Two in-person public hearings in New Mexico and one virtual public hearing will be held about the Department of Energy’s plan to ship more than 30 tons of surplus radioactive plutonium for processing at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).  The plan is found in the draft Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program environmental impact statement, which is open for public comment until February 14^th.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

The proposal by DOE’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), if approved, would change New Mexico forever.  For example, see Santa Fe County Commission comment letter to DOE/NNSA, which was unanimously approved on January 10, 2023.     20230110 Santa Fe Co. Commision Comments on NNSA’s SPDP DEIS    &   https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/santa-fe-county-commission-opposes-radioactive-material-being-sent-to-lanl/article_8b5847c8-9145-11ed-8ded-9b49183bb77a.html

Plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons would be trucked from the Pantex facility in Texas to LANL, where the pits would be pulverized into powdered plutonium.  From LANL, the powdered plutonium would be trucked to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina where an adulterant to inhibit recovery of the plutonium would be added.  The plan is to truck the waste from there to WIPP for disposal.  In total, the plutonium, in various forms, would travel over 3,300 miles.   http://nuclearactive.org/stop-surplus-plutonium-waste-from-coming-to-wipp/

The proposal places a tremendous emergency preparedness burden on states, regional governments and communities along the transportation routes.

CCNS urges you to learn more, get involved, and submit your comments to DOE/NNSA before the end of the comment period on February 14, 2023.  To download the draft plan, go to https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room

The first public hearing is in Carlsbad on Tuesday, January 24^th from 6 to 9 pm Mountain Time at the Carousel House at the Pecos River Village Conference Center, 711 Muscatel Avenue.

The second public hearing is in Los Alamos on Thursday, January 26^th from 6 to 9 pm at Fuller Lodge, 2132 Central Avenue.

A virtual public hearing will take place on Monday, January 30^th from 5 to 8 pm Mountain Time.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program  Click on this link for a direct connection to the Online Zoom meeting for the January 30, 2023 meeting.

NNSA states that the first 30 minutes of the in-person meetings will be a poster session where NNSA representatives will answer questions.  Spanish and English translators will be available.  NNSA will then make a presentation, followed by public comments.  Oral comments during the in-person and on-line public hearings will be limited to a maximum of three minutes.

Joni Arends, of CCNS, said, “NNSA’s plan is convoluted and complicated.  It has taken time to review it.  Next week CCNS will post on our website a letter requesting an extension of time to submit comments, talking points and public comments you can personalize for your use.”

1. Without any formal or any informal public notice, email addresses for New Mexico Environment Department staffers have changed to @env.nm.gov. The change has impacted the public’s ability to submit timely public comments.  Generally when an email address is changed, one receives an email notice with a reminder to update one’s address book with the new address.  This has not been the case for NMED.  We don’t know if this is a statewide change.      

2. Friday, January 13^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others. We will be planning for the second anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on Sunday, January 22^nd.

3. Take action by Thursday, January 12^th, 2023 – Who should be recognized as the 2022 Arms Control Association Person of the Year? The results will be announced on Friday, January 13^th.  All nominees have, in their own way, provided important leadership that helped reduced weapons-related security dangers during the past year.  Vote here:  https://www.armscontrol.org/ACPOY/2022   

CCNS urges you to vote for Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, NM.  For more information about the Archbishop, check these links out:

https://archdiosf.org/documents/2022/1/220111_ABW_Pastoral_Letter_LivingintheLightofChristsPeace_Official_Reduced.pdf

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2022-12/interviews/making-case-nuclear-weapons-immoral-interview-archbishop-john-c-wester

4. Friday, January 13^th at 6 pm – Santa Fe Conversation with Myrriah Gómez, Author of Nuclear Nuevo México at Collected Works Bookstore, 202 Galisteo Street, Santa Fe. Myrriah Gómez’s Nuclear Nuevo México demonstrates how earlier eras of settler colonialism laid the foundation for nuclear colonialism in New Mexico. Myrriah will be in conversation with writer Alicia Inez Guzmán.  https://uapress.arizona.edu/event/santa-fe-conversation-with-myrriah-gomez-author-of-nuclear-nuevo-mexico

5. Friday, January 13^th through Monday, January 16^th in Albuquerque – The MLK 2023 Dream Weekend – Theme: Cultivating a Beloved Community mind to transform unjust systems.  For more information:  https://nmmlksc.org/event/mlk-2023-dream-weekend/

6. Saturday, January 14^th at 9:45 am – Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration March in Albuquerque – Join the Donald and Sally-Alice Thompson Chapter 63 of the Veterans for Peace at the corner of MLK, Jr. Avenue and University Blvd. NE on the UNM Campus. https://maps.apple.com/?address=Dr%20Martin%20Luther%20King%20Jr%20Ave,%20Albuquerque,%20NM%20%2087106,%20United%20States&ll=35.084921,-106.625647&q=Dr%20Martin%20Luther%20King%20Jr%20Ave  March proceeds to Civic Plaza downtown.  VFP needs help carrying banners.  Weather:  41 degrees at 10 am with a 4 mph very light breeze.    

7. Tuesday, January 17^th, 2023 at 9 am to 6 pm – virtual NM Air Quality Act permit public hearing about the LANL Beryllium Target Fabrication Facility. ABQ 22-41 (P).  DOE/NNSA applied for a permit modification for expanded beryllium operations, including two beryllium lathes and one sputtering machine.  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D163077960

8. Thursday, January 19^th, 2023 from 6 to 9 pm Eastern – Augusta, South Carolina – in-person public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program at the North Augusta Municipal Building, 100 Georgia Avenue, North, Augusta, SC. First 30 minutes are a poster session, followed by a NNSA presentation and then public comment session.    https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

9. Tuesday, January 24th, 2023 at 8 am Mountain Time – Bulletin of Atomic Scientists will make the 2023 Doomsday Clock announcement. https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/

10. Tuesday, January 24^th, 2023 from 6 to 9 pm Mountain – Carlsbad, NM – in-person public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program at the Carousel House at Pecos River Village Conference Center, 711 Muscatel Avenue, Carlsbad, NM. First 30 minutes are a poster session, followed by a NNSA presentation and then public comment session.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

11. Thursday, January 26^th, 2023 from 6 to 9 pm Mountain – Los Alamos, NM – in-person public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program at *** New LOCATION *** at Fuller Lodge, 2132 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM. First 30 minutes are a poster session, followed by a NNSA presentation and then public comment session.      https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

12. Monday, January 30^th, 2023 from 5 to 8 pm Mountain – Online (ZoomGov) public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program. The meeting URL will be posted on the NNSA’s NEPA Reading Room – https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room

On Tuesday, January 10^th, CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) will return to the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission to ask it to vacate the decisions in which former Commission Chair Stephanie Stringer was involved.  https://shuffle.do/projects/honor-our-pueblo-existance-h-o-p-e  CCNS and HOPE have appealed the issuance of the groundwater discharge permit, DP-1132, for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to the Commission.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/, scroll down to WQCC 22-21 CCNS and HOPE’s Petition for Review of NMED Ground Water Discharge Permit DP-1132 and click on it for the drop down menu.

