CCNS NEWS UPDATE
Runs 4/11/14 through 4/18/14

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

*  Ask for an Independent Investigation of WIPP

While we await the accident investigation report for the February 14th radiation release from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) that contaminated at least 21 workers, some things can be learned from the report for the February 5th vehicle fire in the underground.   That report describes inadequate equipment maintenance that was a cause of the fire; inadequate worker training to respond to the emergency; and the WIPP culture that prevents workers from bringing issues and concerns to the attention of management.  http://www.wipp.energy.gov/wipprecovery/accident_desc.html – accident investigation report at the bottom of the page.

The accident report describes how 86 workers were in the mine at the time of the fire.  The operator of the salt hauling vehicle tried to extinguish the fire by using a portable fire extinguisher located on the truck and the truck’s fire suppression system, but could not do so.  The report found, “There were inconsistencies between procedures and training for fire response that led to an ineffective response to the salt haul truck fire.”

The Central Monitoring Room was notified about the fire, but the operator did not act appropriately.  The evacuation alarm was sounded for only two seconds; the announcement to evacuate could not be understood; and the emergency evacuation strobe lights were not activated.  The ventilation system was switched from normal to filtration mode to reduce the airflow to contain the fire, but the change resulted in smoke flowing into areas where the workers had expected “good” air.  More difficulties ensued in efforts to reach the waste hoist elevator along established evacuation routes due to poor visibility.

Three trips were required to evacuate the workers from the underground 2,150 feet below the surface.  During the 37 minutes for the evacuation, some workers struggled with or did not use the self-contained breathing apparatus, and 13 had to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Joni Arends, of CCNS, said, “I can’t imagine how afraid and confused the workers must have been.  They had been told that this type of accident would never happen.  But they knew the required training and equipment maintenance was not done; the culture deterred workers from raising issues with their supervisors; and the ventilation system was switched the wrong way.  I would have wondered what else could go wrong and whether I would get out of the mine alive.

“The WIPP culture must be fixed.  We can’t trust this system for nuclear waste disposal to keep the workers safe and those living in the area and along the transportation routes.  An independent investigation of the radiation release is required now.  Please contact your elected officials, including the Governor, congresspersons and senators, and urge them to support an independent investigation of the WIPP radiation release.  Thank you.”

This has been the CCNS News Update.  Please go to our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org for the independent investigation action alert.

Hi All,
It’s time for an independent investigation of the radiation release at WIPP.  Please see the Update below for more information.

Please contact Governor Martinez and your U.S. Senators and Representatives to request that an independent investigation of the radiation release at WIPP be conducted ASAP.  Below is the contact information for the New Mexico delegation.  Please email CCNS at ccns@nuclearactive.org with your comment and any response you may receive.  Please share this with your networks.  Thank you!

*  Governor Susana Martinez at http://www.governor.state.nm.us/Contact_the_Governor.aspx

Santa Fe at (505) 476-2200

*  Senator Tom Udall - http://www.tomudall.senate.gov/

*  Senator Martin Heinrich – http://www.heinrich.senate.gov/

Albuquerque at p: (505) 346-6601; f:  (505) 346-6780
Farmington at p: (505) 325-5030; f:  (505) 325-6035
Las Cruces at p: (575) 523-6561; f:  (575) 523-6584
Roswell at p: (575) 622-7113; f:  (575) 622-3538
Santa Fe at p: (505) 988-6647; f:  (505) 992-8435
Washington D.C. at p: (202) 224-5521; f:  (202) 228-2841

*  Representative Ben Ray Lujan - https://lujan.house.gov/

Farmington Office at Phone: (505) 324-1005; Fax: (505) 324-1026
Gallup Office at Phone: (505) 863-0582; Fax: (505) 863-0678
Las Vegas Office at Phone: (505) 454-3038; Fax: 505-454-3265
Rio Rancho Office at Phone: (505) 994-0499; Fax: (505) 994-0550
Santa Fe Office at Phone: (505) 984-8950; Fax: (505) 986-5047
Tucumcari Office at Phone: 575-461-3029; Fax: 575-461-3192
Washington, DC Office:  Ph: (202) 225-6190; Fax: (202) 226-1528

