A Weekly overview of Nuclear Safety issues. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ccnsupdate/support
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) planned to vent 30,000 curies ofradioactive tritium into the air during several weekends this summer but it must haveapproval from the New Mexico Environment Department. James Kenney, EnvironmentDepartment Secretary, citing significant public interest in the proposed plan, determinedthat prior to the Environment Department making any final decision, LANL would berequired to perform four additional steps.
It has been raining in Northern New Mexico this week, providing many blessingsof moisture and delaying the proposed venting of radioactive tritium from Los AlamosNational Laboratory (LANL), at least for now. Importantly, the New Mexico EnvironmentDepartment continues its review of LANL's application for “temporary authorization” tovent up to 30,000 curies of tritium into the air from four Flanged Tritium WasteContainers, or FTWCs.
Dylan K. Spaulding, author of the new report, is a senior scientist in the Union ofConcerned Scientists Global Security Program. He holds an undergraduate degree inphysics from Brown University and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.His work focuses on technical issues related to nuclear stockpile stewardship andpolicies that can reduce the threat posed by nuclear weapons.
Just a few days ago, on May 9 th , the Department of Energy (DOE) and itsNational Nuclear Security Administration announced that virtual public “scoping”meetings would be held next week about their plans to prepare a nationwideProgrammatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production (PEIS).DOE and NNSA are working to turn Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) into amanufacturing facility for plutonium triggers, or pits, for nuclear weapons.
If you haven't already signed the electronic petition to STOP Los AlamosNational Laboratory (LANL) plans to vent large quantities of radioactive tritium into theair beginning on or after June 2 nd , 2025, there's still time.Access the petition at actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-deny-lanls-request-to-release-radioactive-tritium-into-the-air The text of the petition is also available atnuclearactive.org
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) plans to vent large quantities ofradioactive tritium into the air beginning on or after June 2 nd , 2025. Tritium is a form ofhydrogen that forms radioactive water in the environment. It can cross the placenta andfetuses, babies and children may receive a radiation dose about three times greaterthan adults.
During the early days of the pandemic, on March 10, 2020, LANL mailed a noticeto people on the facility mailing list about the proposed venting of radioactive tritium intothe air from four metal containers stored at Area G. LANL's request providedinformation about its plan to seek temporary authorization to vent from the New MexicoEnvironment Department, specifically from the Hazardous Waste Bureau.
the bomb is a groundbreaking multimedia installation that immerses audiences inthe strange, compelling and unsettling reality of nuclear weapons. Since GeneralGroves and Robert Oppenheimer arrived in New Mexico in late 1942 to establish theManhattan Project, the danger has only increased. The world is confronted by the ninenations that possess about 12,000 nuclear weapons. And those nations aremodernizing their arsenals, including the United States at Los Alamos National
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promised the People of New Mexico thatit would cleanup and dispose of its plutonium-contaminated nuclear bomb waste bydepositing it into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) over 25 years and close. DOEbroke its promise when that deadline passed on March 26 th , 2024. But DOE has a newplan to keep the deep geologic nuclear waste disposal facility at WIPP open for 60 moreyears for legacy bomb waste and for newly-generated bomb waste from fabricating newweapons.
The Department of Energy (DOE) promised the People of New Mexico that theywould cleanup and dispose of its plutonium-contaminated nuclear bomb wastes bydepositing waste into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) over 25 years and close.DOE broke its promise when that deadline passed on March 26, 2024. But DOE has anew plan to keep the deep geologic nuclear waste disposal facility at WIPP open for 60more years for legacy bomb waste.
Community members and Tribal advocates are standing together to say NO tothe proposed expansion of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). As part of agrowing movement for environmental justice and accountability, local communityorganizations including Tewa Women United, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety,Communities for Clean Water, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, and Three SistersCollective launched the 2025 SovereignTea Community Conversations series that willend with a powerful hybrid session that will center public education, dialogue, and actionaround LANL's ongoing and proposed nuclear weapons activities.