In the middle of the proceeding, Chair Stringer resigned and took a job with the Department of Energy / National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA), which is a party to the appeal.  This is an ethical violation.  CCNS and HOPE are asking the Commission to vacate the decisions made while former Chair Stringer was actively pursuing a position with DOE/NNSA at LANL.

Recently, on December 9^th, the New Mexico Ethics Commission filed a civil action seeking to enforce violations of the New Mexico Governmental Conduct Act by Chair Stringer.  The State Ethics Commission said that Stringer took “an official act while a public officer and employee that she should have had reason to believe would directly affect her financial interest.”  https://www.sec.state.nm.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Resolution-2022-10-S.-Stringer.pdf

CCNS and HOPE will also ask the Water Quality Control Commission to order sanctions against DOE/NNSA.  This is the second time DOE/NNSA hired New Mexico Environment Department adjudicatory decision-makers while they were presiding in the DP-1132 matter.  http://nuclearactive.org/please-support-ccns-and-hope-request-for-sanctions-in-the-lanl-dp-1132-appeal-before-the-new-mexico-water-quality-control-commission/

CCNS and HOPE spent tens of thousands of dollars to enforce the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act at the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility.  LANL admits that the Facility handles, treats and stores hazardous waste, which requires RCRA regulation.  DOE/NNSA has struggled to resist and delay proper RCRA regulation.  Finally, DOE/NNSA resorted to hiring away Environment Department personnel that were conducting the permitting proceeding, nullifying the entire process.

CCNS and HOPE spent precious dollars to pay lawyers, staff and related expenses, including travel to courts in Washington, DC and Salt Lake City, Utah. https://nuclearactive.org/ccns-oral-argument-before-eab-to-terminate-lanl-outfall/ , https://nuclearactive.org/lanl-outfall-051-must-be-eliminated-from-clean-water-act-permit/ , http://nuclearactive.org/ccns-lawyers-take-lanls-clean-water-act-exemption-to-the-10th-circuit-court-of-appeals/  Due to DOE/NNSA’s ethical violations, the proceeding must be done over again, and these funds were wasted.  CCNS and HOPE seek to recover them from DOE/NNSA.

CCNS and HOPE encourage you to support our quest for justice.  You can make public comments in support of the CCNS and HOPE motion to vacate the unlawful proceeding and to award sanctions during the January 10^th Commission meeting.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/12/Notice-of-Public-Meeting_NM-Water-Quality-Commission.pdf

A sample public comment letter is available for you to modify at nuclearactive.org.  20230104 f sample DP-1132 sanctions public comment ltr

Did You Know about these important public comment opportunities about the DOE/NNSA expansion plans at LANL, WIPP, the Savannah River Site, the Pantex Site and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory?  Public hearings in New Mexico begin on Tuesday, January 24^th.  Mark your calendar now!

1. Friday, January 6^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others.

2. Friday, December 16^th, 2022 – DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) released a draft environmental impact statement for its Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program. The proposed program involves shipping over 50 metric tons of plutonium pits in various forms from the Pantex Facility, north of Amarillo, TX, to LANL where the pits would be made into powder.  From LANL, the powdered plutonium would be shipped to the Savannah River Plant, in South Carolina, for “treatment,” and then to WIPP for disposal – a total distance of 3,300 miles.  The draft EIS is available to download from https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program  Comments are due on Tuesday, February 14, 2023.  Talking points and sample comments you can use to defend New Mexico from more nuclear waste generation and disposal should be available next week.

* * *

Four public hearings about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium

Disposition Program will be held in January 2023. 

They are listed below in chronological order.

* * *

3. Tuesday, December 20^th, 2022 – NMED released the public notice, revised fact sheet, and draft hazardous waste renewal permit for WIPP. It is available to download from  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/ , scroll down to WIPP News.  Public comments are due on Saturday, February 18^th, 2023 at 5 pm MT.  Stay tuned to CCNS and Stop Forever WIPP for talking points and sample comments you can use to defend New Mexico from more nuclear waste generation and disposal.  They should be available next week.

4. Tuesday, January 10^th, 2023 at 9 am – NM Water Quality Control Commission meeting at which the appeal of groundwater discharge permit DP-1132 for the DOE/NNSA’s Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at LANL will be heard. At time of CCNS’s posting, the WQCC agenda has not yet been posted.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2022/12/Notice-of-Public-Meeting_NM-Water-Quality-Commission.pdf

Please submit a letter in support of sanctions against DOE/NNSA for hiring adjudicatory decision makers, while they were in the decision making process, in the DP-1132 matter.  A sample public comment letter you can modify is here.  20230104 f sample DP-1132 sanctions public comment ltr

5. Take action by Thursday, January 12^th, 2023 – Who should be recognized as the 2022 Arms Control Association Person of the Year? The results will be announced on Friday, January 13^th.  All nominees have, in their own way, provided important leadership that helped reduced weapons-related security dangers during the past year.  Vote here:  https://www.armscontrol.org/ACPOY/2022   

CCNS urges you to vote for Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, NM.  For more information about the Archbishop, check these links out:

https://archdiosf.org/documents/2022/1/220111_ABW_Pastoral_Letter_LivingintheLightofChristsPeace_Official_Reduced.pdf

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2022-12/interviews/making-case-nuclear-weapons-immoral-interview-archbishop-john-c-wester

6. Tuesday, January 17^th, 2023 at 9 am to 6 pm – virtual NM Air Quality Act permit public hearing about the LANL Beryllium Target Fabrication Facility. ABQ 22-41 (P).  DOE/NNSA applied for a permit modification for expanded beryllium operations.  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D163077960

