Dozens of community leaders from around the country will visit Washington, DC from April 18^th through the 20^th to oppose what they call “out-of-control” U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons projects that accelerate wasteful spending, increase proliferation risks, and generate radioactive and toxic pollution.  The group will meet with leading members of Congress, committee staffers, and administration officials responsible for U.S. nuclear policies to press for new priorities.

Activists from nearly a dozen states are participating in the 28^th annual Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) “DC Days.”  They will deliver copies of ANA’s new report entitled, “Trillion Dollar Trainwreck,” which dissects the Obama Administration’s latest plans to spend more than a trillion dollars over the next 30 years on the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including over $1.5 billion a year for on-going production of plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).  http://www.ananuclear.org/the-nuclear-free-frontpage/2016/4/13/trillion-dollar-trainwreck or http://bit.ly/trilliondollartrainwreck or http://www.theunion.com/opinion/21573075-113/amy-goodman-obamas-trillion-dollar-nuclear-arms-train-wreck

According to the 20-page analysis, “Most of [the projects] are completely unnecessary for national security.  All of them are mismanaged, behind schedule, and wildly over budget.”  ANA members will urge policymakers to redirect the funding saved by cutting these programs to speeding up the dismantlement of the U.S. stockpile of warheads and cleaning up the legacy of nuclear weapons research, testing and production.

ANA is a network of local, regional and national organizations representing the concerns of communities downwind and downstream from U.S. nuclear weapons research, production and waste disposal sites.  DC Days participants include activists groups that monitor U.S. nuclear weapons facilities such as the DOE sites in New Mexico.  They are LANL, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.  ANA member groups in New Mexico are Southwest Research and Information Center, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, and CCNS.

As part of its DC Days, ANA will sponsor an Awards Reception honoring leaders of the movement responsible nuclear policies on Tuesday, April 19^th in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.    Honorees include U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein; U.S. Representative Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee; anti-nuclear reactor organizer Kay Cumbow; and LANL Whistleblower Chuck Montaño.

Whistleblower Montaño spent most of his 32-year career at LANL in various accounting and auditing positions.  He quickly learned that “Laboratory managers routinely ignored what auditors reported.  Because of this, serious security and financial lapses occurred that otherwise could have been averted … and ended up costing the taxpayers lots of money.”

Montaño documented his experience in his new book, “Los Alamos:  Secret Colony, Hidden Truths – a Whistleblower’s Diary,” which is a clarion call for citizen action to address waste, fraud and abuse at LANL.  http://www.losalamosdiary.com/index.html

In its ongoing efforts to expand the mission of Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the Department of Energy (DOE) this week gave itself permission to bring more plutonium under a proposal to deal with some of the 13 metric tons of declared “surplus plutonium.”   The DOE’s Record of Decision addresses only six metric tons, or 6.6 tons, of surplus, weapons-usable, non-pit plutonium. DOE did not make a decision about the remaining 7.1 metric tons of surplus plutonium from the triggers for nuclear weapons, or the pits, currently stored at the Savannah River Site (SRS), but has indicated that plutonium also could be shipped to WIPP. http://energy.gov/nepa/downloads/eis-0283-s2-record-decision

DOE would use existing SRS facilities to prepare and package the plutonium for shipment to WIPP for disposal with other contact-handled transuranic waste. WIPP is currently closed for disposal due to the February 2014 vehicle fire and the explosion of one or more waste containers, which contaminated the underground. After many delays in its attempt to reopen WIPP, DOE said it would partially reopen in December 2016. DOE does not have a timeline for when the SRS shipments would begin.

Since 1994 DOE has spent billions of dollars and held dozens of public meetings and hearings regarding the handling of up to 50 metric tons of surplus plutonium so that it could not longer be used in nuclear weapons. Russia has also agreed to address the handling of a similar amount of plutonium from its nuclear weapons program. Yet the U.S. “disposition” program has failed, as plutonium has not been placed into a form to prevent its being used in nuclear weapons, nor is there any likelihood for such a result in the next few years.

DOE states that approximately 15 percent of the plutonium could be from foreign countries, as recently demonstrated by the shipments of Japanese and British plutonium to SRS. Nevertheless, foreign plutonium is prohibited at WIPP. http://www.srswatch.org/ and http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/japan-sends-331-kg-of-wea/2626026.html

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has protested using SRS for storage of foreign plutonium. Since January 1^st, South Carolina has proposed, but not collected, fines from DOE of $1 million a day for not removing the stored plutonium. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/gov.-nikki-haley-forces-feds-to-move-plutonium/article/2587163

New Mexico Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich weighed in on DOE’s decision. Senator Udall said, “If DOE moves forward with this plan, the state of New Mexico and Congress will need assurances that this proposal fully complies with WIPP’s disposal criteria and with the Land Withdrawal Act.”

