If you are concerned about proposed expansion of beryllium machining operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), now is the time to express your interest to the New Mexico Environment Department Air Quality Bureau.  Public comments and expression of interest in the proposal to add two lathes for machining beryllium and a new sputtering coating operation are due by Saturday, February 26, 2022 at midnight Mountain Time by email to James.Nellessen@state.nm.us.

Expression of your interest will allow you to review the Bureau’s analysis of the permit modification request for 30 days following notification.  It will also allow you to submit written public comments and request a public hearing.  See Subsection B of 20.2.72.206 New Mexico Administrative Code – Public Notice and Participation.  https://www.srca.nm.gov/parts/title20/20.002.0072.html

CCNS has prepared a sample comment letter that you can use to express your interest. It is posted here:  Sample public comment LANL Be Air Quality Permit 2-24-22

In late December, LANL submitted an application to the Bureau to modify its air quality permit to add two lathes for machining beryllium to the existing lathe at the Target Fabrication Facility at Technical Area 35, near the Plutonium Facility.  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Los Alamos County, then to U.S. DOE/NNSA – LANL to Public Notice for Air Construction Permit (632M1) (posted 1/25/22). 

LANL states that it will operate only two of the three lathes at a time.  Even so, LANL is proposing to double these beryllium operations.  See Id., Original Application, p. 29 – 30 of pdf.

The existing permit allows micro-scale precision machining to manufacture small laser targets for use at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory located in California, as part of the Department of Energy’s National Inertial Confinement Fusion program.  https://www.eenews.net/articles/doe-lab-achieves-major-milestone-for-fusion-energy/

LANL also proposes to add a new coating process, called magnetron sputtering, that would take place in an unnamed room near the lathes.  Each operation would result in beryllium air emissions through stacks on the roof of the building.  See Original Application, p. 29 – 30 of pdf.

At atomic number 4, beryllium is a lightweight metal used in the nuclear weapons industry in fabricating plutonium pits, or the weapon’s trigger.

Exposure to beryllium-containing dust and vapors can cause acute and chronic lung disease, called berylliosis, for which there is no cure.  Reports in the medical literature demonstrate that one to six percent of exposed employees are genetically sensitive to beryllium and are more susceptible to a form of berylliosis called chronic beryllium disease.  https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/berylliosis/

In our review of the permit application, CCNS found that LANL asked for a waiver from monitoring beryllium emissions, which the Environment Department granted in late December 2021.  See Original Application, p. 60 – 68 of pdf.  This is surprising because there are extra requirements for protecting Class I areas, such as the ambient air quality at the nearby Bandelier Wilderness Area.  See Original Application, p. 6 of pdf.

Please see:  In response to Question 8, “Will the property on which the facility is proposed to be constructed or operated be closer than 50 km (31 miles) to other states, Bernalillo County, or a Class I area?”  LANL answered “yes,” and provided the distance in kilometers:  “Bandelier Wilderness Area (the wilderness portion of Bandelier National Monument) 0.0 km from the LANL boundary, 5.7 km from Building TA35-213.”

1. Saturday, February 26, 2022 – Public Comments due to NM Environment Department, Air Quality Bureau, about revision to LANL’s Air Quality Permit to add three lathes for micro-scale precious machining of beryllium metal.

For more information:  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Los Alamos County, then to the U.S. DOE NNSA-LANL heading and scroll down to Air Quality Bureau, for Public Notice for Air Construction Permit (632MI).  Stay tuned.  Sample public comments you can use are available above in the update.

2. THIS EVENING, February 24, 2022 at 6 pm MT – Dr. Frank von Hippel discusses the book Plutonium: How Nuclear Power’s Dream Fuel Became a Nightmare. ZOOM link is HERE.

Plutonium: How Nuclear Power’s Dream Fuel Became a Nightmare is a sweeping and intricate narrative of the worldwide impact of this manmade element over 80 years. The three authors – Dr. Frank von Hippel, Dr. Jungmin Kang and Masafumi Takubo – individually are renowned at home and abroad as experts who have shaped not just public debate but also government policies on the security and safety risks of plutonium. Together, they have crafted a powerful book that leads the reader deftly through technical, policy, social and economic arguments to arrive at their conclusion: the world will be safer if the separation of plutonium is banned.  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25751654.2020.1766165

3. On Wednesday, February 23, 2022, Ira Helfand, former president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), delivered an extremely compelling warning about the risks of escalation to the use of nuclear weapons in the current conflict in Ukraine on Democracy Now!  The segment is available at  https://www.democracynow.org./ Click on the watch button for February 23, 2022. Ira’s segment begins at about 13 minutes in.  Our colleague, Linda Pentz Gunter at Beyond Nuclear, who also delivered a powerful assessment of the risks associated with Ukraine’s 15 nuclear power reactors, including Chernobyl, joined Ira Helfand.