7. Thursday, January 19^th, 2023 from 6 to 9 pm Eastern – Augusta, South Carolina – in-person public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program at the North Augusta Municipal Building, 100 Georgia Avenue, North, Augusta, SC. First 30 minutes are a poster session, followed by a NNSA presentation and then public comment session.    https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

8. Tuesday, January 24th, 2023 at Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock release. More details will be available soon at  https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/

9. Tuesday, January 24^th, 2023 from 6 to 9 pm Mountain – Carlsbad, NM – in-person public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program at the Carousel House at Pecos River Village Conference Center, 711 Muscatel Avenue, Carlsbad, NM. First 30 minutes are a poster session, followed by a NNSA presentation and then public comment session.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

10. Thursday, January 26^th, 2023 from 6 to 9 pm Mountain – Los Alamos, NM – in-person public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program at the Duane Smith Auditorium, Los Alamos High School, 1300 Diamond Drive, Los Alamos, NM. First 30 minutes are a poster session, followed by a NNSA presentation and then public comment session.      https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

11. Monday, January 30^th, 2023 from 5 to 8 pm Mountain – Online (ZoomGov) public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program. https://pnnl.zoomgov.com/j/1606354491?pwd=bnJrdUhNYUtMWk04ayt2NFdpRUJYZz09#success or

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In May 2022, CCNS, Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE), and Veterans for Peace – Chapter 63 appealed the federal Clean Water Act discharge permit for Outfall 051, which is connected to the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, to the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB).   On December 28^th, the three-judge panel in Washington, DC ruled unanimously to remand the federal permit, or send it back, to EPA’s Region 6 office in Dallas.  https://yosemite.epa.gov/oa/EAB_Web_Docket.nsf/Active+Dockets?OpenView and EAB DOE and Triad Remand Order 12-28-22

The non-governmental organizations argue that because hazardous waste is handled, treated and stored at the Facility, it is required to be regulated by the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act.  http://nuclearactive.org/ , https://shuffle.do/projects/honor-our-pueblo-existance-h-o-p-e and  https://nmvetscaucus.org/nm-veterans-for-peace-chapter-63/

The remand demonstrates that the Permittees, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), have been flip-flopping about whether they intend to discharge through Outfall 051.  In 1998, LANL determined that it would eliminate all discharges from Outfall 051.  From November 2010 to June 2019, no discharge was made.  The treated wastewater was evaporated into the air.

DOE/NNSA seek a Clean Water Act permit as part of the showing needed to get the Waste Water Treatment Unit exemption from RCRA and the Hazardous Waste Act.  In their 2019 permit application, they stated that Outfall 051 would only be used as a backup to the evaporation system.  Later, they stated the outfall would be an “integral component” of the Permittees’ operations “in the future.”

Immediately after the public comment period for the EPA permit ended, DOE/NNSA began discharging from Outfall 051.  This was an obvious attempt to prove that the Permittees should have a Clean Water Act permit for Outfall 051.

Does DOE/NNSA intend to continue discharging treated waste water from Outfall 051?  CCNS, HOPE and Veterans for Peace believe that the Permittees must clarify whether they intend to abandon all the investments that have been made in the mechanical and solar evaporation equipment in order to discharge all of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility output through Outfall 051.  Even if the Permittees plan to discharge some of the output through Outfall 051, they have no Waste Water Treatment Unit exemption from RCRA and the Hazardous Waste Act unless the entire output is discharged through Outfall 051, which has not been the case for decades.

Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Jr., attorney for CCNS, HOPE and Veterans for Peace, stated that, “DOE/NNSA must declare clearly their intentions with respect to discharges in the EPA remand proceedings.  Based on their declaration, the public should comment, EPA’s Response to Comments should be revised, and EPA should act again on DOE/NNSA’s application for a permit for Outfall 051.”  http://lindsaylovejoy.com/

1. Friday, December 30^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others.

2. Friday, December 16^th, 2022 – DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) released a draft environmental impact statement for its Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program. The proposed program involves shipping over 50 metric tons of plutonium pits in various forms from the Pantex Facility, north of Amarillo, TX, to LANL where the pits would be made into powder.  From LANL, the powdered plutonium would be shipped to the Savannah River Plant, in South Carolina, for “treatment,” and then to WIPP for disposal – a total distance of 3,300 miles.  The draft EIS is available to download from https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program  Comments are due on Tuesday, February 14, 2023.  Talking points and sample comments you can use to defend New Mexico from more nuclear waste generation and disposal should be available next week.

* * *

Four public hearings about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium

Disposition Program will be held in January 2023. 

They are listed below in chronological order.

* * *

3. Tuesday, December 20^th, 2022 – NMED released the public notice, revised fact sheet, and draft hazardous waste renewal permit for WIPP. It is available to download from  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/ , scroll down to WIPP News.  Public comments are due on Saturday, February 18^th, 2023 at 5 pm MT.  Stay tuned to CCNS and Stop Forever WIPP for talking points and sample comments you can use to defend New Mexico from more nuclear waste generation and disposal.  They should be available next week.

4. Tuesday, January 10^th, 2023 – time uncertain – NM Water Quality Control Commission meeting at which the appeal of groundwater discharge permit DP-1132 for the DOE/NNSA’s Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at LANL will be heard. At time of posting, the WQCC agenda has not been posted. 

Please submit a letter in support of sanctions against DOE/NNSA for hiring adjudicatory decision makers, while they were in the decision making process, in the DP-1132 matter.  A link to a f sample DP-1132 public comment ltr 12-22-22 sample letter is available in the second to last paragraph here :  http://nuclearactive.org/please-support-ccns-and-hope-request-for-sanctions-in-the-lanl-dp-1132-appeal-before-the-new-mexico-water-quality-control-commission/

5. By Thursday, January 12^th, 2023 – Who should be recognized as the 2022 Arms Control Association Person of the Year? The results will be announced on Friday, January 13^th.  All nominees have, in their own way, provided important leadership that helped reduced weapons-related security dangers during the past year.  Vote here:  https://www.armscontrol.org/ACPOY/2022   

CCNS urges you to vote for Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, NM.  For more information about the Archbishop, check these links out:

https://archdiosf.org/documents/2022/1/220111_ABW_Pastoral_Letter_LivingintheLightofChristsPeace_Official_Reduced.pdf