Community members and Tribal advocates are standing together to say NO tothe proposed expansion of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). As part of agrowing movement for environmental justice and accountability, local communityorganizations including Tewa Women United, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety,Communities for Clean Water, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, and Three SistersCollective are launching the 2025 SovereignTea Community Conversationsseries—beginning with two powerful sessions that will center public education,
Public comments for the draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement forContinued Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory are currently due onThursday, April 10th. Tewa Women United, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, CCNS,Communities for Clean Water, and the Union of Concerned Scientists will hostworkshops to assist you in the preparation and submission of your comments.Comments may be submitted to LANLSWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov
Public comments for the draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement forContinued Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory are currently due onThursday, April 10th. CCNS, Tewa Women United, Three Sisters Collective,Communities for Clean Water and others will host two workshops to assist you inpreparing your comments.
Did you know that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the U.S. andRussia, known as the New START, expires on February 5, 2026? It's time for the U.S.and Russia to get back to the table to negotiate for a world without nuclear weapons!
Monday, March 3 rd begins the weeklong Third Meeting of States Parties to theUnited Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations inNew York City. Government representatives, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, artists, health and justice workers and more from aroundthe world will gather to take stock of the progress achieved by the States Parties sincethe last meeting in 2023.
On Wednesday, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) extendedthe public comment period by 30 days for the draft Site Wide Environmental ImpactStatement (SWEIS) for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The comment periodwas extended from March 11 th to Thursday, April 10 th , 2025.
On Thursday, February 20 th , Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Jr., the attorney for Honor OurPueblo Existence and CCNS, will argue before the New Mexico Court of Appeals thatthe non-government organizations have standing to challenge the misregulation of theRadioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility, a key facility at Los Alamos NationalLaboratory (LANL). The RLWTF treats liquid radioactive and hazardous wastegenerated at the Plutonium Facility from the fabrication of plutonium pits, or the cores,of nuclear weapons. Those activities are ramping up under U.S. government plans tospend over $1 trillion dollars for new design weapons for use in a post-Cold War nucleararms race.
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), operated by the Department of Energy, plays a critical role in maintaining the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear stockpile. Central to this mission is the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF), which was constructed in the early 1960s to treat, store, and dispose of radioactive and hazardous liquids
You are invited to participate in a virtual Nuclear Watch New Mexico workshop about the draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) on Thursday, February 6 th from 5:30 pm to 7 pm Mountain Time. With LANL expanding its nuclear weapons programs—despite a long history of environmental contamination and nuclear safety issues—the draft SWEIS represents a vital opportunity for the public to demand transparency, accountability and environmental justice.
This Update relates to historic and important resources that can be useful for your participation in the public hearings about draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and its proposed operations in the next 15 years or so. Public hearings under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) will begin on Tuesday, February 11th in Santa Fe, followed by a wednesday, February 12th hearing in Española, and a Thursday, February 13th hearing in Los Alamos. The specifics are available at nuclearactive.org.
Earlier this week the U.S. Forest Service admitted that it has limited authority and oversight of Los Alamos National Laboratory's proposed Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project, or EPCU, that would transmit 173 megawatts of energy across sacred National Forest System lands. The admission made in its 35-page Response to Comments document to complete its role in the environmental assessment process.
More than two years after the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sought public input about the scope of a site- wide environmental impact statement (SWEIS) for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) operations, a draft LANL SWEIS will be released for a 60-day public review and comment period on Friday, January 10th. Public hearings will be held during the week of February 10th. The public comment period ends on March 11th.