On February 10^th, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) released a new report, “No place to hide:  nuclear weapons and the collapse of health care systems.” a new ICAN report which examines the estimated impact of the detonation of one nuclear weapon over ten cities around the world (in all the nuclear-armed states + Germany as a nuclear host state).

4. Tuesday, March 1^st at 11:30 am – Asking for Your Presence

Please join us for a press conference when we deliver over 1,100 petition signatures to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham asking her to protect New Mexicans from the federal expansion of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This is your opportunity to let her know that vastly increased shipments of the most dangerous form of nuclear weapons’ waste, lasting the rest of the century as it is transported past your neighborhood, is not a risk you accept.  She needs to know that many of her constituents will not support this federal overreach by the Department of Energy (DOE). Moreover, we do not accept this risk in secrecy and the information blackout that the DOE is forcing on us.  If the DOE is trying to put us at risk, it must do so openly, in the full light of day.

When: March 1, 2022, 11:30 am

Where: Outside at the East side of the Statehouse

How: Outdoor event

Who: Joining you, the good people of New Mexico, will be County Commissioner Anna Hansen, Tewa Elder Kathy Sanchez, Quay County ranchers Ed & Patty Hughs, Co-Chair of 285ALL Cindy Weehler

5. Thursday, March 3rd at 5:30 pm – WIPP Virtual and In Person Community Forum with Reinhard Knerr, Manager of the DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office, and Sean Dunagan, President & Project Manager of Nuclear Waste Partnership, LLC. Online Registration Link. Questions will be taken in a written format.

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.  The Panel 8 ceilings are three feet taller than those in the first seven disposal panels in the underground mine for plutonium-contaminated waste generated from manufacturing nuclear weapons.

The 19 groups requested that the Environment Department deny the permit modification request or elevate it as a class 3 modification, which would include a public hearing.  WIPP Panel 8 Class 2 PMR Group letter 12-20-21 The Environment Department “determined, based on the public comments received, that ‘significant public concern’ over this [permit modification request] is not supported, which would warrant its elevation to a Class 3.”  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/ , scroll down to the  February 11, 2022 entry, Response to Comments [AR 220208], p. 5.

It is notable that for the recent renewal of a WIPP groundwater discharge permit, DP-831, the Environment Department found significant public interest when five groups requested a hearing.  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Eddy County and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for Ground Water Discharge Permit (DP-831).

Mining of Panel 8 began in 2013 and was halted in 2014 when an underground fire and radiation release from one or more waste drums shutdown WIPP for nearly three years at a cost of $3 billion dollars.

The Permittees, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractor, the Nuclear Waste Partnership LLC, claim the higher ceiling is necessary to reduce roof falls that could endanger workers.  Increasing the Panel 8 ceiling height required re-calculation of the limits for emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the waste drums.  But the Environment Department reports behavior that contradicts that position.

In its response to the public comments, the Environment Department reported that in 2021 the Permittees stated they “had not evaluated the need for VOC calculation changes nor run the model for the VOC calculations with the new room height” and “[o]nce the model was run the Permittees became aware of the need to submit a [request] to update the Permit based on the calculations for Panel 8.”  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/ , scroll down to the  February 11, 2022 entry, Response to Comments [AR 220208} , p. 9.

Joni Arends, a CCNS co-founder, responded, “How can the Permittees claim in 2021, four years after resumption of mining and increasing the ceiling height by three feet, that they didn’t recognize the need to recalculate the VOC emissions?  The VOC emission limits are what protects workers from the hazards of breathing VOCs.”

Further, since 2013 the Permittees have been providing the Environment Department with verbal mining progress updates.  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/ , scroll down to the  February 11, 2022 entry, Response to Comments [AR 220208} , p. 8.

Arends stated, “It is unconscionable that the Environment Department did not require written progress reports.”

These are but two examples of what could have come to light in a public hearing.

1. Friday, February 25, 2022 – Public Comments due to NM Environment Department, Air Quality Bureau, about revision to LANL’s Air Quality Permit to add two lathes for machining beryllium metal.

For more information:  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Los Alamos County, then to the U.S. DOE NNSA-LANL heading and scroll down to Air Quality Bureau, for Public Notice for Air Construction Permit (632MI).  Stay tuned.  Sample public comments you can use will be available soon at CCNS’s website at http://nuclearactive.org/

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.

