If Commissioner Rader took a position with DOE, she
would be the third official who was hired away by DOE during the Commission’s review of DOE’s
New Mexico Environment Department ground water discharge permit.
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It’s time to break the silence about the permitting of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Since 1963, the Facility
has handled, treated and stored radioactive and hazardous liquid waste generated at the Plutonium Facility, where the triggers, or plutonium pits, for nuclear
weapons are fabricated.
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The National Nuclear Security Administrator Jill Hruby and Senior Advisor to the Department of Energy Office of Environment Management Ike White will be in
Santa Fe next week for a public town hall. It is essential that they hear from you!
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For nearly three years, the public has requested a town hall type of event in which officials from the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA) would answer questions about the plans to expand operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
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As if there is not enough going on, it’s time to get your personalized comments into the Department of Energy (DOE). It has published its unsupported draft
environmental impact statement about DOE’s proposal for handling more than 48 metric tons of surplus plutonium – and maybe more – for decades to come.
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A review of the Department of Energy (DOE) National Environmental Policy Act website shows that it is behind schedule in providing the public with up-to-date
site-wide environmental impact statements, or SWEISs, for the four main sites involved in DOE’s
proposed surplus plutonium plans.
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What would you do with more than 30 metric tons of “surplus” plutonium in the form of triggers for nuclear weapons? The Department of Energy (DOE) has been working to find a solution for at least 30 years.
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CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) filed a Verified Petition for An Original Writ of Mandamus with the New Mexico Supreme Court about the improper regulation by the Water Quality Control Commission of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
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On February 14 th , 2014, radioactive waste exploded at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground disposal site. To raise public awareness of the
Valentine’s Day anniversary and the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) expansion plans, individuals and organizations held a press conference at the New Mexico
State Capitol.
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On February 14 th , 2014, one or more drums of radioactive and hazardous waste exploded in the deep underground disposal site of the Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant (WIPP). To raise public awareness, non-government organizations are joining together on Tuesday, February 14 th at 1:15 in the Rotunda at the New
Mexico State Capitol for a press conference.
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On Wednesday night, the Santa Fe City Council heard from dozens of people, both in person and virtually, about the proposed rezoning of 22 acres of
open space on South Meadows to housing. Dave Englert, a retired New Mexico Environment Department geologist, and Joni Arends, CCNS Executive Director,
urged the City Council to prioritize cleanup of the Eberline site that borders the 22 acres to the south. Arends asked the Council to use its emergency powers to
install a tent with HEPA filtration over the building now.
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The Santa Fe City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, February 1 st at 7 pm to consider the proposed rezoning of the 22 acres of open
space on South Meadows. CCNS urges you to contact your city councilors and encourage them to vote no on the rezoning proposal. There are too many
unanswered questions about possible contamination of the open space remaining from decades of operations of the industrial Eberline / ThermoFisher
radiation detection manufacturing facility to the south.
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On Tuesday, January 24 th and Thursday, January 26 th , the Department of Energy will hold in-person public hearings in Carlsbad and Los Alamos,
respectively, about their plans to handle, treat and dispose of surplus plutonium in New Mexico.
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Two in-person public hearings in New Mexico and one virtual public hearing will be held about the Department of Energy’s plan to ship more than 30
tons of surplus radioactive plutonium for processing at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
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On Tuesday, January 10 th , CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) will return to the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission to ask it
to vacate the decisions in which former Commission Chair Stephanie Stringer was involved. CCNS and HOPE have appealed the issuance of the groundwater
discharge permit, DP-1132, for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to the Commission.
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In May 2022, CCNS, Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE), and Veterans
for Peace appealed the federal Clean Water Act discharge permit for Outfall 051,
which is connected to the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los
Alamos National Laboratory, to the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB).
On December 28 th , the three-judge panel in Washington, DC ruled unanimously
to remand the federal permit, or send it back, to EPA’s Region 6 office in Dallas.
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CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) request your support of our request for sanctions in the appeal of the groundwater discharge permit DP-
1132, issued to Los Alamos National Laboratory for operation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility. The appeal is before the New Mexico Water
Quality Control Commission, which has the authority to order sanctions. We seek sanctions requiring the Permittees, the Department of Energy / National
Nuclear Security Administration, to pay our expenses caused by DOE/NNSA’s unethical behavior.
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On Thursday, December 8th, the New Mexico Environment Department released its fact sheet for the draft Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Hazardous
Waste Permit. The draft fact sheet is a way to let New Mexicans and the Department of Energy (DOE) know about the Environment Department plans for
the ten-year renewal of the permit.