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2022-12/interviews/making-case-nuclear-weapons-immoral-interview-archbishop-john-c-wester

6. Thursday, January 12^th – Channel 27 (Albuquerque) – presentation by Stop FOREVER WIPP Coalition about the release of the draft hazardous waste permit for WIPP. More information available soon

7. Tuesday, January 17^th, 2023 at 9 am to 6 pm – virtual NM Air Quality Act permit public hearing about the LANL Beryllium Target Fabrication Facility. ABQ 22-41 (P).  DOE/NNSA applied for a permit modification for expanded beryllium operations.  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D163077960

8. Thursday, January 19^th, 2023 from 6 to 9 pm Eastern – Augusta, South Carolina – in-person public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program at the North Augusta Municipal Building, 100 Georgia Avenue, North, Augusta, SC. First 30 minutes are a poster session, followed by a NNSA presentation and then public comment session.    https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

9. Thursday, January 24th, 2023 at Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock release. More details will be available soon at  https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/

10. Tuesday, January 24^th, 2023 from 6 to 9 pm Mountain – Carlsbad, NM – in-person public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program at the Carousel House at Pecos River Village Conference Center, 711 Muscatel Avenue, Carlsbad, NM. First 30 minutes are a poster session, followed by a NNSA presentation and then public comment session.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

11. Thursday, January 26^th, 2023 from 6 to 9 pm Mountain – Los Alamos, NM – in-person public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program at the Duane Smith Auditorium, Los Alamos High School, 1300 Diamond Drive, Los Alamos, NM. First 30 minutes are a poster session, followed by a NNSA presentation and then public comment session.      https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

12. Monday, January 30^th, 2023 from 5 to 8 pm Mountain – Online (ZoomGov) public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program. https://pnnl.zoomgov.com/j/1606354491?pwd=bnJrdUhNYUtMWk04ayt2NFdpRUJYZz09#success or

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Dear Supporters:

Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety wishes to thank you for your past support and to ask you for renewed contributions to allow us to carry on our work promoting the well-being and safety of human beings living in the shadow of the nuclear weapons industries.

It is easy to persuade politicians to spend money on weapons of war, but it is far harder to make them recognize the real costs involved.  Nuclear weapons production contaminates air and water, depletes the soil, and threatens the lives of those living and working nearby.  Economic necessity may force people to welcome the jobs these industries bring, but no one should be forced to suffer from the toxins they produce.  From those downwind from nuclear tests to those whose drinking water is polluted with toxic materials, the most affected individuals are often – although not exclusively – low-wealth and marginalized members of society.  The armed forces, the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, and their civilian contractors have vast resources and every incentive to obscure and hide the damage done to people whose bodies and lands are daily exposed to radioactive contamination.

Since 1988, CCNS has worked tirelessly to spotlight these concerns by all available means:  distributing public knowledge through our website and social media; raising issues in public meetings; providing information to legislators, the media and others; meeting with officials of LANL, WIPP, NNSA, the New Mexico Environment Department and other agencies of the federal, state and local government and, when necessary, by filing lawsuits.  Below, please find a list of some of our activities from the past year, all directed toward the safety and well-being of our common communities.

CCNS’s job will never be finished, and it costs money.  Government officials and contractors need to be reminded – gently or forcefully, but in either case continually – to respect the lands where they work and the people who live on them.  Please help us to keep everyone, and especially residents of Northern New Mexico, safe from the pollution generated from one the most dangerous industries on the world.  Tax-deductible donations can be sent to CCNS, Post Office Box 31147, Santa Fe, NM  87594-1147, or they can be made at our website, http://nuclearactive.org/.

Thank you for your generous support!   Together we are making a difference!

Grant Franks                                                               Joni Arends, Co-founder and

Board Chairman                                                         Executive Director

The following is a partial list of the routine work and special projects that CCNS has engaged in during 2022.  (Items in bold face have required extraordinary expense for the retention of outside counsel.)

CCNS has:

• Produced 52 weekly CCNS News Updates and Did You Know? to keep our subscribers and supporters up-to-date about new developments. CCNS is committed to the regular publication and dissemination of important events and challenges in the nuclear world and to producing fair, reasonable and even-handed reports. We consistently provide documentation, so that the reader can trust these materials and use the information themselves when contacting their representatives or other relevant officials.

• Kept a close eye on the Cerro Pelado Fire, especially as it moved within five miles of LANL’s backgate. In response to concerns voiced by CCNS and others, LANL began fire prevention measures along State Road 4.

• Worked to prevent the release of radioactive tritium from four flanged tritium waste containers stored at Area G, now slated for the spring of 2023.

• Appealed the EPA’s issuance of a discharge permit for industrial sites that do not discharge, including the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF) at LANL’s Technical Area 50. The Clean Water Act requires a discharge in order to issue a permit.  The EPA issued “zombie” discharge permits for facilities that don’t discharge, but handle, treat and store hazardous waste, thus requiring regulation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).  RCRA requires additional protections for the liquid waste treatment tank systems, additional seismic analyses, and additional monitoring.  LANL is resisting proper regulation.

• Objected to the NMED’s issuance of discharge permit 1132 (DP-1132) for the RLWTF’s Outfall 051. It stopped discharging in November 2010, yet NMED issued the discharge permit.

• Appealed the DP-1132 permit to the NM Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) where once again, the adjudicatory decisionmaker applied for and gained employment with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) while making decisions in this matter, a clear conflict of interest. The next WQCC meeting is January 10, 2023.  CCNS encourages you to express your concerns.

• Provided scoping comments about the proposed LANL Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS). It should have been completed in 2018, but it was delayed for many reasons.  Since 2018. the American taxpayers have paid for new buildings, new personnel, and new bonuses for the weaponers.

• Encourage the State of New Mexico to comply with its issued hazardous waste permit and close the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in 2024.

• Encouraged enactment of provisions of the WIPP Consultation and Cooperation Agreement to ensure DOE establishes criteria for a new repository in another state than New Mexico;

• Attended WIPP public meetings, including the July 7^th “fiasco” meeting in Santa Fe and the October 24^th meeting at Buffalo Thunder.

• Participated in in-person and virtual meetings of the NM Legislature Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee in Clovis and Santa Fe.

• Participated in the virtual meeting of NM Radioactive Task Force on December 16^th.