In preliminary comments, the non-governmental organization wrote that the sole subject of the Public Notice was the new financial assurance requirements for cleanup, closure of the site, and any post-closure environmental monitoring.  The Facility opened in 1963.  Operations include the storage, treatment and disposal of waters contaminated with plutonium and hazardous pollutants associated with the manufacture of nuclear weapons.  These pollutants have been found in the regional drinking water aquifer.

However, the Draft Permit did not use the term “financial assurance,” but “financial responsibility.”  It requires only that the Department of Energy (DOE) ask for annual congressional funding for cleanup.  The conflicting and esoteric language makes it almost impossible to provide informed and cogent public comments.

Financial assurance is a pledge or guarantee so that the funds will be available when needed for cleanup.  The funds could be in the form of letters of credit, insurance policies, bonds, or trust funds.

In contrast, financial responsibility is a duty or task that one is required or expected to do, such as asking annually for the funding.

CCNS suggested that the financial assurance requirements be a condition of the management and operating contract between DOE and the nuclear weapons contractor, Triad National Security, LLC.  In this way the funding mechanisms would be in place now and be available until such time as the post-closure cleanup is completed.

Another confusion is that the Draft Permit pdf document available on the Environment Department webpage includes a lengthy revision to a LANL August 2016 Closure Plan.  Changes were made on almost every page.  But the Public Notice only invited comments about the Draft Permit, excluding the Closure Plan.  This is a clear example of why the Environment Department must withdraw its Public Notice, make the necessary corrections and begin the process again.

Nevertheless, it appears that the Closure Plan may open the door for permitting a new low-level radioactive waste facility without a public hearing.  Recall that the Public Notice limits comments to financial assurance in the Draft Permit, but not a new facility.

Comments are due to the Environment Department by 5 pm on Wednesday, February 16^th.   CCNS will post sample public comments you can use early next week.

For more information and to review the draft documents:  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Los Alamos County, then to the U.S. DOE NNSA-LANL heading and scroll down to Ground Water Quality Bureau for Discharge Permit DP-1132.

1. Saturday, February 12, 2022 – last day for NM Environment Department (NMED) Secretary to Decide Whether Significant Public Concerns about the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in WIPP’s newly mined Panel 8 Requires a Public Hearing as a Class 3 Permit Modification Request to the NMED Hazardous Waste Permit.

A BIG shout out to the individuals and 19 organizations that voiced strong opposition to the permit modification request and asked for a public hearing.

2. Wednesday, February 16 at 5 pm MT – Public comments due to the NM Environment Department about whether the proposed financial assurance requirements for the cleanup, closure and post-closure of the LANL Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF) at Technical Area 50 are adequate.

For more information:  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Los Alamos County, then to the U.S. DOE NNSA-LANL heading and scroll down to Ground Water Quality Bureau for Discharge Permit DP-1132.  Stay tuned.  Sample public comments you can use will be available soon at CCNS’s website at http://nuclearactive.org/

3. Wednesday, February 16 at 5:30 pm – Virtual Presentation and Discussion of NMED – Hazardous Waste Bureau – Hexavalent Chromium Plume Control Interim Measures Overview – Los Alamos County Board of Public Utilities. https://losalamos.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=923152&GUID=6CC9CB98-8E1A-4911-809E-44EAE637B416&Options=info|&Search=

4. Friday, February 25, 2022 – Public Comments due to NM Environment Department, Air Quality Bureau, about revision to LANL’s Air Quality Permit to add two lathes for machining beryllium metal.

For more information:  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Los Alamos County, then to the U.S. DOE NNSA-LANL heading and scroll down to Air Quality Bureau, for Public Notice for Air Construction Permit (632MI).  Stay tuned.  Sample public comments you can use will be available soon at CCNS’s website at http://nuclearactive.org/

The New Mexico Environment Department is again trying to skirt proper regulation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as required by the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act.  At the direction of the Department’s Secretary, the Ground Water Quality Bureau released a draft discharge permit, called DP-1132, to address the sole issue of financial assurance requirements for cleanup of the Facility and the environment.  The hazardous waste laws provide strong avenues for financial assurance, including a letter of credit, insurance policies and bonds, and trust funds.  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/, scroll down to Los Alamos County, use the dropdown menu to go to U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration – LANL, then to the Public Notice – Ground Water Quality Bureau for DP-1132.  You will find blue green links to key required documents below.