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Under the banner of “Diplomacy is the Path to Peace,” diverse organizations are holding nationwide activities the week of December 19 th to end
the war in Ukraine, not life on Earth.
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The Earth has been rocking and rolling with large earthquake and volcanic activity lately. It makes us wonder how seismic activity along the north – south
running Pajarito Fault System and the massive Valles Caldera is being monitored and where the data is posted for easy public access.
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For over 34 years, CCNS has been a leader for nuclear safety. We began in 1988 to address community concerns about the proposed transportation of
plutonium contaminated hazardous waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory, or LANL, to the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, for disposal in
the deep geologic repository. At that time, the proposal was to ship the waste through Santa Fe on Saint Francis Drive, near traditional neighborhoods, seven
schools and the hospital.
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This week the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) provided evidence to CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) that Stephanie
Stringer, a New Mexico Environment Deputy Cabinet Secretary and Chair of the New Mexico Water Quality Commission, made adjudicatory decisions against
the non-governmental organizations while she was applying for NNSA employment. This is the second time NNSA has hired an adjudicatory decision-maker
during an ongoing proceeding addressing the groundwater discharge permit, DP-1132, for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos
National Laboratory.
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On Wednesday, November 16 th , during the first virtual and in-person public hearing session, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will hear from three
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) officials about the stored and buried transuranic waste at the Area G dump. The Board wants to understand LANL’s
plans to “remove legacy transuranic waste while minimizing the amount of aboveground transuranic waste.” Let’s break down that description.
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On Wednesday, November 16th, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) will hold a virtual and in-person public hearing at the Santa Fe
Community Convention Center from noon to 9:45 pm Mountain Time. The DNFSB’s goal is to gather information regarding legacy cleanup activities,
nuclear safety, and increased production of plutonium pits, or triggers, for nuclear weapons at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). There will be two
opportunities for oral public comments. Written comments will also be accepted.
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On May 5, 2022, the New Mexico Environment Department issued discharge permit DP-1132 under the New Mexico Water Quality Act for the
Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Facility manages hazardous waste and the Water Quality Act is expressly
limited so that it does not apply to a hazardous waste facility. Nevertheless, the Environment Department issued LANL the Water Quality Act permit.
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It is essential for folks to attend – either virtually or in person - the WIPP Community Forum on Monday, October 24 , beginning at 5:30 pm at Buffalo
Thunder Resort Casino. The Department of Energy (DOE), which owns both Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP),
has plans to greatly expand both facilities.
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It’s time again to submit comments about what the scope of a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Los Alamos National Laboratory should
be as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Comments are due on Tuesday, October 18 th , 2022 by 11:59 pm Mountain Time to
LANLSWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov .
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On September 26 th , Molly McGinty, Associate Program Director of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, spoke at the United
Nations.Listen to a portion here.
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On May 5 th , 2022, the New Mexico Environment Department issued a new groundwater discharge permit for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment
Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory under the New Mexico Water Quality Act. It is discharge permit DP-1132. The facility, located near the Plutonium
Facility, handles, treats and stores radioactive and hazardous liquid wastes from operations across the LANL site.
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On Wednesday, September 21 st , the International Day of Peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons in the Ukrainian
War. His threats to use nuclear weapons surpass Russia’s official nuclear doctrine. As posted on en.kremlin.ru, Putin said, “In the event of a threat to the
territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff.”
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The privileges of the rich and powerful Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and its plans to expand the fabrication of plutonium pits, or triggers, for
nuclear warheads continue. After 115 non-governmental organizations and individuals requested a two-month extension of time for preparation of informed
scoping comments for a long-delayed draft sitewide environmental impact statement (SWEIS), LANL granted a whopping 15-day extension. Scoping
comments are now due by Tuesday, October 18 th . If you plan to email your comments, submit them before 11:59 pm Mountain time.
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On Tuesday and Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will host two virtual meetings to gather public comments about the scope of a draft
environmental impact statement for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). If you think these scoping meetings are not important, please check out the
recently released 2021 LANL Campus Master Plan. The plan was obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
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This week 63 non-governmental organizations and 52 individuals requested that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant a two-month
extension of time to provide informed public comments about the scope of the Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operations of Los
Alamos National Laboratory (LANL SWEIS). On August 19 th , DOE announced a 45-day comment period. Currently, comments are due on Monday, October 3rd , 2022.