• Since October, CCNS has requested volumetric data for the LANL waste shipped to WIPP. Since January 2021, Environmental Management-Los Alamos (EM-LA) and NNSA have “shared” shipments to WIPP.  There were two kinds of waste:  pre-1999 legacy cleanup waste and the newly generated waste from plutonium pit production.  Based on unconfirmed data, it appears NNSA shipped more newly generated waste than EM-LA shipped legacy waste.  CCNS is requesting assistance from our congressional offices to confirm the data and cause the establishment of a transparent electronic database where the public can determine for themselves whether legacy cleanup waste is getting off the Hill.

• Participated in the international working group seeking to implement Article 6 Victim Assistance and environmental remediation and Article 7 International cooperation and assistance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

• Held meetings with congressional staffers of Senators Heinrich and Lujan and Representative Leger Fernandez about LANL and WIPP issues.

• Prepared for, attended and actively participated in the following weekly, monthly or quarterly meetings:

• Buckman Direct Diversion Board meetings

• Cease Fire Campaign

• LANL Technical Working Group, with a focus on environmental issues

• National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (NEJAC)

• Stop Forever WIPP Working Group

• White House Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (WHEJAC)

CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) request your support of our request for sanctions in the appeal of the groundwater discharge permit DP-1132, issued to Los Alamos National Laboratory for operation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility.  The appeal is before the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission, which has the authority to order sanctions.  We seek sanctions requiring the Permittees, the Department of Energy / National Nuclear Security Administration, to pay our expenses caused by DOE/NNSA’s unethical behavior.

This case involves small non-governmental organizations challenging large industrial sites to comply with environmental laws and regulations.  Since 2010, we have been challenging the improper regulation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility.  Legally, the facility should be regulated by the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act, not the New Mexico Water Quality Act.

During public hearings on DP-1132, the Permittees announced job openings, and two employees of the New Mexico Environment Department, who were decision makers concerning DP-1132, applied for and were hired by DOE / NNSA.  They had a clear conflict of interest.

The first time, in the summer of 2018, the hearing officer at a public hearing rejected the application of the Hazardous Waste Act, while she was actively pursuing employment with DOE / NNSA, which ultimately hired her.  http://nuclearactive.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/190606-CCW-Petition-for-Mandamus-2019-06-06.pdf

CCNS and HOPE incurred legal and other expenses during and after the permit hearing to right the wrong.

The second violation occurred this summer, during our DP-1132 appeal to the Water Quality Control Commission.  The Commission Chair pursued a job with DOE / NNSA, and at the same time allowed the unlawful permit DP-1132 to be effective indefinitely and postponed the appeal.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/water-quality-control-commission/, scroll down WQCC 22-21:  Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety and Honor Our Pueblo Existence’s Petition for Review of NMED Ground Water Discharge Permit DP-1132, click on link, go to November 4, 2022 Motion by Petitioners to Vacate Orders Issued Under Disqualification, November 17, 2022 Supplemental Memorandum on Motion by Petitioners to Vacate Orders Issued Under Disqualification, and subsequent filings.

It was another clear conflict of interest.  The Commission Chair is now working for NNSA.  http://nuclearactive.org/a-clear-case-of-disqualification-of-nmed-deputy-cabinet-secretary-stephanie-stringer/

During our years-long effort to right the wrongs, CCNS and HOPE incurred costs and legal expenses pursuing the appeal of DP-1132.

The Water Quality Control Commission meets virtually on Tuesday, January 10^th, 2023.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/water-quality-control-commission/  You can make public comments during that hearing, or submit a written comment on or before Friday, December 30^th, 2022.  https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=ZCP4E or email them to Pamela.Jones@env.nm.gov    Here is a sample comment letter for your use:  f sample DP-1132 public comment ltr 12-22-22

Joni Arends, a CCNS co-founder and executive director, requests that you support our request for sanctions by submitting a written public comment or make a comment during the January 10^th Commission meeting.  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D163442703

1. Friday, December 23^rd from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others.

2. Tuesday, December 20^th, 2022 – NMED released the public notice, revised fact sheet, and draft hazardous waste renewal permit for WIPP. It is available here https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/ , scroll down to WIPP News.

3. Friday, December 23^rd, 2022 to Tuesday, January 3^rd, 2023 – CCNS will be generally closed for the holidays.

Dear Supporters:

Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety wishes to thank you for your past support and to ask you for renewed contributions to allow us to carry on our work promoting the well-being and safety of human beings living in the shadow of the nuclear weapons industries.

It is easy to persuade politicians to spend money on weapons of war, but it is far harder to make them recognize the real costs involved.  Nuclear weapons production contaminates air and water, depletes the soil, and threatens the lives of those living and working nearby.  Economic necessity may force people to welcome the jobs these industries bring, but no one should be forced to suffer from the toxins they produce.  From those downwind from nuclear tests to those whose drinking water is polluted with toxic materials, the most affected individuals are often – although not exclusively – low-wealth and marginalized members of society.  The armed forces, the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, and their civilian contractors have vast resources and every incentive to obscure and hide the damage done to people whose bodies and lands are daily exposed to radioactive contamination.

Since 1988, CCNS has worked tirelessly to spotlight these concerns by all available means:  distributing public knowledge through our website and social media; raising issues in public meetings; providing information to legislators, the media and others; meeting with officials of LANL, WIPP, NNSA, the New Mexico Environment Department and other agencies of the federal, state and local government and, when necessary, by filing lawsuits.  Below, please find a list of some of our activities from the past year, all directed toward the safety and well-being of our common communities.

CCNS’s job will never be finished, and it costs money.  Government officials and contractors need to be reminded – gently or forcefully, but in either case continually – to respect the lands where they work and the people who live on them.  Please help us to keep everyone, and especially residents of Northern New Mexico, safe from the pollution generated from one the most dangerous industries on the world.  Tax-deductible donations can be sent to CCNS, Post Office Box 31147, Santa Fe, NM  87594-1147, or they can be made at our website, http://nuclearactive.org/.

Thank you for your generous support!   Together we are making a difference!

Grant Franks                                                               Joni Arends, Co-founder and

Board Chairman                                                         Executive Director

The following is a partial list of the routine work and special projects that CCNS has engaged in during 2022.  (Items in bold face have required extraordinary expense for the retention of outside counsel.)