CCNS and our colleagues have prepared a sample comment letter to Senators Udall and Heinrich about DOE’s expansion plans and the rush to reopen WIPP. Please click WIPP_Expansion_factsheet_040816 to download the fact sheet and click WIPP_Expansion_Sample_ CommentLetter_040816 to download the sample comment letter.

This week the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) released its draft Consent Order for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) at an afternoon meeting of the Northern New Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board at the Sandia Resort in Albuquerque.  Please see below for links to the draft Consent Order with individual links to the appendices.  NMED NNMCAB Presentation Final 1(3-30-16) Since the early days of her administration, Governor Susana Martinez has talked about releasing a new Consent Order for cleanup of the hazardous and toxic wastes at LANL that would be flexible, more business friendly and would not burden the Department of Energy (DOE), the owner and operator of LANL.

Unfortunately, the draft Consent Order re-launches the failed “campaign approach” first proposed by Martinez in the 2012 Framework Agreement with DOE for protection of groundwater and moving plutonium-contaminated waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).  NMED:DOE FrameworkAgreement for LANL Jan. 2011 and NMED Summary Framework Agreement 01-5-2012 At the time DOE did not provide adequate funding to get the required work done and was behind schedule.

In the non-binding Framework Agreement, DOE voluntarily committed to remove 3706 cubic meters of that waste from LANL to WIPP.  It was understood that if the work were done by June 30, 2014, there would be an opportunity to re-negotiate the existing Consent Order.

DOE got in big rush to move the waste and as a result, LANL wrongly placed organic kitty litter in over 700 waste containers, most of which are now in the WIPP underground.  In February 2014, one or more LANL drums exploded in the WIPP underground, shutting down the $500 million facility.

After a preliminary review of the draft Consent Order, CCNS is concerned that New Mexico has not learned the important lessons from its failed campaign approach.

The draft Consent Order already demonstrates that they are in a rush because the Environment Department did not include any milestones or targets for the cleanup of the large, unlined hazardous and radioactive dumps at Technical Areas 49 and 50, which include Areas G, H and L.  d CO APP B Milestones & Targets 3-30-16 State and federal hazardous waste laws require the Environment Department to review DOE cleanup plans and provide their recommendation to the public for review and comment.  But since 2011, the Environment Department has issued more than 150 extensions of time for DOE to submit its plans as pollutants have continued to migrate towards groundwater.  LANL_Consent_Order_Extensions_12-30-2015

Public comments are due to the Environment Department on Monday, May 16^th, 2016.  Please reference “Draft LANL Consent Order” and submit your comments to:

Kathryn Roberts, Director

Resource Protection Division

New Mexico Environment Department

P. O. Box 5469

Santa Fe, NM  87502-5469

By email to:  kathryn.roberts@state.nm.us

The Environment Department will present their draft Consent Order at two public meetings.  The first is on Friday, April 8^th during the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities monthly meeting at the Española City Council Chambers from 9 to 11 am.  The second is scheduled for Thursday, April 28^th at the Los Alamos County Council Chambers from 5 to 7 pm.

The Environment Department will meet with individual stakeholders during the comment period

The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium is organizing two peaceful demonstrations to support those who have been negatively affected by exposure to radiation as a result of the July 16, 1945 Trinity Atomic Test in south central New Mexico at the entrances to the White Sands Missile Range at the Stallion Range Station and Tularosa Gate on Saturday, April 2^nd.  The White Sands Missile Range holds an open house twice a year for the public to view the site of the Trinity Test.  http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/Trinity/Pages/Home.aspx

On July 16, 1945, just before dawn, the government of the United States of America conducted the first test explosion of a nuclear device in the Tularosa Basin in central New Mexico at the White Sands Army base.  Without warning, the 40,000 people living in the immediate vicinity were engulfed in a radioactive cloud that continued to rain down radioactive particles for days.  Please read this flyer – April 2nd flyer-2

After the test, the US Government packed their bags, turned their backs and walked away. For 71 years the US Government has taken no responsibility for the health repercussions and the effects of exposure to radiation from the Trinity Test for the People.  The cancer rates in the four counties surrounding the Trinity Site are four to eight times higher than the national rates.