The language in the draft discharge permit is weak.  It requires LANL to ask only for annual cleanup funding for the nearly 60-year old facility that has discharged millions of gallons of “treated” radioactive and hazardous liquid wastes into Mortandad Canyon.  It is anticipated a multi-year cleanup would be required.  Contaminants have been found in the regional drinking water aquifer.

For over a decade, CCNS has argued that the proper, and more protective, regulatory structures are the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and its implementing regulations and the New Mexico hazardous waste laws and regulations.  https://nuclearactive.org/tag/radioactive-liquid-waste-treatment-facility/

Since 1963, the Facility has handled, managed, treated and stored hazardous and radioactive liquid waste that is piped underground from the Plutonium Facility and other nuclear weapons related facilities located across the LANL site.

Once those liquid wastes reach the Facility, they are transported through pipes from tank to tank for processing.  The Ground Water regulations do not cover these operations.  The hazardous waste laws and regulations do and are extensive to ensure the tank systems are operated correctly.  The radioactive and hazardous sludge is shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for disposal.  The treated liquid waste can be discharged at a rate of 40,000 gallons a day to a discharge pipe in Mortandad Canyon or evaporated into the air. 

Because federal and state governments are exempt from financial assurance, the draft permit language asks LANL to request annually for congressional funding, which can be uncertain.  Under the hazardous waste laws, however, the Secretary can impose alternative requirements for financial assurance mechanisms, which would be used to invest in a cleanup that would protect the environment.  If long-term monitoring were required, those financial mechanisms would be available to pay for those activities.  40 CFR § 264.140(c) and (d) Financial Requirements.

Public comments are due to the Ground Water Quality Bureau by 5 pm on Wednesday, February 16^th.   CCNS will be posting sample public comments you can use next week.

1. Saturday, February 12, 2022 – last day for NM Environment Department (NMED) Secretary to Decide Whether Significant Public Concerns about the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in WIPP’s newly mined Panel 8 Requires a Public Hearing as a Class 3 Permit Modification Request to the NMED Hazardous Waste Permit.

A BIG shout out to the individuals and 19 organizations that voiced strong opposition to the permit modification request and asked for a public hearing.

2. Wednesday, February 16 at 5 pm MT – Public comments due to the NM Environment Department about whether the proposed financial assurance requirements for the cleanup, closure and post-closure of the LANL Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF) at Technical Area 50 are adequate.

For more information:  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Los Alamos County, then to the U.S. DOE NNSA-LANL heading and scroll down to Ground Water Quality Bureau for Discharge Permit DP-1132.  Stay tuned.  Sample public comments you can use will be available soon at CCNS’s website at http://nuclearactive.org/

3. Friday, February 25, 2022 – Public Comments due to NM Environment Department, Air Quality Bureau, about revision to LANL’s Air Quality Permit to add two lathes for machining beryllium metal.

For more information:  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Los Alamos County, then to the U.S. DOE NNSA-LANL heading and scroll down to Air Quality Bureau, for Public Notice for Air Construction Permit (632MI).  Stay tuned.  Sample public comments you can use will be available soon at CCNS’s website at http://nuclearactive.org/

The independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recently reported that Triad National Security LLC, the nuclear weapons contractor at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), wants the Department of Energy (DOE) to accept the risk of bringing large shipments of plutonium-238 in uncertified containers for repackaging in the Plutonium Facility.  Triad wants DOE to approve an increase that would exceed the established quantity limits for the first floor of the Plutonium Facility and quantity limits for the gloveboxes that would be used in the repackaging operations.

According to the Safety Board, the potential risk to the public from a radiological release from the Plutonium Facility as a result of an earthquake, fire or both would be three to fifteen times the DOE guidance limit of 25 rems, or 83 to 378 rems.  Even so, there is substantial uncertainty about that estimate.  It could be more significant.  https://www.dnfsb.gov/   Los Alamos Week Ending December 3 2021  and Los Alamos Week Ending November 26 2021  and  HOPE CCNS & GILKESON COMMENT TO DNFSB 8-20-2013

A rem is a measure of radiation and being exposed to 25 rems can cause death or serious injury.

Dan Hirsch, a retired director of environment and nuclear policy programs at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said, “Just 25 rem is 12,500 X-rays and a very, very high cancer risk.  That [the request is] so far over it is astonishing.”  https://www.committeetobridgethegap.org/

Plutonium-238 is used as a heat source that can be converted to electricity for long-range space flights, rovers and satellites.

Over the decades, DOE has taken risks storing and transporting plutonium in uncertified containers.  The Safety Board’s report does not provide information about the type of uncertified containers being used, nor where the large shipments would originate.