CCNS has:

• Produced 52 weekly CCNS News Updates and Did You Know? to keep our subscribers and supporters up-to-date about new developments. CCNS is committed to the regular publication and dissemination of important events and challenges in the nuclear world and to producing fair, reasonable and even-handed reports. We consistently provide documentation, so that the reader can trust these materials and use the information themselves when contacting their representatives or other relevant officials.

• Kept a close eye on the Cerro Pelado Fire, especially as it moved within five miles of LANL’s backgate. In response to concerns voiced by CCNS and others, LANL began fire prevention measures along State Road 4.

• Worked to prevent the release of radioactive tritium from four flanged tritium waste containers stored at Area G, now slated for the spring of 2023.

• Appealed the EPA’s issuance of a discharge permit for industrial sites that do not discharge, including the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF) at LANL’s Technical Area 50. The Clean Water Act requires a discharge in order to issue a permit.  The EPA issued “zombie” discharge permits for facilities that don’t discharge, but handle, treat and store hazardous waste, thus requiring regulation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).  RCRA requires additional protections for the liquid waste treatment tank systems, additional seismic analyses, and additional monitoring.  LANL is resisting proper regulation.

• Objected to the NMED’s issuance of discharge permit 1132 (DP-1132) for the RLWTF’s Outfall 051. It stopped discharging in November 2010, yet NMED issued the discharge permit.

• Appealed the DP-1132 permit to the NM Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) where once again, the adjudicatory decisionmaker applied for and gained employment with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) while making decisions in this matter, a clear conflict of interest. The next WQCC meeting is January 10, 2023.  CCNS encourages you to express your concerns.

• Provided scoping comments about the proposed LANL Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS). It should have been completed in 2018, but it was delayed for many reasons.  Since 2018. the American taxpayers have paid for new buildings, new personnel, and new bonuses for the weaponers.

• Encourage the State of New Mexico to comply with its issued hazardous waste permit and close the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in 2024.

• Encouraged enactment of provisions of the WIPP Consultation and Cooperation Agreement to ensure DOE establishes criteria for a new repository in another state than New Mexico;

• Attended WIPP public meetings, including the July 7^th “fiasco” meeting in Santa Fe and the October 24^th meeting at Buffalo Thunder.

• Participated in in-person and virtual meetings of the NM Legislature Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee in Clovis and Santa Fe.

• Participated in the virtual meeting of NM Radioactive Task Force on December 16^th.

• Since October, CCNS has requested volumetric data for the LANL waste shipped to WIPP. Since January 2021, Environmental Management-Los Alamos (EM-LA) and NNSA have “shared” shipments to WIPP.  There were two kinds of waste:  pre-1999 legacy cleanup waste and the newly generated waste from plutonium pit production.  Based on unconfirmed data, it appears NNSA shipped more newly generated waste than EM-LA shipped legacy waste.  CCNS is requesting assistance from our congressional offices to confirm the data and cause the establishment of a transparent electronic database where the public can determine for themselves whether legacy cleanup waste is getting off the Hill.

• Participated in the international working group seeking to implement Article 6 Victim Assistance and environmental remediation and Article 7 International cooperation and assistance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

• Held meetings with congressional staffers of Senators Heinrich and Lujan and Representative Leger Fernandez about LANL and WIPP issues.

• Prepared for, attended and actively participated in the following weekly, monthly or quarterly meetings:

• Buckman Direct Diversion Board meetings

• Cease Fire Campaign

• LANL Technical Working Group, with a focus on environmental issues

• National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (NEJAC)

• Stop Forever WIPP Working Group

• White House Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (WHEJAC)

On Thursday, December 8^th, the New Mexico Environment Department released its fact sheet for the draft Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Hazardous Waste Permit.  The draft fact sheet is a way to let New Mexicans and the Department of Energy (DOE) know about the Environment Department plans for the ten-year renewal of the permit.  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/ , scroll down to WIPP News.   

WIPP is a deep geologic disposal site for plutonium-contaminated wastes generated from the production of pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons.  WIPP is located 26 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico.  It first opened in 1999 and is supposed to close in 2024.

The Environment Department summarized the new and more protective conditions it is considering.  These include prioritizing the disposal of waste generated prior to 1999, called legacy waste, from cleanup activities in New Mexico, such as at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which DOE owns.  LANL is located on the Pajarito Plateau above the Rio Grande.

The Environment Department says it will tie closing WIPP to the end of the ten-year permit term unless DOE provides an accurate inventory of all remaining wastes to be emplaced at WIPP.  DOE wants to keep the site open until at least 2080.  Thus, there could be a 50-year gap between what the Environment Department wants and what DOE wants.

The Environment Department will require DOE to submit an annual report describing its steps to site another geologic repository in a state other than New Mexico.  Laws passed by the U.S. Congress have always considered WIPP to be the first, but not only, repository.  Yet DOE has not begun finding another disposal site for nuclear weapons waste to fulfill promises to New Mexico and distribute the waste disposal responsibilities across the country.

The Environment Department Cabinet Secretary, James Kenney, stated, “The New Mexico Environment Department is taking a strong stance to protect the health, environment and interests of New Mexicans.  The proposed permit changes clearly prioritize DOE’s cleanup of legacy contamination in our state while holding the [DOE] accountable.”  https://www.env.nm.gov/home-news-releases/

The draft hazardous waste permit, about 1,200 pages in length, will be released next Tuesday, December 20^th for public review and comment.  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/ , scroll down to WIPP News.

Joni Arends, of CCNS, encouraged you to get involved in this process.  Check out the CCNS website to explore public opposition to WIPP and to find fact sheets and sample public comments you can use and modify to submit your own comments.

1. Friday, December 16^th from 8 am to 9 am – STATE OF NEW MEXICO RADIOACTIVE WASTE CONSULTATION TASK FORCE NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING. This will be a virtual webex meeting.  Registration, public notice and agenda may be found at:  https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/wipp-transportation-safety-program/the-radioactive-waste-consultation-task-force/

2. Friday, December 16th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others.

3. Tuesday, December 20^th – Posting of the draft WIPP hazardous waste renewal permit and a revised fact sheet at https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/ , under “WIPP News.” Get involved!  For more information:  http://nuclearactive.org/ and  https://stopforeverwipp.org/home

Under the banner of “Diplomacy is the Path to Peace,” non-governmental organizations, faith-based groups, individuals and others are gathering for nationwide activities the week of December 19^th to end the war in Ukraine, not life on Earth.  https://defusenuclearwar.org/    

Defuse Nuclear War is promoting the nationwide action as one effort to reach the public and pressure key elected officials to use diplomacy as the path to peace.  They are encouraging people around the country to send photos of loved ones and others, whose futures are at stake, to the White House as well as to their senators and representatives.