*  Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham - http://lujangrisham.house.gov/

Albuquerque District Office at Phone: 505-346-6781; Fax: 505-346-6723
Washington, DC Office at Phone: 202-225-6316; Fax: 202-225-4975

*  Representative Steve Pearce – http://pearce.house.gov/

Alamogordo at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723)
Hobbs at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723)
Las Cruces at Phone:  855-4-PEARCE (732723)
Las Lunas at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723)
Roswell at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723)
Socorro at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723)
Washington, DC at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723) or (202) 225-2365

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

•    An Independent Investigation of WIPP is Needed

It has been almost two months since the vehicle fire and radiation release from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and we don’t know the essential facts about what happened.  We do know that the radiation release was never supposed to happen, and the federal government is unprepared to safely address the situation.  In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency, charged with determining whether WIPP would leak in 10,000 years, said it would not.

On Wednesday, two eight-person teams traveled down an elevator to the underground salt mine located 2,150 feet below the surface.  It is the first time that people have entered the site since the February 14th radiation release.  They wore anti-contamination suits with air-breathing units.  First reports indicate that no airborne contamination was detected.  That was expected since they entered where outside air comes into the mine and the workers were more than 1,000 feet from where they will find contamination.

Joni Arends, of CCNS, stated, “We understand that plans needed to be prepared in order to ensure the safety of the workers re-entering the mine, and we applaud the Department of Energy (DOE) for being thorough.  On the other hand, for more than 15 years, CCNS has pressed DOE and the New Mexico Environment Department to enhance the emergency preparedness requirements in the hazardous waste permit in anticipation that such an event could happen.  We were ridiculed by the agencies.  And now we see that our concerns were more than justified.”

For decades the non-governmental organizations have made suggestions to promote enhanced protection of workers at WIPP and community members living along the WIPP transportation routes.  Those organizations and others are continuing to carefully monitor what’s happening and demanding that all information be made public.  But those efforts are not enough, given the unprecedented nature of the release and the many unknowns.

Now is the time for an independent investigation of the radiation release.  An Accident Investigation Board was formed to investigate the vehicle fire, which was composed of DOE employees and consultants.  Their report is out and now they have been charged with investigating the radiation release.  But they are not doctors and epidemiologists who are qualified to assess the exposures received by at least 21 workers.  Those people, and the DOE, do not have all the expertise needed to create a plan to decontaminate a salt mine from the first-of-its-kind accident.  There will be no easy, fast solution as to what will happen at WIPP.  We do know that an independent investigation is needed now.

Please contact your elected officials, including the Governor, congresspersons and senators, and urge them to support an independent investigation of the WIPP radiation release.

This has been the CCNS News Update.  Please go to our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org to read the independent investigation action alert.

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

*  Peaceful Dia de los Muertos Demonstration Planned at Trinity Site Entrance on Saturday, April 5th

The Trinity Test Site, the location of the first test explosion of a nuclear device on July 16, 1945 on the White Sands Missile Range, is open to the public one day a year. It will be open on Saturday, April 5th.

The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium and Las Mujeres Hablan, two advocacy organizations, are working together to tell the rest of the Trinity Test story that is not found in history books.  They have been working with local communities, congressional members , and New Mexico legislators to bring attention to the tragic health effects suffered by those exposed to the first atomic test.  The cancer rates in the counties surrounding the Trinity Site are among the highest in the nation.

The groups are bringing attention to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), a federal law that provides compensation to those who were exposed to radiation from above-ground tests and uranium mining and milling.  They are supporting the proposed RECA amendments, which are sponsored by the entire New Mexico Congressional delegation, to expand it to include those who were exposed to the Trinity Test.  http://www.tomudall.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1272, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d113:3:./temp/~bdM6D0::|/home/LegislativeData.php|, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d113:2:./temp/~bdM6D0::|/home/LegislativeData.php|

The advocacy groups are organizing a peaceful Dia de los Muertos demonstration at the Stallion Range Station, on Highway 380, east of San Antonio, New Mexico, beginning at 9 am on Saturday, April 5th and asking participants be on-site for two hours. The theme is to remember and honor the dead and recognize and expose the pain that secrecy imposes.  http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/Trinity/Pages/default.aspx

The organizers ask that participants paint their faces with skeletons or bring cardboard skeleton masks.  Please bring your own water, snacks and posters.