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Taos ceramic artist Serit Kotowski’s beautiful Sacred Trust: BROKEN is an educational installation that focuses on the impact of the nuclear weapons
industry in New Mexico. Using a traditional potter’s repertoire Kotowski created two sets of dinnerware to demonstrate that, if ingested, radioactive
substances are harmful, if not deadly. The plates and cups are labeled “NOT FOOD SAFE.”
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New scientific work demonstrates that even a “limited” nuclear war would cause abrupt climate disruption and global starvation. A limited nuclear war is
defined as a conflict confined to one region and involving a small fraction of the world’s nuclear arsenals. But such a conflict would be neither limited nor
regional and despite statements to the contrary, it would be an event on a planetary scale of death and destruction.
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Did you know that the current hazardous waste permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) states that waste disposal operations will end in
2024, followed by a ten-year period to close the underground waste disposal site?
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On Tuesday, August 9 th the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission will hear virtually a petition for review of the groundwater discharge permit, DP-1132, filed by non-governmental organizations CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE). DP-1132 allows Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to handle, store and discharge treated radioactive and hazardous waters from the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility into Effluent Canyon, a tributary of Mortandad Canyon.
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August 6 th and 9 th were the days in 1945 when the U.S. bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs 77 years ago. Every year community members gather at to commemorate those events, to recognize the harm done, and to recommit to working for peace. You are invited to participate in these commemoration events.
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Did you know the hazardous waste permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is up for its ten-year renewal? In August, the New Mexico
Environment Department may release a draft permit for public review and a 60-day comment period.
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In the face of continuing problems and escalating costs for expanded production of plutonium “pit” bomb cores for nuclear weapons, U.S.
Congressman John Garamendi, of California, has offered a common sense amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for
plutonium pit accountability.
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Holtec International recently purchased two shutdown nuclear power plants in Michigan to create a supply chain of spent fuel rods for its proposed consolidated interim storage facility in southeastern New Mexico’s Permian Basin. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff is expected to issue a Final Environmental Impact Statement this month and an operating license in early 2023 for the proposed “temporary” storage facility for spent nuclear fuel.
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Did you know that the Department of Energy (DOE) plans to continue disposing of plutonium-contaminated radioactive and hazardous waste in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) essentially forever? In filings submitted to the New Mexico Environment Department on Monday, DOE stated, “[the] final facility closure could begin no earlier than [Calendar Year] 2083.”
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This week before the start of the First Meeting of States Parties for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna, three countries
deposited their ratification documents with the United Nations. Grenada, Cabot Verde, and Timor Leste joined 62 countries to ratify the treaty,
for a total of 65. One-third of the world’s 195 countries have now ratified the Treaty.
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If you were in charge of allocating U.S. taxpayer money, would you invest $84,094 [dollars] per minute for nuclear weapons? What would your priorities be?
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While you may not be able to travel to Vienna, Austria for the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, you can sign the online Statement on the Existential Threat of Nuclear Weapons.
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Decisions being made by federal and state agencies about the plutonium-contaminated waste stored at the Waste Control Specialists facility located on the Texas-New Mexico border may foreshadow how non-compliant waste may be stranded in the future.
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In November 2021, Los Alamos National Laboratory applied to the Environmental Protection Agency to begin construction of a new radioactive
liquid waste treatment facility for transuranic, or plutonium contaminated, liquid waste from the Plutonium Facility.
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Plutonium operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory's Technical Area 55 are centered in the middle of the 36 square mile national nuclear weapons facility.
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Recently released Biden Administration budget documents reveal that for Fiscal Year 2023, beginning on October 1st, the Administration is proposing a Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) budget of $4.6 billion, an overall increase o 21 percent.
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As of Wednesday evening May 4th, the Cerro Pelado wildland fire was about five miles from the "back gate" of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
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Nearly 30 years ago, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board began communications with the DOE about ventilation systems in nuclear facilities, saying that they must contain or confine radioactive materials during an accident or seismic event that might be followed by a fire.
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Exploding Biden Administration budgets for the three Department of Energy (DOE) sites in New Mexico fully support the dangerous trend to develop more provocative nuclear weapons.
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Eight years after the 2014 explosion of one or more waste containers disposed in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) underground, on Saturday,
April 9 th , WIPP announced that one or more waste containers had leaked radioactive liquids while being unloaded from a TRUPACT-II shipping container
in the Waste Handling Building.