Defuse Nuclear War.org will provide digital tools and links to facilitate the process to make it easy for people to send photos and accompanying messages to President Biden and members of Congress encouraging genuine diplomacy and measures to prevent nuclear war.

To learn more about Diplomacy is the Path to Peace, check out the November 30^th live stream on the Defuse Nuclear War website.  Speakers included Ryan Black, Mandy Carter, Dennis Kucinich, Pastor Mike McBride, Khury Petersen-Smith, David Swanson, Marcy Winograd and Ann Wright.  https://defusenuclearwar.org/watch-videos/

In New Mexico, Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, and other New Mexico non-government organizations will be joining together to organize events as we did for the Cuban Missile Crisis 60^th anniversary on October 14^th.  The groups met with staffers from Senator Martin Heinrich’s office about the need to defuse nuclear war.  They emphasized their demands to end the policy of “first use,” rejoin nuclear weapons treaties the U.S. pulled out of, take U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert, get rid of the land-based ICBM nuclear missiles, support congressional action to avert nuclear war, and move the money to human needs, not war.   https://defusenuclearwar.org/learn/

Veterans for Peace member Bob Josephs recounted his experience during the Cuban Missile Crisis as a young Air Force officer near Izmir, Turkey; he was in charge of three nuclear-armed Jupiter missiles kept on hair-trigger alert.  Josephs explained, “I later learned that these missiles were the provocation for Khrushchev stationing Soviet missiles in Cuba.  Robert McNamara, Defense Secretary under Kennedy, said we avoided nuclear war only by luck.  A better plan than just plain dumb luck is to verifiably eliminate nuclear weapons as we pledged to do long ago in the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty.”   

To learn more, please join Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, the Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others in Santa Fe at noon on Fridays for a one-hour peaceful protest at the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe.

In further support of the need to eliminate nuclear weapons, check out the two powerful, yet short podcasts https://defusenuclearwar.org/podcast/ and videos https://defusenuclearwar.org/watch-videos/ with Daniel Ellsberg.    Directed by Oscar-nominee Judith Ehrlich, the series explores the dangers of nuclear weapons and the politics that drive their existence.  Hear firsthand accounts from Ellsberg about his time as a nuclear war planner for the U.S. military and learn hidden truth about realities of nuclear weapons.

In episode 1, Daniel Ellsberg recounts the death toll and violent realities of nuclear war.

In episode 2, Daniel Ellsberg makes the case for the U.S. eliminating hair-trigger intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that cannot be called back and are vulnerable to attack.

Defuse Nuclear War is a joint endeavor of RootsAction.org and the RootsAction Education Fund.

1. Friday, December 9th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others.

2. Friday, December 9^th and 10^th – Annual Congreso de las Acequias in Las Vegas, NM. For more information – https://lasacequias.org/congreso/

3. Tuesday, December 13^th at 5 pm MST – It’s a great time to start planning activities for the second anniversary of the Nuclear Ban Treaty. January 21^st, 2023 will mark the second anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force.  https://www.nuclearbantreaty.org/upcoming-events-meetings/     Please share this email with friends, family, organizations, faith communities and others!

Register in advance for this meeting by clicking here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrceyqqTIsHdK60QSqg7dzuHzS7nYpBKFj

4. Friday, December 16^th from 8 am to 9 am – STATE OF NEW MEXICO RADIOACTIVE WASTE CONSULTATION TASK FORCE NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING. This will be a virtual meeting. Register in advance here.   https://nmemnrd.webex.com/weblink/register/r6b896955a57fd36b3c9ff9ad435a6333           or HERE https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/wipp-transportation-safety-program/the-radioactive-waste-consultation-task-force/
   A preliminary agenda for this public meeting will be posted on the State of New Mexico’s Energy, Minerals & Natural Recourses Department web page https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/ no later 72 hours prior to the meeting and a final agenda posted on the same web page no later than 24 hours prior to the meeting.

The Earth has been rocking and rolling with large earthquake and volcanic activity lately.  It makes us wonder how seismic activity along the north – south running Pajarito Fault System and the massive Valles Caldera is being monitored and where the data is posted for easy public access.

In 1973 – nearly 50 years ago – the Los Alamos Seismic Network (LASN) installed its first seismic monitoring stations in north central New Mexico to research underground nuclear weapons tests.  The network’s spatial extent was expanded through the 1970s to about 25 stations, but funding cuts in the middle 1980s reduced its coverage to about seven stations.  Those stations were maintained until 1999.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) operates the Los Alamos Seismic Network.  A 2020 LANL report entitled Seismicity Monitoring in North-Central New Mexico by the Los Alamos Seismic Network was published in the Seismological Research Letters.  https://www.osti.gov/pages/servlets/purl/1688745  That report reveals that from 1999 to the present funding levels “have still been sparse and variable” (p. 3), and that “continued data acquisition, archiving, and routine analysis remain ongoing challenges” (p. 3).  The current network has 17 stations that operate in isolated, stand-alone mode.  Surprisingly, “[a]ll acquired data must be manually copied from the personal computer and transferred to another machine for archiving” (p. 4).

It is tragic that the Seismic Network is not working properly because the U.S. government, at LANL, has been investing billions for infrastructure, equipment and personnel to support expanded production of plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons.

LANL nuclear facilities are located within the Pajarito Fault System on the Pajarito Plateau between the Jemez Mountains and the Rio Grande.  Recall how in 2012 the proposed Super Walmart-sized Nuclear Facility, as part of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project, was eventually canceled because of seismic concerns, among others.  https://nuclearactive.org/doe-considers-a-ten-fold-increase-of-plutonium-in-cmrr-rad-lab-at-lanl/

Across the street from the proposed Nuclear Facility site is the nearly 60-year old Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility.  It handles, treats and stores hazardous waste from nuclear weapons research and manufacturing across the LANL site.

For over a decade CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence have argued the facility must be regulated by the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act, which requires a seismic analysis before it can be permitted.  https://nuclearactive.org/doe-considers-a-ten-fold-increase-of-plutonium-in-cmrr-rad-lab-at-lanl/  That data is not available because the Los Alamos Seismic Network has been historically underfunded and uses antiquated equipment.