In 2002, Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, or Tri-Valley CARES, filed a citizens’ suit against DOE for using the DT-22 canisters that failed the government’s “crush test.”  Through the Freedom of Information Act, Tri-Valley CARES received reports about the safety of the canisters that revealed that DOE’s own engineers had concerns, citing several scenarios in which the canister could be crushed.  As a result of the suit, DOE stopped the plutonium shipments from the Rocky Flats Plant, near Denver, Colorado, to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in Livermore, California.  http://www.nuclearactive.org/news/052202.html and https://www.trivalleycares.org/

Hirsch commented, “They’ve identified another safety hazard at Los Alamos regarding containers that may not be able to keep the material from getting released, and they’re estimating doses that are astronomical.”  Even so, Triad National Security, LLC, the nuclear weapons contractor at LANL, is asking for a pass.

1. Wednesday, February 2, 2022, 1 to 3 pm ET, or 11 am to 1 pm MT. Public Mtg. about S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Readiness for Oversight of Potential Large-Scale Commercial Transportation of Spent Nuclear Fuel.  The notice with links is available at:  https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML22019A074

2. Saturday, February 12, 2022 – last day for NM Environment Department (NMED) Secretary to Decide Whether Significant Public Concerns about the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in WIPP’s newly mined Panel 8 Requires a Public Hearing as a Class 3 Permit Modification Request to the NMED Hazardous Waste Permit.

3. Wednesday, February 16 at 5 pm MT – Public comments due to the NM Environment Department about whether the proposed financial assurance requirements for the cleanup, closure and post-closure of the LANL Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF) at Technical Area 50 are adequate.

For more information:  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Los Alamos County, then to the U.S. DOE NNSA-LANL heading and scroll down to Ground Water Quality Bureau for Discharge Permit DP-1132.  Stay tuned.  Sample public comments you can use will be available soon at CCNS’s website at http://nuclearactive.org/

4. Friday, February 25, 2022 – Public Comments due to NM Environment Department, Air Quality Bureau, about revision to LANL’s Air Quality Permit to add two lathes for machining beryllium metal.

For more information:  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Los Alamos County, then to the U.S. DOE NNSA-LANL heading and scroll down to Air Quality Bureau, for Public Notice for Air Construction Permit (632MI).  Stay tuned.  Sample public comments you can use will be available soon at CCNS’s website at http://nuclearactive.org/

Saturday, January 22, 2022, marks the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/  This landmark international treaty will be celebrated around the world, including in New Mexico.  You are invited to the celebration of the Treaty and the January 15^th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Saturday, January 22^nd from 1 to 3 pm at the Shelter on the south side of Ashley Pond in Los Alamos.   Bring signs and banners.  Dress for inclement weather:  wear layers, warm shoes and a hat, bring water and snacks.  Veterans for Peace https://www.facebook.com/santafeveteransforpeace , Nuclear Watch New Mexico https://nukewatch.org/ and CCNS http://nuclearactive.org/ are hosting the event.

The Treaty is already having an impact and that impact is growing.  Eight new countries have ratified the Treaty since its entry into force.  A total of 59 state parties have ratified the Treaty.  Eighty-six United Nations’ member states are signatories.  Over 500 cities around the world have shown their support, including 19 with populations of over one million and nine capital cities.  Over 2,000 parliamentarians and political leaders have signed a pledge to support the Treaty in their official capacity.

These accomplishments are significant and are the work of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a coalition of non-government organizations promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty.  https://www.icanw.org/  The work continues. 

This week ICAN and PAX released a new report entitled, “Rejecting Risk:  101 policies against nuclear weapons,” in which they describe how the financial sector is helping to make everything associated with nuclear weapons unacceptable.  Because of the Treaty, financial institutions around the world are now implementing policies to end investments in companies involved in the development, testing, production and manufacture of nuclear weapons.  https://www.icanw.org/new_report_101_financial_institutions_have_restricted_investments_in_nuclear_weapons and https://paxforpeace.nl/

In order to help people learn more and get involved, organizations throughout the world are hosting informative virtual events.

On Friday, January 21^st, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament will release a new report entitled, “Nuclear weapons are banned:  What does this mean for Britain?” that was co-authored with the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy.  http://acronym.org.uk/  For more information, visit https://cnduk.org/

On Saturday, January 22^nd at noon Mountain Time, Massachusetts Peace Action will present “Climate Change and Nuclear War:  What We Can Do About the Twin Existential Threats.”  The webinar is about how climate change increases the danger of nuclear war and how a nuclear war would cause further catastrophic climate disruption.  For more information, visit http://masspeaceaction.org/

Did You Know about these opportunities to celebrate the TPNW’s first anniversary?