The Consortium has been working for 11 years to expand the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to provide compensation and medical care to the people of New Mexico, and particularly to the Trinity Downwinders.  The fund has paid out over $2 billion in claims thus far to the downwinders of the Nevada Test Site, and more importantly, has provided lifetime health care coverage, with no co-payments, no deductibles and no premiums to those affected.  Proposed amendments to RECA include the Trinity downwinders.

Senate Bill 331 https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/331?q={%22search%22%3A[%22\%22s331\%22%22]}&resultIndex=1 and House Bill 994 at https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/994?q={%22search%22%3A[%22\%22hr994\%22%22]}&resultIndex=1

Beginning at 9 am, some members of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium will gather at the Stallion Range Station entrance to the Trinity Test Site at White Sands Missile Range, Hwy. 380, east of San Antonio, New Mexico.

Beginning at 7:30 am, other members of the Consortium will gather at the Tularosa Gate in Tularosa, New Mexico.

You are cordially invited to join the Consortium in their peace demonstration.  Please bring your own water, chair and poster.

Tina Cordova, of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, said, “The peaceful demonstration will be a somber occasion to recognize and expose the pain that secrecy can impose.  At all times, we will remember that our message is conveyed out of love and remembrance, honoring the suffering and death from this atrocity.”

For more information, please contact Tina Cordova at tcordova@queston.net   or call her at 505-897-6787.

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) will hold a public hearing in Santa Fe on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 from 5 pm to 9 pm regarding transuranic (TRU)waste management at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).  http://www.dnfsb.gov

Objectives:

1. Discuss the hazards posed to the public and workers by the containers of waste stored at Area G.
2. Discuss actions taken or planned to resolve known inadequacies in the current safety basis of the various facilities that manage or store transuranic waste at LANL.
3. Discuss actions taken to improve transuranic waste management at LANL in response to the challenges caused by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant accident and its associated findings.

Where:  Santa Fe Community Convention Center, 201 West Marcy Street, Santa Fe, NM  87501.  Parking will be available at no cost.

Time:  Session I – 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm

Session II – 6:45 pm to 9 pm

See agenda BP FY16 NMPS LANL PH Agenda 022216 (002) – which may be subject to change.

For more information:  Please see  Federal Register notice LANL Reg Notice.

This week the International Court of Justice concluded the preliminary oral arguments in the nuclear disarmament cases brought by the Republic of the Marshall Islands against India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. The hearings, which took place from March 7^th to the 16^th, were the first contentious cases on nuclear disarmament ever heard at the Court. These hearings addressed the respondent nations’ objections related to questions of jurisdiction and admissibility. http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=3&code=miuk&case=160&k=ef

Sixty-seven nuclear bomb tests were conducted in the Marshall Islands, a small island nation located in the South Pacific, from 1946 to 1958. On March 1, 1954, the United States tested Castle Bravo, the fifth largest test in history with a yield of 15 megatons – 1,000 times more powerful than the nuclear weapons used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. https://www.ctbto.org/specials/testing-times/1-march-1954-castle-bravo/

On April 24, 2014, the Marshall Islands filed applications in the Court to hold the nine nuclear-armed states accountable for violations of international law with respect to their nuclear disarmament obligations under the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and customary international law. The nine states are the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel.

The nine cases are founded on the Court’s 1996 unanimous Advisory Opinion that concluded there “exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leadings to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control.” http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=4&code=unan&case=95&k=e1&p3=0

Now the Marshall Islands is requesting the Court to issue a declaratory judgment of the breach of nuclear disarmament obligations and an order to take, within one year of the judgment, all steps necessary to comply with those obligations, including the pursuit of good faith negotiations aimed at a nuclear disarmament convention under strict and effective international control.

During the hearing, North Korea warned of a “pre-emptive nuclear strike of justice” on Seoul, South Korea and Washington, D.C. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/10/north-korea-fires-two-short-range-ballistic-missiles-into-sea And India conducted two nuclear-capable land and submarine launched missile tests. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/odisha-nuclear-capable-agni-i-missile-successfully-test-fired/story-mp1rwiBhrrRcseo8OiQSeM.html and http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/EXPRESS-EXCLUSIVE-India-Test-Fires-Nuke-Capable-SLBM-K-4-Secretly/2016/03/09/article3317185.ece

On the last day of the hearing, India delivered its final oral arguments. India’s legal team doubled down on its assertions that its words speak louder than its actions. While repeatedly highlighting “irrefutable evidence of India’s positions in United Nations forums on disarmament,” India’s lawyers denied that their recent test-launches indicated participation in the nuclear arms race.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Mr. Tony de Brum, Co-Agent and former Foreign Minister of the Marshall Islands, again asked the Court “to adjudge and declare that the Court has jurisdiction over the claims of the Marshall Islands submitted in its Application of 24 April 2014; and to adjudge and declare that the Marshall Islands’ claims are admissible.”