Please contact your congressional members with the urgent request that LANL upgrade and expand the Los Alamos Seismic Network now and make all the seismic data electronically available to the public.

1. Thank you for your generous financial support on Giving Tuesday! We exceeded our goal! 

2. Friday, December 2nd from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others.

3. Tuesday, December 13^th at 5 pm MST – It’s a great time to start planning activities for the second anniversary of the Nuclear Ban Treaty. January 21^st, 2023 will mark the second anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force.  https://www.nuclearbantreaty.org/upcoming-events-meetings/   Please share this email with friends, family, organizations, faith communities and others!

Register in advance for this meeting by clicking here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrceyqqTIsHdK60QSqg7dzuHzS7nYpBKFj

4. Week of December 19^th – global organizing events under the banner “Diplomacy is the Path to Peace” to end the war in Ukraine, not life on Earth. Join in the efforts of the Defuse Nuclear War movement, along with local organizations Veterans for Peace and CCNS.  https://defusenuclearwar.org/  Get involved, join the movement!  Contact us at ccns@nuclearactive.org .

For over 34 years, CCNS has been a leader for nuclear safety.  We began in 1988 to address community concerns about the proposed transportation of plutonium contaminated hazardous waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory, or LANL, to the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, for disposal in the deep geologic repository.  At that time, the proposal was to ship the waste through Santa Fe on Saint Francis Drive, near traditional neighborhoods, seven schools and the hospital.

Since then, CCNS has challenged LANL’s and WIPP’s compliance with the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the federal and state hazardous waste laws.

CCNS is currently challenging the illegal regulation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at LANL through the Clean Water Act and the New Mexico Water Quality Act.  The key facility supports the production of plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons.  It receives contaminated waters from across the LANL site through underground pipes and by truck that are decontaminated in a series of tank treatment processes.  The resulting sludge is packaged into drums and shipped to WIPP for disposal.

A Hazardous Waste Act permit has never covered those treatment systems, although the law requires it.  Such a permit would include strict compliance requirements to prevent releases from the numerous tank systems.  As LANL is located within the Pajarito Fault System, the hazardous waste regulations require the Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate compliance with seismic safety rules.  http://nuclearactive.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/LANL-PAJARITO-FAULT-SYSTEM-FIGURES.pdf  Note:  The Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility is located at Technical Area 50, or TA-50, which shares its western border with TA-55, the Plutonium Facility.

Right now, LANL is constructing new facilities at TA-50 for low-level and transuranic radioactive liquid waste that are not required to meet seismic standards. LANL’s plans are to have these two new facilities accept hazardous waste without any further public proceedings and, equally clear, without meeting the standards of the hazardous waste laws.  Once built, these new facilities would stand as a fait accompli, defying any attempt to bring them into compliance with the hazardous waste laws.

DOE strongly resists being permitted under the Hazardous Waste Act and, seeking the sanctuary of far less rigorous regulations, has obtained a state-law groundwater discharge permit and a federal Clean Water Act permit, which are not protective but, DOE argues, confer exemptions from the Hazardous Waste Act.

To review the filings in the state appeal, go to https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/, scroll down to Water Quality Control Commission to WQCC 22-21: Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety and Honor Our Pueblo Existence’s Petition for Review of NMED Ground Water Discharge Permit DP-1132.

CCNS, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, and Veterans for Peace Chapter 63 in Albuquerque, are opposing DOE’s strategy before the federal Environmental Appeals Board.  https://yosemite.epa.gov/oa/EAB_Web_Docket.nsf/Active+Dockets?OpenView , Appeal No. NPDES 22-01.

Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Jr., of Santa Fe, represents the NGOs in both cases.  http://lindsaylovejoy.com/

To support this essential work, please be as generous as you can on Giving Tuesday, November 29^th.  To make a financial contribution, please visit our website at http://nuclearactive.org/ .  Thank you!

1. Friday, November 25th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others.

2. Monday, November 28^th at 6 pm MST – World Nuclear Survivors Forum Dialogue with the Co-Chairs of Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Kazakhstan and Kiribati, as co-chairs of the working group for providing victim assistance for survivors of nuclear weapons use and testing and remediating contaminated environments under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), would like to cordially invite you to attend a consultation for members of communities affected by nuclear weapons on Tuesday, 29 November at 1pm Fiji Standard Time [Monday, 28 November at 6 pm MST].  The co-chairs are:  H.E. Ambassador Teburoro Tito, Permanent Representative of Kiribati to the United Nations and Mr. Zhangeldy Syrymbet, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations. The co-chairs will provide an overview of their plans for the working group and then open the floor to hear from affected community members, including on how they would like to be consulted and involved in the work of the group going forward. To register for the event please follow this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqf-6vrzkrH9ZH3AjWu1AMa-sn2dTJzHGs

3. Wednesday, November 30^th from approximately noon to 5 pm MST and Thursday, December 1^st from approximately 7 am to 3 pm MST – The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) will convene a hybrid in-person public meeting with a virtual option. Registration is open throughout the duration of all meeting days virtually and in person. However, members of the public who wish to participate during the public comment period on Wed. Nov. 30^th from 2:15 to 5 pm MST must register by 9:59 p.m. Mountain Time, Nov. 23, 2022.  https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/white-house-environmental-justice-advisory-council Topics include a conversation with John Podesta, Senior Advisory to the President for Clean Energy Innovation & Implementation, an overview of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a federal panel discussion on addressing legacy pollution, carbon management and the National Climate Assessment.  https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-11/WHEJAC%20Draft%20Agenda%20Alexandria%20In-Person%20Public%20Mtg%20Web%20ver2.pdf The meeting is free and open to all members of the public. Individual registration for this event is REQUIRED.  Register here: https://usepa.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_SosqfAdJQCWWtWGjMcSbKw

4. Tuesday, December 13^th at 5 pm MST – It’s a great time to start planning activities for the second anniversary of the Nuclear Ban Treaty. January 21, 2023 will mark two years since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force.  https://www.nuclearbantreaty.org/upcoming-events-meetings/ Please share this email with friends, family, organizations and faith communities!  Register in advance for this meeting by clicking here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrceyqqTIsHdK60QSqg7dzuHzS7nYpBKFj