1. Friday, January 21^st, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament will release a new report entitled, Nuclear weapons are banned: What does this mean for Britain” that was co-authored with the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy.  http://acronym.org.uk/  For more information, visit https://cnduk.org/

2. Saturday, January 22^nd at noon Mountain Time, Massachusetts Peace Action will present Climate Change and Nuclear War: What We Can Do About the Twin Existential Threats.  The webinar is about how climate change increases the danger of nuclear war and how a nuclear war would cause further catastrophic climate disruption.  For more information, visit http://masspeaceaction.org/

3. Saturday, January 22, 2022 from 1 to 3 pm at Ashley Pond, 2200 Trinity Drive, Los Alamos, NM – Commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday and First Anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Rally. Please join us with signs, flags and banners.  Be prepared for inclement weather:  wear layers, warm shoes and a hat. Bring water and snacks. https://www.icanw.org/cogreg/commemoration_of_mlk_jr_birthday_and_tpnw_anniversary

4. Tuesday, January 25 at 11 am MT, Nuclear Colonialism in the Age of the Ban Treaty: From New Mexico to the Marshall Islands.  A free on-line seminar in which the Affected Communities Working Group of the Nuclear Ban Treaty Collaborative will discuss the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (ban treaty).  Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZIpfu2prz0vH9B3AXJ9wUg6l3j1B…

5. Thursday, January 27, 2022, National Downwinders Day.

** New video by Occupy Democrats:  Nuclear bombs are killing Americans RIGHT NOW:  “New Mexico is a Sacrifice Zone and It’s Mexicans and Native Americans Who Are the Sacrifice.”  https://www.facebook.com/OccupyDemocrats/videos/729674464615856

** US must be accountable for nuclear testing exposure, by Istra Fuhrmann, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Washington, DC.  https://www.abqjournal.com/2460258/us-must-be-accountable-for-nuclear-testing-exposure.html and

**  Texas ‘downwinders’ should be eligible for nuclear radiation compensation, advocates say, radio interview by Michael Marks, of the Texas Standard:  The National Daily Show of Texas, with Istra Fuhrmann, FCNL.   https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-downwinders-should-be-eligible-for-nuclear-radiation-compensation-advocates-say/

** Opinion:  Too many ‘downwinders’ are still suffering, by Rep. Burgess Owens (Utah’s 4^th Congressional District) and Rep. Chris Stewart (Utah’s 2^nd Congressional District).  https://www.deseret.com/2021/10/4/22709221/utah-nuclear-testing-downwinders-congress-compensation-health-effects

6.Thursday, January 27, 2022 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, N3B Environmental Management virtual Cleanup Forum for LANL. For login information, visit https://n3b-la.com/outreach/

7. Thursday, January 27, 2022 at 6 pm MT, Gordon Edwards speaks about Uranium – the Deadliest Shape Shifter. Virtual event hosted by Nuclear Energy Information Service.  https://neis.org/ or neis@neis.org or 773-342-7650.

8. Just Announced! Wednesday, February 2, 2022, 1 to 3 pm ET, or 11 am to 1 pm MT.  Public Mtg. about S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Readiness for Oversight of Potential
Large-Scale Commercial Transportation of Spent Nuclear Fuel.  The notice with links is available at:  https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML22019A074

Saturday is the first anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entry into force. As we prepare this week’s Update, we have a question for you:

Why are you celebrating the first anniversary of the Treaty?

We may use your response in this week’s Update.

Thanks!

Email us: ccns@nuclearactive.org

On January 11^th, 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. https://archdiosf.org/living-in-the-light-of-christs-peace (You can watch the press conference there.)

The Archbishop said, in part:

“In September 2017, I traveled to Japan and visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was a somber, sobering experience as I realized that on August 6, 1945, humanity crossed the line into the darkness of the nuclear age. We can now kill billions of people instantly and even destroy the world in a flash. The reality of this evil becomes very real as you walk through Hiroshima and Nagasaki today.

“In one exhibit, I read about school children in Hiroshima who, on that fateful morning in August 1945, ran to the windows, attracted by a bright light. I wonder how many were running to their deaths, either instantaneously incinerated or dying later in agonizing pain. Normally, light brings new life and clearer vision. Not that day. Sadly, the light generated by the first nuclear explosion used in war brought only destruction and death.