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Last week we quoted Cynthia Lazaroff about the nuclear dangers in Ukraine and her call to come forward that "Our work is more important now that ever."
This week we quote the call to come forward from Ralph Hutchison, Coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, to all those working for the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty, that this is our time.
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This week the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation held a virtual presentation by Cynthia Lazaroff and Richard Falk about the nuclear dangers in Ukraine.
www.wagingpeace.org
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This week Nuclear Watch New Mexico announced the successful settlement of its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) about its slow cleanup of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
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Please join the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service to acknowledge Robert Alvarez, one of the bedrock founders of the national movement to unmask the human and environmental carnage that resulted directly from the U.S. effort to create a massive nuclear arsenal. The live virtual event runs from 1 to 2:30 pm Mountain Daylight Time this Saturday March 19th.
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Last week, the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission met to deliberate and make final decisions about the state's Surface Water Quality Standards.
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Excerpts from Cindy Wheeler's speech during the March 1,2022 press conference at the New Mexico Capitol explains why you should care about the expanding mission for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
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If you are concerned about proposed expansion of beryllium machining operations at LANL, now is the time to express your interest to the New Mexico Environment Depart Air Quality Bureau!
Find sample public comment letter on our website http://nuclearactive.org
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Despite receiving comments from 19 non-governmental and business organizations representing tens of thousands of New Mexicans, the New Mexico Environment Department has permitted the use of the underground disposal Panel 8 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) with 16-foot high ceilings.
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This week Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety (CCNS) asked the New Mexico Environment Department to withdraw its draft groundwater permit DP-1132 for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) because of the confusing, incomplete and defective documents released for public review and comment.
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The NMED is again trying to skirt proper regulation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at LANL as required by the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act.
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The independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recently reported that Triad National Security LLC, the nuclear weapons contractor at LANL, wants the DOE to accept the risk of bringing large shipments of plutonium-238 in uncertified containers for repackaging in the Plutonium Facility.
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Saturday January 22, 2022, marks the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Join us for a wonderful event from 1 to 3pm at Ashley Pond in Los Alamos.
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January 11th, Archbishop of Santa Fe John C Wester released his historic pastoral letter Living in the Light of Christ's Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament.
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Saturday January 22nd from 1 - 3 PM at Ashley Pond in Los Alamos join CCNS, Veterans for Peace, Nuclear Watch New Mexico and others for a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. and the first anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Visit Nuclear Ban Treaty Days of Action facebook Page for information. ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/336042507972854 )
For information on Dr. King and the Treaty visit Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. ( https://orepa.org/ )
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The New Year will begin with the NM Environment Department's virtual public meeting about the annual cleanup plan for legacy waste at LANL.
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Two appeals have been filed in the NM Court of Appeals to challenge the decision by NM Environment Dept. Secretary James Kenney to approve the new shaft at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
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At 1:00p.m. Mountain Time Sunday December 19th, the Archbishop of Santa Fe, John C Wester, will hold an Unveiling and Blessing of a Sign of Peace at The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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In a stunning bipartisan vote, this week the U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2021 on a vote of 25 to 8.
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Tuesday November 30th, the DOE held a press conference to announce a third attempt to find communities, sovereign tribal nations, or local or state governments to host an interim federal storage facility for high-level radioactive waste from commercial nuclear reactors.
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DOE has raised the height of the underground waste disposal Panel 8 from 13 feet to 16 feet in violation of the Permit.
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On October 27th, New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney granted the DOE and its contractor, Nuclear Waste Partnership, the latest approval requested to expand WIPP.
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The public learned this week that DOE asked the LANL cleanup contractor, N3B, to request that the NM Environment Department move 19 hazardous wast sites from one part of the hazardous waste permit to another.
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Our colleague, Linda Pentz Gunter, has written a brilliant piece about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
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NMED granted the Department of Energy approval to excavate and use new Shaft No. 5 and its associated drifts in the WIPP Underground. Essentially ensuring Forever WIPP.
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Due to on-going maintenance problems in the underground disposal facility, WIPP requested an extension of time from NMED to store waste in the Waste Handling Building.
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In response to community concerns about the proposed increased shipments of more dangerous forms of plutonium along New Mexico State Road 599, Santa Fe County District 2 Commissioner Anna Hansen will host a Nuclear Waste Emergency Response Town Hall Tuesday October 19th from 6 - 7:30 PM.
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For the first time in 3 years, the New Mexico Governor's WIPP Task Force met October 6th.
