Public Hearings for Proposed LANL Bomb Factory Begin Monday, May 23 in Albuquerque

May 20, 2011

Public hearings about the proposed Nuclear Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) begin Monday, May 23 in Albuquerque at the Marriott at Louisiana and I-40. The proposed Nuclear Facility, which is part of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) Project, may have the capacity to manufacture 50 to 80 plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons annually. The details of the impacts of the proposal are found in the draft supplemental environmental impact statement. Public comments are currently due on June 28, 2011. http://nnsa.energy.gov/nepa/cmrrseis

Additional hearings will be held in Los Alamos on Tuesday, May 24 at the Holiday Inn Express at 60 Entrada Drive; in Espa–ola on Wednesday, May 25 at the Santa Claran Hotel; and in Santa Fe on Thursday, May 26 at the Santa Fe Community College in the Jemez Rooms. The public hearings run from 5:30 to 9 pm or until everyone who wishes to speak has spoken. The doors open at 5 pm. At 5:30 pm, the Department of Energy (DOE) will present. At 5:45 pm, members of the public may make comments.

The Mayor of Taos, Darren Cordova, requested a public hearing for his community. In addition, 30 non-governmental organizations and four individuals signed a letter to DOE asking for a hearing in Taos. DOE has refused to provide the same type of hearing as at the four other locations. Now the Mayor, the NGOs, and individuals have asked for the assistance of the New Mexico congressional delegation to gain the additional hearing.

A great media resource to learn more about the CMRR Project and how LANL already impacts our environment and public health is the Cultural Energy website. www.culturalenergy.org Cultural Energy is a non-profit organization based in Taos, which formed in 2003 to create radio and other media productions for Northern New Mexico and is an independent radio, television and web network creating media voices for youth, arts and activism. Cultural Energy President, Robin Collier, works tirelessly to record public meetings about important issues throughout Northern New Mexico.

An entire page dedicated to LANL, with recordings dating back to 2004, is available at: www.culturalenergy.org/lanl.htm

Collier said, "We want people to be able to hear grassroots voices speaking on the real impact of the nuclear industry on traditional peoples in New Mexico. The public comments we have recorded can be both heartbreaking and profound. We have also captured the views of technical experts willing to speak out about the extreme dangers of a nuclear facility in an earthquake zone."

Cultural Energy is a unique resource to learn about LANL issues.

To keep informed about all these matters, please visit the websites of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability www.ananuclear.org, CCNS www.nuclearactive.org, Cultural Energy www.culturalenergy.org/lanl.htm, Los Alamos Study Group www.lasg.org, Nuclear Watch New Mexico www.nukewatch.org, Think Outside the Bomb www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org, and the Union of Concerned Scientists www.ucsusa.org.

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