“… Those Japanese school children had no time to be afraid. They had no time to run and there was no home left to run to ….

“Within a day or two of my return to New Mexico, I took [some friends] to the New Mexico History Museum. There I saw a different exhibit with a different story. With Hiroshima and Nagasaki still fresh in my mind, I read about the Manhattan Project, the development of the Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, and the creation of the nuclear bombs that were eventually dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki … It was eerie to see photos of Little Boy and Fat Man … when I had just been in those very places only weeks before. I knew now what those bombs did to our Japanese brothers and sisters….

“[I]t seemed blasphemous to me that we could create a weapon with the potential to destroy our entire planet, our common home, given to us by a loving God to be cared for and nurtured so that all might live in God’s peace. It became clear … that the Archdiocese of Santa Fe must be part of a strong peace initiative, one that would help make sure that these weapons would never be used again, that we would never destroy our planet or one another, that instead we would clean up our poisoned land and fund global institutions that resolve all international conflicts through nonviolent means such as dialogue and negotiation.”

1. Saturday, Jan. 15^th at 10am: 2022 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday March/ Parade,

(Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal)

organized by the UNM Institute for the Study of “Race” and Social Justice, begins at the corner of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. NE and University Blvd. NE on the UNM campus. From there, the procession will continue down Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. to One Civic Plaza where a celebration with praise and music will happen.
You are also invited to help Veterans for Peace, ABQ Chapter 63 carry banners and flags at this event. com/ watch/?v=1585512518210459.

2. Tuesday, Jan. 18^th at noon: NM Legislature begins its 30-day session.  http://nmlegis.gov  To get involved:  https://www.earthcarenm.org/ , https://retakeourdemocracy.org/ , https://cvnm.org/

3. Wednesday, January 19^th at 9 am MT: Wake up call on nuclear waste!  Meet the National Radioactive Waste Coalition! NRWC!

There is a radioactive waste crisis in America. This crisis motivated over 40 grassroots organizations from across the country to come together to address the monstrous problem of radioactive waste. They formed the National Radioactive Waste Coalition (NRWC) to advocate for environmentally safe, just, and equitable nuclear waste policy.

Register in advance for this webinar:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zxQmUSYzRNKBrl7P4eIc0w

https://radioactivewastecoalition.org/

https://www.instagram.com/nrwcmedia/

https://twitter.com/nrwc_org

https://www.facebook.com/nrwcmedia

4. Saturday, January 22, 2022 from 1 to 3 pm – Commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday and First Anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Rally at Ashley Pond, 2200 Trinity Drive, Los Alamos, NM.  Please join us with signs, flags and banners.  Be prepared for inclement weather:  wear layers, warm shoes and a hat. Bring water and snacks.  https://www.icanw.org/cogreg/commemoration_of_mlk_jr_birthday_and_tpnw_anniversary

5. Thursday, January 27, 2022, National Downwinders Day. https://www.deseret.com/2021/10/4/22709221/utah-nuclear-testing-downwinders-congress-compensation-health-effects

ALBUQUERQUE – Monday, January 10, 2022 – IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Archbishop John C. Wester will hold a virtual press conference to discuss his pastoral letter, “Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament” on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. MST. The press conference will be live-streamed at https://youtu.be/kHS2C1wIBeQ.

Archbishop Wester will release his pastoral letter on the urgent need for nuclear disarmament and avoiding a new nuclear arms race. Pope Francis has made clear statements about the immorality of possessing nuclear weapons, moving the Church from past conditional acceptance of “deterrence” to the moral imperative of abolition. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe has a special role to play in advocating for nuclear disarmament given the presence of two nuclear weapons laboratories and the United States of America’s largest repository of warheads located within its boundaries. He therefore believes the archdiocese has a unique role to play in encouraging a future world free of nuclear weapons. Archbishop Wester states, “The Archdiocese of Santa Fe has a special responsibility not only to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, but also to encourage its active implementation.” He goes on to “…invite us to have a conversation together about what it means to follow the risen, nonviolent Jesus who calls us to be peacemakers, put down the sword, and love everyone, even the enemies of our nation.”

Archbishop Wester’s pastoral letter has the support of four Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and the recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize states, “We welcome the leadership of Archbishop John Wester in taking His Holiness Pope Francis’ message of support for nuclear weapons abolition and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to the heart of the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise in New Mexico. Archbishop Wester courageously joins the global community of religious leaders working to make the dream of a world free of nuclear weapons a reality.”