WIPP = Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
DOE = Department of Energy
NAS = National Academies of Science
GAO = Government Accountability Office
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When will the New Mexico Environment Department acknowledge the DOE's proposals for WIPP as expansion?
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A deadline of July 10th, 2022 is looming for continuing the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) and associated programs.
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In a rare bi-partisan effort, the Texas legislature passed a nearly unanimous bill prohibiting the future storage or disposal of high-level radioactive waste, however, the NRC licensed construction and operation of a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility in Andrews County, Texas.
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DOE's plan to expand WIPP without public comment underway.
https://stopforeverwipp.org/home
http://nuclearactive.org
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Beginning at noon on Tuesday September 7th, the New Mexico Environment Department will hold a virtual public hearing for a groundwater discharge permit for WIPP.
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NMED is holding a virtual public hearing for a groundwater discharge permit that would allow the construction and use of a Salt Cell 5 and Salt Storage Pond 5, It is scheduled for Tuesday September 7th at noon.
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Publicly denying plans to double the size of WIPP, the DOE continues to ask for a new "west wing"
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On August 6th and 9th, 1945 the U.S. Government dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Commemoration events were held in Los Alamos and Taos.
To listen to the panel discussion, courtesy of KCEI-FM go to - https://culturalenergy.org/listenlinks.htm#aug2021
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Over 60 people attended a town hall to learn about Santa Fe County's emergency preparedness and response capabilities.
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Near the end of WWII on August 6th, the U.S. Government dropped a uranium atomic bomb on Hiroshima and 3 days later on August 9th dropped a plutonium atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.
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Even though Sandia National Laboratory stated it could completely excavate the Mixed Waste Landfill, NMED replied sampling and monitoring would be sufficient to address potential risks.
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Three events are scheduled to commemorate the long-lasting harm done by the first atomic bomb test at the Trinity site in south central New Mexico on July 16th, 1945.
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If you live near or recreate on a New Mexico river, stream, or lake or irrigate from one, water quality should be a concern. Participate in the Public Hearing!
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How many times do non-governmental organizations need to ask for the DOE and the NNSA to follow the law before they file a lawsuit, six!
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New Mexico Governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham petitions EPA to safeguard water in state from toxic chemicals.
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The presidents of the United States and Russia met and discussed a number of matters including "Strategic Stability."
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The New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission will take up important regulatory water issues soon.
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The DOE released its Fiscal Year 2022 congressional budget request for nuclear weapons activities this past Friday.
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The Virtual Public hearings on the new shaft at WIPP ended last week. Here is a possible timeline.
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Legal maneuvering by the New Mexico Environment Department and the
Department of Energy (DOE), and decisions made by the Hearing Officer, have limited
the scope of the virtual public hearing about whether the plan to dig a new $197 million
shaft at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) will be approved.
The hearing Clerk's email address: Madai.Corral@state.nm.us.
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Monday May 17th begins a 5 day virtual public hearing by the Hazardous Waste Bureau. Plan to be a part of the event!
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No DOE employee will testify about the purpose and need for construction of a fifth shaft into the underground mine at WIPP.
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When DOE (Department of Energy) gets in a hurry to ship plutonium-contaminated waste, bad things happen.
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Celebrating Earth Day and the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, with 3 events.
https://taosenvironmentalfilmfestival.com/
https://tosavetheworld.ca/events-3/?event_id=433
http://www.nuclearban.us/
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Why is the Hazardous Waste Bureau processing an incomplete permit modification for WIPP?
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A 55-gallon drum of plutonium-contaminated waste had sparks visible and caused an evacuation at LANL!
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Long term waste storage licenses asked to be halted by New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas.
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The EPA plans to renew the Clean Water Act permit for LANL, why?
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Members of the City of Santa Fe Quality of Life Committee discuss benefits of LANL Regional Communities.
Please help support CCNS with an ongoing contribution. Your tax free support ensures our continued coverage of Nuclear Safety issues affecting our community.
Thank you.
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A new Plutonium pit for a proposed nuclear warhead would be fabricated at LANL. The W-87-1.
Also, proposed expansion of LANL into Santa Fe!
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We appreciate any support you can offer.
For more information, visit our website nuclearactive.org
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Community Groups Oppose Next WIPP Radiation Release
Get more information at www.nuclearactive.org
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Currently LANL (Los Alamos National Laboratory is failing to comply with the law. We want to know why.
Visit our website to learn more www.nuclearactive.org
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LANL stands for Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Find more information on our website!
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