Organizers will be providing information about the need to expand RECA and the National Institute of Health study to understand the lifestyles of those living downwind and downstream of the Trinity test.

Tina Cordova, one of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium organizers, said, “Sixty-nine years have passed.  It’s time to recognize those who were unknowing, unwilling, uncompensated, innocent participants in the world’s largest science experiment.  People in New Mexico have been suffering in silence ever since the bomb was detonated in July 1945.  It’s time we reveal the rest of the story and people are made aware of the complete legacy of Trinity.”

Everyone who has been affected, who has had a family member that has been affected, or who has an interest in the issue are invited to attend.  Videographers will capture the event for inclusion in a documentary that is in production.

For more information, please contact Tina Cordova at (505) 897-6787 or tcordova@queston.net or Joni Arends, CCNS, at (505) 986-1973 or ccns@nuclearactive.org.

 
This has been the CCNS News Update.  For more information and to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org.

Hi,
The location and time for the public information meeting in Santa Fe on Monday, March 31st has changed.  The new location is the Santa Fe Main Library, located at 145 Washington Avenue, in downtown Santa Fe, from 6 to 7:30 pm.

The March 18th meeting at South West Organizing Project (SWOP) was standing room only.  Photos courtesy of SWOP at  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m56uehx3pc4ooff/TEaiOdTTId/WIPP%20Discussion

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, March 27th at the Albuquerque Peace & Justice Center and Monday, March 31st at the Santa Fe Main Library.
Onward,
CCNS

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

•    DOE Plans to Ship LANL TRU Waste to Commercial Facility; Upcoming Public Meetings in Albuquerque and Santa Fe about WIPP

On March 13th, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it was working on a contract with a commercial waste facility to “stage” the plutonium-contaminated transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) that is scheduled to be disposed at the closed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).  Frank Marcinowski, a DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary, said that the shipments would begin in early April to the unnamed commercial facility.

The transport of the waste is needed for LANL to meet the unenforceable Framework Agreement that Governor Susana Martinez established for the removal 3,706 cubic meters of transuranic waste stored in fabric tents to WIPP.  A June 30th, 2014 deadline was established and the state and federal governments want to move the remaining 546 cubic meters of waste from LANL before the deadline. http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/documents/LANL_Framework_Agreement.pdf

Joni Arends, of CCNS, said, “The Framework Agreement, which has delayed other legacy waste cleanup at LANL, was established without any public input.  Now DOE now is making plans to move transuranic waste to an unnamed commercial facility for staging.  Is DOE thinking what will happen to that waste if WIPP never reopens?  Before the contract is signed, there should be an opportunity for informed public input.”

Ted Wyka, Chairman of the DOE Accident Investigation Board, is leading the investigations of the February 5th fire and the February 14th release at WIPP.  The 180-page fire investigation report is available at http://www.wipp.energy.gov/.

Southwest Research and Information Center, Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, and Nuclear Watch New Mexico will be sponsoring three public information meetings in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe about the recent incidents at WIPP and how you can get involved.

The first public information meeting will take place in Albuquerque on Tuesday, March 18th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) office, located at 10th and Gold, Southwest.  The second Albuquerque meeting will take place on Thursday, March 27th from 6 to 8 pm at the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center, located at 202 Harvard, Southeast.  A complementary dinner will be available at both meetings.  Don Hancock, of Southwest Research and Information Center, will provide the latest information, along with Rey Garduño and Lucille Cordova.

The third meeting will take place in Santa Fe on Monday, March 31st from 6 to 7:30 pm at the Santa Fe Main Library, located at 145 Washington, in downtown Santa Fe.  Please note the new location.  Don Hancock and Scott Kovac, of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, will give presentations.

This has been the CCNS News Update.  For more information and to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org.