On a date to be determined, the Court will announce its decisions in a public sitting. To learn more about the cases, please visit http://wagingpeace.org/, the website of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and http://www.lcnp.org/, the website of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy.

On the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, and soon the 30th anniversary of Chernobyl on April 26th, please see FUKUSHIMA AT 5 CHORNOBYL AT 30 3-10-16 by Dave Kraft, Director, Nuclear Energy Information Center, based in Illinois.  Dave has been active and effective against nuclear energy for decades.

CCNS honors those who have suffered from both disasters and respectfully requests that you take a moment to remember them.

In his last proposed budget, President Obama included four projects for modernizing the existing U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal at two key facilities at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). At an estimated cost of $3 billion, the projects support the closure of the old Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building in 2019, along with the final cancellation of the proposed super WalMart-sized Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) Project Nuclear Facility, which the President put on a five-year hiatus in 2011. See FY17 CBR CMRR Pages from Volume 1_0-2

The two key LANL facilities are the new Radiological Laboratory, Utility and Office Building (RLUOB) at the CMRR and the almost 40-year old Plutonium Facility. The Plutonium Facility is the only Department of Energy (DOE) manufacturing facility capable of producing plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons.

In budget terms, the four projects are a “restructuring” of two projects first proposed for Fiscal Year 2016 to install new equipment in the Plutonium Facility and RLUOB.

Now the Obama Administration is proposing four projects that include the two new equipment installations, plus a phase two for installing more equipment in the Plutonium Facility. The fourth project would re-categorize the RLUOB from a Radiological Facility to a high security Hazard Category 3 facility in order to hold more plutonium than it was originally designed and built for. The canceled Nuclear Facility was to be the Hazard Category 2 facility, requiring additional security, seismic reinforcements, and a massive fire control system. The budget request does not state the cost for upgrading the RLUOB.

In 2003, DOE released a draft environmental impact statement about the CMRR Project for public review and comment. It limited the amount of plutonium allowed in the RLUOB to 8.4 grams, or about a third of an ounce.

In a January 2015 supplemental analysis to the CMRR final environmental impact statement, DOE granted itself permission to increase the amount of plutonium in the RLUOB to 38.6 grams, all without public comment and review as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/02/f19/EIS-0350-SA-02-2015.pdf

Then November 25, 2015, DOE gave itself permission to increase that amount to 400 grams, or nearly a pound, without public review and comment as required by NEPA.

Joni Arends, of CCNS, said, “The DOE has once again given itself permission to increase the potential threats and harms to the people living downwind and downstream of LANL without conducting the required NEPA analysis and review. By granting itself permission, DOE has by-passed the public review and comment period, as well as public hearings on the proposed changes.”

She added, “Before beginning any work on the projects, DOE must supplement the final environmental impact statements for LANL and the CMRR. Please contact your congressional representatives and tell them DOE must supplement the environmental impact statements for the proposed projects now.”

CALL TO ACTION! Protect the Land of Enchantment – Comments are due to the EPA’s Office of Civil Rights on Monday, March 14th by 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time about their proposed changes to weaken their procedures and response times.  Please go to http://sacredtrustnm.org/epa-seeks-to-impede-civil-rights/ to find sample comments you can use to submit to EPA

On Monday, March 7^th, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will begin hearings in The Hague, Netherlands, on the preliminary objections raised by the United Kingdom (U.K.), India and Pakistan in the nuclear disarmament cases brought by the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The Court will determine whether any legal obstacles prevent the cases from going forward to consideration of the merits.

On April 24, 2014, the RMI filed the unprecedented lawsuits before the ICJ. They aim to hold the nine nuclear-armed states — the United States, U.K., Russia, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea — accountable for violating international law by failing to respect their nuclear disarmament obligations under the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and customary international law.