The New Mexico Environment Department's hazardous waste permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to submit a Legacy Transuranic, or TRU, Waste Disposal Plan to the Environment Department. DOE submitted its inadequate Plan on November 4 th for a 60-day public comment period, which ends on Friday, January 3 rd , 2025. A sample public comment letter you can use is available at our website at nuclearactive.org --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
A new condition in the New Mexico Environment Department's hazardous waste permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to submit a Legacy Transuranic Waste Disposal Plan to the Environment Department. DOE submitted its Plan on November 4 th , 2024 for a 60-day public comment period. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
There is a unique opportunity to provide your comments about the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's Legacy Transuranic Waste Disposal Plan. The disposal plan describes WIPP's strategies to keep the disposal site for plutonium-contaminated hazardous wastes open for 60 more years, despite WIPP's promises to New Mexicans to close in 2024. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
On Friday, November 1st, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) adopted Resolution LV-24-061 opposing the proposed Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project “bisecting the Caja del Rio, highlighting the adverse impacts on Tribal cultural resources and sacred sites” to construct and operate a 115 kilovolt- transmission line to operate Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) supercomputers. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded to the Japanese non-governmental organization, Nihon Hidankyo, for its 68-years of education and advocacy. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee recognized Nihon Hidankyo “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.” Nihon Hidankyo is the Japanese Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
In an embarrassing turn of events, independent scientists Bernd Franke and Dr. Arjun Makhijani have provided Tewa Women United and the public with the analyses that the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Environmental Protection Agency would not – that the four flanged waste tritium containers may not need to be vented because they may not contain explosive materials. DOE, NNSA and LANL did not follow the regulations to determine whether the venting was necessary and EPA, as a regulatory agency, did not either. Community members downwind and downstream of the proposed venting have been traumatized by four years of maybe yes, maybe no, mixed DOE messages. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
On Monday, Tewa Women United released two independent scientific reports about the harm that would be done to public health and the environment should Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) be allowed to vent radioactive tritium from four Flanged Tritium Waste Containers stored at LANL's Area G radioactive and hazardous waste dump. It is another important step taken by Tewa Women United to hold LANL and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accountable to the law. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
For the first time since the end of the Cold War in 1989 and with the increasing threat of nuclear war, early this month the First Committee on International Peace and Security of the United Nations passed a resolution to study the impacts of nuclear war for the first time in 35 years. In support of the study were 144 countries, France, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom voted no. Thirty countries abstained, including the United States. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
The title of the new film may make you think it is about Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) located in northern New Mexico. But you would be wrong. “Half-Life of Memory: America's Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory,” a film by Jeff Gipe, is about the dangerous legacy of the Rocky Flats atomic bomb factory, located near Denver, Colorado. The world premiere will take place in early November at the Denver Film Festival. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
This week Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, individuals and NGOs submitted comments opposing the U.S. Forest Service's plan to approve a Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) proposal to install a companion electric transmission line through the heart of the Caja del Rio traditional cultural landscape, an area sacred to Pueblos. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
You are invited to participate in a transformative walk in downtown Santa Fe beginning at noon on Friday, October 25th. Organized by the Caja del Rio Coalition, the walk will begin at the Santa Fe County Administration Building, located at 240 Grant Avenue, and go to the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
The U.S. Forest Service is accepting public objections to the draft Decision Notice, Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Electric Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) Project and Associated Land Management Plan (Forest Plan) Amendment. Only those who submitted comments during the scoping period that occurred between April 19, 2021 and May 21, 2021 and during the two comment periods for the draft EA beginning December 19, 2023 and ending January 17, 2024 and beginning January 22, 2024 and ending February 20, 2024 are eligible to submit objections. As evidence of public concern, over 22,000 public comments were submitted during these comment periods. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
On Monday, September 30th, United States District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis ruled that the Department of Energy (DOE) and its National Nuclear Secrurity Administration (NNSA) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because the federal agencies failed to take a “hard look” at the alternatives to fabricate plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons at two of its sites. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was created to design and fabricate the atomic bombs used during World War II. The Savannah River Site in South Carolina has never fabricated pits for nuclear weapons --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
The Three Sisters Collective is painting a new and colorful “I am Life (Creator of Worlds)” mural on the Lena Wall in O'Ga P'ogeh Owingeh, the White Shell Water Place, or Santa Fe. You are invited to make your mark on the wall on Thursday, October 3rd through Saturday, October 5th during the community paint hours. The new mural is adjacent to the mural by artist Chip Thomas about stopping expanded production of plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