Hi All,

In addition to the public information meetings sponsored by Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC), Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping (CARD), CCNS, and Nuclear Watch New Mexico on Tuesday, March 18th in ABQ; Thursday, March 27th in ABQ; and Monday March 31st in Santa Fe (see the Update below for more information) -

The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board will hold a public meeting in Albuquerque on Wednesday, March 19th regarding the “U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research and development (R&D) activities related to salt as a geologic medium for disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW).”  The meeting will be held at the Marriott Hotel, 2101 Louisiana Blvd., NE, Albuquerque, beginning at 8 am.  The agenda is available at http://www.nwtrb.gov/.  Sandia and LANL scientists will be presenting, along with the former Director of the Environmental Evaluation Group (EEG), Bob Neill.  Public comment is scheduled for 4:45 pm.  The notice encourages the public who would like to speak to sign the “Public Comment Register” when you arrive.  They may decide on a time limit for your remarks, depending upon how many people sign up to speak.

Onward,
CCNS

 

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

·      Upcoming Public Meetings in Albuquerque and Santa Fe about WIPP

Southwest Research and Information Center, Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, and Nuclear Watch New Mexico will be sponsoring three public information meetings in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe about the recent fire and plutonium release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and how to get involved.  Public input into the decision-making processes is essential now.  Updated information about the serious accidents as well as proposals to expand WIPP’s mission will be presented. 

The first public information meeting will take place in Albuquerque on Tuesday, March 18^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) office, located at 10^th and Gold, Southwest.  The second meeting in Albuquerque will take place on Thursday, March 27^th from 6 to 8 pm at the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center, located at 202 Harvard, Southeast.  A complementary dinner will be available at both meetings.  Don Hancock, of Southwest Research and Information Center, will present the latest information, along with Rey Garduño and Lucille Cordova.

The third meeting will take place in Santa Fe on Monday, March 31^st from 5:30 to 7 pm at the Santa Fe Community Foundation, located at Paseo de Peralta and Halcona Street.  Don Hancock and Scott Kovac, of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, will present.

There are several proposals to expand the mission of WIPP beyond its current mission to dispose of plutonium-contaminated waste generated by the nuclear weapons complex.  WIPP is a deep geologic “pilot” plant to demonstrate the safe disposal of transuranic radioactive and hazardous wastes in salt.  It opened on March 26, 1999 after decades of public opposition about the safety of the facility.  Plutonium is carcinogenic and even in the smallest amount is dangerous if inhaled or ingested. 

The salt-hauling vehicle that was involved in the February 5^th fire was being used to remove salt from an experimental area being developed for “heater tests” to determine if high-level radioactive waste could be disposed of at WIPP. 

There are current five proposals on the table to expand WIPP’s mission and three proposals to reduce safety requirements.  The expansion proposals would bring wastes that are currently not allowed for disposal.  They are high-level waste generated by the nuclear reactors at the Hanford site in Washington state; commercial high-level waste from the West Valley site in New York; surplus plutonium from Department of Energy sites; elemental mercury from industrial sites; and high-activity low-level radioactive waste, called Greater-than-Class C waste, generated by government and commercial activities.

Proposals to reduce safety requirements include lessening monitoring of volatile organic compounds, less robust room closures, and reconfiguration of the waste rooms.

 
This has been the CCNS News Update.  For more information and to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org.

 

CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 2/28/14 through 3/7/14

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

·   Remembering Fred Tyler, Co-Founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium

Fred Tyler, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, passed away suddenly on February 14^th from an unknown lung ailment.  Born in 1950 in the Tularosa Basin, Tyler was very active in his community and church, and was currently serving as a Tularosa Village Trustee.  For 35 years Tyler worked for the Army and Air Force Exchange.  During that time, he and his family moved 14 times before returning to Tularosa.  He soon became a pecan and grape farmer.

In 2004, Tyler co-founded the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium with Tina Cordova.  They both were raised in Tularosa and had heard the stories about the searing light that rose into the sky the morning of July 16, 1945.  The community had been told that it was a military ammunition cache that had exploded, but it was actually the first plutonium atomic weapon explosion at the Trinity Test Site some 35 miles northwest of Tularosa.  Over 13 pounds of plutonium did not fission and remains unaccounted for.