The pastoral letter and a summary will be available online (https://archdiosf.org/living-in-the-light-of-christs-peace) on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 7:00 a.m. MST.

On Saturday, January 15^th, we pause to honor the life of The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., an apostle for nonviolence.  https://nmmlksc.org/  And now that holiday is joined by another celebration, just one week later.  On January 22, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force.  https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/

This landmark international treaty will be celebrated around the globe, including in New Mexico.  Please join CCNS http://nuclearactive.org/ , Veterans for Peace https://www.facebook.com/santafeveteransforpeace , Nuclear Watch New Mexico https://nukewatch.org/ and others on Saturday, January 22^nd from 1 to 3 pm at Ashley Pond in Los Alamos to honor Dr. King and to celebrate the first anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

More than fifty years after his death, Dr. King is remembered as a civil rights icon.  There is no need to speculate about whether King would support the treaty.

Here are just a few of King’s statements about nuclear weapons.  [We note there are several different versions of the same MLK, Jr. quotes on the internet.]

In February 1968, King said, “We have played havoc with the destiny of the world and we have brought the whole world closer to nuclear confrontation. . . . [T]he alternative to disarmament, the alternative to a greater suspension of nuclear tests, the alternative to strengthening the United Nations and thereby disarming the whole world will be a civilization plunged into the abyss of annihilation, and our earthly habitat would be transformed into an inferno that even the mind of Dante could not envision.  We have to see that and work diligently and passionately for peace.”  http://consistent-life.org/blog/index.php/2020/01/20/martin-luther-king-on-nuclear-weapons/

In April 1960, King called for his religious colleagues to join him in his denunciation of nuclear weapons.  He wrote in The Christian Century, “I am convinced that the church cannot remain silent while [hu]mankind faces the threat of being plunged into the abyss of nuclear annihilation.  If the church is true to its mission, it must call for an end to the arms race.”  https://www.christiancentury.org/article/pilgrimage-nonviolence

King’s statements about nuclear weapons could be delivered today with equal persuasiveness and even more urgency.  Now, nine nations possess nuclear weapons, including the United States, and they are deployed on hair-trigger alert around the globe.  https://www.icanw.org/nuclear_arsenals

For more information about Dr. King and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, please visit the websites of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance https://orepa.org/ , and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons https://www.icanw.org/ .  To get involved in the January 22^nd celebrations, please connect with the Nuclear Ban Treaty Days of Action facebook page.

DYK this great news?   On December 22, 2021, NM Attorney General Hector Balderas submitted a petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Seeking Revocation of the Materials License for Interim Storage Partners (ISP) (formerly Waste Control Specialists) for a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) (on the NM/TX border, five miles east of Eunice, NM) for high-level radioactive waste/spent nuclear fuel.  ML21362A429

https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML21362A429

1. On Friday, January 7^th at 8 am MT, Don Hancock will join host Stephen Spitz to discuss the “Proposed Expansion of WIPP,” on KUNM 89.9 FM’s New Mexico People Place and Ideas. https://www.kunm.org/ For more information: https://mailchi.mp/kunm.org/kunm-radio-zounds-2022-01jan-122221#NMPPI

Also, check out Lorene Mills’ Report from Santa Fe interview with Don Hancock about the proposed expansion of WIPP.  They discuss the 1981 Consultation and Cooperation Agreement (C&C Agreement) between NM and DOE, which requires DOE “to provide the state and the public with information about what it is going to do, before it makes major changes to WIPP,” which DOE has not done.   http://reportfromsantafe.com/episodes/view/675/don-hancock-southwest-research-and-information-center/

2. In 2022, CCNS will continue our legal challenges of the New Mexico Environment Department’s decisions that do not protect the people and environment from activities at WIPP and LANL. Legal challenges include more permit modifications for WIPP expansion to double the size of the underground disposal area and to keep it open until 2080 and beyond – essentially FOREVER.

Importantly, the hazardous wastes permits for both LANL and WIPP expired in 2020.  NMED has administratively continued the permits, while allowing piecemeal permit modifications to be processed.  The permit renewal process opens up the entire permit for public review and comment.  In 2022 the Environment Department must release the draft hazardous waste permits for public review, comment and public hearings.  No more delays!

Your financial support is needed to keep these challenges going.  Please make an end of the year contribution to our Legal Defense Fund.  Contribute today at http://nuclearactive.org/or mail your check to CCNS, POB 31147, Santa Fe, NM  87594-1147.   Thank you!

3. Tuesday, January 18^th at noon:  NM Legislature begins its 30-day session.  https://nmlegis.gov/