From 1946 to 1958, the Marshall Islands, a tiny island nation in the Pacific, was used by the United States as a nuclear bomb testing area. During the 12-year period, 67 nuclear weapons were detonated. In 1954 the U.S. detonated “Castle Bravo,” a nuclear bomb 1,000 times greater than the bomb that destroyed the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The health, environment and culture of the people have been harmed, and continue to be harmed, by the tests.

Tony de Brum, former Marshall Islands Foreign Minister and Co-Agent in the cases, said, “I have seen with my very own eyes nuclear devastation and know with conviction that nuclear weapons must never again be visited upon humanity. Nuclear weapons are a senseless threat to survival and there are basic norms that compel those who possess them to pursue and achieve their elimination. This is the subject of legal action by my country at the International Court of Justice.”

Because they accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ, the U.K., India and Pakistan are appearing before the Court this week. The other countries, the United States, China, Russia, France, Israel and North Korea, have chosen to ignore the cases.

The U.K. case differs from the cases against India and Pakistan in that the U.K. is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is, therefore, bound by Article VI which requires states to pursue negotiations “in good faith” to end the nuclear arms race and achieve total nuclear disarmament. The Marshall Islands contends that India and Pakistan are bound by similar obligations under customary international law.

Phon van den Biesen, an Amsterdam attorney and Co-Agent for the RMI, is leading the international legal team. He said, “From a legal perspective, the issues presented by these cases are ordinary ones, but a positive outcome will, spectacularly, change the world. We are, basically, asking the Court to tell the respondent states to live up to their obligations under international law and to conduct negotiations leading to the required result: nuclear disarmament in all its aspects.”

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is asking the ICJ to follow up on its twenty-year old Advisory Opinion findings about the illegality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons. In 1996, the Court considered that the continued international debate on the legality of these deadly weapons threatens the stability of the international order. It added that “the long-promised complete nuclear disarmament appears to be the most appropriate means” to put an end to that untenable situation. See para. 98 at http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/95/7646.pdf

World leaders, international non-governmental organizations, world-class experts and Nobel Peace Laureates have offered strong support for the cases, denouncing nuclear weapons as immoral and illegal. http://nuclearzero.org/#lastone

For more information and to receive daily ICJ reports, please visit the California-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation at https://www.wagingpeace.org/

On February 19^th, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) held a workshop in Carlsbad to discuss the detailed budget and schedule to re-open the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in December 2016. PMB Workshop – 2-18-16 -final  Despite having spent about $500 million in the two years that WIPP has been shut down, few significant schedule milestones have been met.  5.5.1 – Enclosure 8 – Level 7 Critical Path 2015-12-04 and 5.5.3 – Enclosure 10 – WIPP Schedule Level 7 2015-12-04

The formal budget and schedule document is called the Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB).  StakeholderMeeting_Projects_Status_Feb_19_2016_Final  The PMB is for the period of October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2017, which is the time remaining on the management contract for Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP). The total WIPP cost during those two years is $740 million.

The PMB shows that if there were no delays, WIPP could re-open on October 1, 2016. However, the schedule also includes a 73-day “uncertainty buffer” to accommodate delays so that WIPP could commence emplacing waste in the underground on December 12, 2016.

The first PMB major milestone due on February 19^th was to complete the Documented Safety Analysis Implementation Summary, which includes revised safety procedures. At the workshop the contractor admitted that work will be about a month late.

A major limitation on underground activity is the contamination and the need to filter air before it is released into the environment. Since the February 14, 2014 radiation release, filtered airflow is limited to 60,000 cubic feet per minute.

The 2014 WIPP Recovery Plan stated that to approximately double the amount of airflow an “interim ventilation system” would be installed by March 31, 2015. That system is now expected to begin operation in April, more than a year late.

The 2014 Recovery Plan also included “supplemental ventilation” to be operational by December 31, 2015. But that additional ventilation is now not expected until January 2017, and DOE and NWP have decided that it is not necessary to re-open WIPP.

Re-opening would constitute moving the 154 waste containers in the Waste Handling Building into the underground, which could take up to two months. During 2017, the Waste Hoist also will be shut down for upgrades for a few weeks, during which time no waste could go underground.

From which sites and when shipments to WIPP could resume is not provided in the PMB. At the workshop, it was stated that those decisions will not be made for several months. But when shipments begin, they are expected to be no more than five per week. WIPP could not resume full operations until a new exhaust shaft and permanent ventilation system are installed to replace the existing, interim, and supplemental systems. The cost and schedule for that permanent ventilation are unknown, but operation is not likely until 2021.