Tyler, the eldest son of Rufina Utter Tyler, had often heard the first hand stories of the blast from his mother who suffered multiple bouts of different forms of cancer.  Tyler had often wondered how the blast played in the cancer that ultimately took his mother.

Cordova researched the regional autoimmune disease and cancer statistics and found that, in 1999, the national average was 202.7 per 100,000 people.  In their Otero County, Cordova found it was 694.6.   In neighboring Lincoln County, the rate was 764.5 per 100,000 people.  The numbers have remained consistent throughout the years.

Cordova and Tyler founded the Consortium to gather data from family histories and individuals who may have been damaged by exposure to the Trinity radiation.  Reinforced with the data, they went to the congressional offices to ask for financial compensation and medical benefits for the New Mexico downwinders under the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). 

Senator Tom Udall has led the effort to include the Trinity downwinders in the proposed amendments to RECA, which is co-sponsored by Senator Martin Heinrich.  http://www.tomudall.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1272  Representative Ben Ray Lujan introduced a companion bill in the House, which is co-sponsored by Representatives Michelle Lujan Grisham and Steve Pearce.  http://lujan.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=3&sectiontree=&searchkey=radiation+exposure+compensation+act

In February, the New Mexico Legislature passed a House Memorial 36 in the support of the RECA amendments.  http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?Chamber=H&LegType=M&LegNo=36&year=14  Representative Brian Egolf introduced the Memorial.  It was put on the Consent Order and passed unanimously on the House floor.  Senate Memorial 35, sponsored by Senator Howie Morales, did not get heard on the floor of the Senator.  The Senator was prepared to say on the floor, ““Senate Memorial 35 is dedicate to the life and work of Fred Tyler, co-founder of Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, who died during this session.”  Senator Morales, who is running for governor, is committed to advancing RECA however he is able.  Holly Beaumont, with Interfaith Worker Justice, led the effort to shepherd the memorial through the 30-day session.

Tina Cordova, said, “It is our honor to dedicate this Memorial to the memory of Fred Tyler who worked tirelessly to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include the people of New Mexico who have been damaged by exposure to radiation from the Trinity blast.  The work of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium will go on but we will forever miss Fred and what he brought to our efforts.”

This has been the CCNS News Update.  To learn more, please visit our website at nuclearactive.org and like us on Facebook. 

For more information about the work of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, please open the link vimeo.com/85980906 to see a short video, “Forgotten:  Trinity’s Downwinders.”  Produced by journalists Dennis Carroll and Natalie Guillen, the sizzle reel features Fred Tyler and other Trinity Downwinders.  It was made to elicit support and contributions toward production of a full-length documentary that will tell the story of the decades-long suffering of those who lived near and downwind from the 1945 Trinity atomic test.

Sizzle Reel for “Forgotten: Trinity’s Downwinders” http://vimeo.com/85980906 About this video “Dismissed and abandoned for nearly 70 years, New Mexico residents who lived near the site of the first detonation of a nuclear bomb suffered in silence – until now. To contribute and be a part of this historic project, please visit the film’s Web site at childrenofthebomb.blogspot.com.”

The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium has been working for years to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to include the people of New Mexico, as they were the first Downwinders.   Please share the film’s Web page link, childrenofthebomb.blogspot.com (no www) with everyone you know.  We need to bring attention to this issue. 

Tax-deductible gifts, made in Fred Tyler’s memory, can be made to CAPPED Support Services, 907 New York Avenue, Alamogordo, NM 88310, and phone number (575) 434-4673.   CAPPED Support Services is a non-profit cancer support center in Alamogordo that is accepting contributions for the Carroll and Guillen video “Forgotten: Trinity’s Downwinders.”  Please indicate in the memo line of your check that your contribution is for the documentary.  You can also make a contribution on the documentary’s Web page, childrenofthebomb.blogspot.com, or at www.capped.org.  Please designate Trinity Film Project in the purpose field.  

The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium is extremely grateful for your support.