The Mixed Waste Landfill at Sandia National Laboratories is a 2.6-acre dump that is leaking radioactive, hazardous and toxic wastes from unlined pits and trenches that threaten Albuquerque's drinking water aquifer. The public has been asking the New Mexico Environment Department for nearly 25 years to order Sandia to excavate the dump. Evidence of migrating contamination, such as the detection of volatile organic compounds 400 feet below the dump in 2015, verifies the public's concern. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
Local, regional, national and international non-governmental organizations are coming together for a week of raising public awareness about the fossil fuel corporations doing business in New Mexico. Under the banner of Warheads to Windmills.org, the week begins on Monday, September 23rd and extends through Sunday, September 29 th . This is a second week of action. The first week focused on nuclear weapons. Both present existential threats to life on Planet Earth – one that kills in an instant; the other painfully over time. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
Local, regional, national and international non-governmental organizations are coming together for a week of raising public awareness about the nuclear weapons corporations doing business in New Mexico. The week of action begins on Monday, September 16 th and extends through Sunday, September 22 nd . New Mexicans will challenge two nuclear weapons profiteers who operate here. They are Honeywell and HII, or Huntington Ingalls Industries. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
Many local, regional and international non-governmental organizations are organizing live and virtual actions in recognition of the International Day of Peace on Saturday, September 21 st and you can join in these efforts. From the “No Money for Nuclear Weapons” Week of Action headed by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons to the Warhead to Windmills Coalition (the Coalition), small and large actions will be taking place around the world. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
“When the Cold War ended in 1991 and the Doomsday Clock was at its furthest from midnight, the world sighed in relief… . It was a moment of hope where many believed this low tension between the military and economic powers of the world would lead to peace talks and nuclear disarmament.. . . So, why didn't nuclear disarmament happen when the iron curtain fell?. . .” This question is at the center of “Making Nuclear Weapons Taboo,” a 2023 address by Dr. Carlos Umaña, Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
On Wednesday evening the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition held a webinar to alert people about the opportunity to voice their concerns to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) next week about the Department of Energy (DOE) proposal to expand the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). DOE wants to keep WIPP open until at least 2083 for disposal of radioactive and hazardous wastes generated from fabricating triggers, or pits, for nuclear weapons at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
On August 13th, U.S. Congressman John Garamendi of California delivered a speech at the United States Strategic Command 2024 Strategic Deterrence Amidst Global Transformation Symposium in which he asked “Why?” as in “Why does America need nuclear weapons?” and mostly importantly asked, “How do we deter in a way that ensures there is a tomorrow worth protecting? Must we continue a 50-year-old triad strategy without considering the alternatives? Why, why are we stuck in a logic silo with the blast door closed?” --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
The Department of Energy (DOE) wants to expand its operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for plutonium-contaminated waste from the fabrication of nuclear weapons. In March, DOE submitted a Planned Change Request to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking permission to mine and operate two underground disposal panels in the WIPP underground disposal facility. EPA wants to hear from you and is hosting public meetings in Carlsbad and Santa Fe the week of August 26th. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
All are welcome to join the Veterans For Peace, New Mexico PeaceFests and Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety on Friday, August 9 th at 11 am on the Santa Fe Plaza to commemorate the events leading up to the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in early August 1945. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester wrote a statement for last Monday's Town Hall concerning plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) hosted by National Nuclear Security Administrator Jill Hruby and the Department of Energy (DOE) Senior Advisor of the Office of Environmental Management, Candice Robertson. Jay Coghlan, of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, read the Archbishop's statement aloud. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
On Thursday, July 18 th at 8 am, you will have an informative opportunity to hear from two experts, Don Hancock and Myrriah Gómez, when they discuss the major public concerns regarding the plans of the Department of Energy (DOE) to expand operations at two of their facilities in New Mexico. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
A follow-up to the Department of Energy (DOE) town hall in April 2023 at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center that nearly 500 people attended in-person or virtually, will be held Monday, July 22 nd from 6 pm to 7:30 pm at the Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder, 13 miles north of downtown Santa Fe on U.S. 84 / 285. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
On July 16 th in New Mexico, people commemorate two devastating events: the first atomic bomb test at the Trinity Site in 1945 in south central New Mexico, and the world's largest uranium spill in 1979 when an earthen dam broke at the United Nuclear Corporation's uranium mill tailing pond, releasing 1,100 tons of radioactive waste and 94 million gallons of radioactive water into the Rio Puerco, which flowed to Sanders, Arizona. Both events left sick and dying people, environmental destruction and still unresolved concerns today. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
One of the most beautiful and majestic sights is found by looking across and down into the Grand Canyon at the spread of the red walls, the patches of green and the glorious Colorado River. All of this is threatened by an exemption from a federal law banning uranium mining in the watershed that feeds the complex river system. Uranium mining is allowed on U.S. Forest Service lands where the Pinyon Plains Uranium Mine is located less than ten miles from the Grand Canyon's south rim. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
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