CCNS Nuclear Literacy Program to Educate Nuevomexicano Communities on the LANL Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production

For over eighty years, the People of New Mexico have borne the burden of the 1943 establishment of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Through the Congressional continuing resolution process, LANL may receive an additional $1 billion dollars to support expansion of the number of plutonium triggers, or plutonium pits, fabricated for nuclear weapons. The people of northern New Mexico are unaware of the effects that this potentially may have on nearby communities. The effects of eight decades of nuclear weapons development has had a cumulative impact on New Mexico, especially in Rio Arriba County, which borders Los Alamos County to the north and west.

During the Bush II and Obama Administrations, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposed three new weapons systems: the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP), the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW), and the Interoperable Warhead (IW). Grassroots organizations networked, educated each other, spoke at public meetings, wrote informed public comments, and worked with technical experts, elected officials and the media to understand how increased weapons development would impact frontline communities, which are mostly comprised of Indigenous and Hispanic people. With leadership from New Mexico and colleagues and NGOs throughout the world and through active organizing and public engagement in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, those proposed weapons systems were defeated and eventually canceled.

Note:  Through the NEPA processes during the 2000s, the following occurred: the defeat of the Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Stockpile Stewardship and Management for a Modern Pit Facility (aka “The Bombplex”) (2006) – additional references and details at https://www.nuclearactive.org/docs/MPFindex.html; challenges to the Complex Transformation Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to produce 80 pits per year at LANL (2008); challenges to the Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico; and the defeat of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the (Super Walmart-sized) Nuclear Facility Portion of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building Replacement Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico (2011).

New possibilities for similar successful public opposition are now available in the face of the on-going NEPA processes for the draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico and scoping for the Programmatic Environment Impact Statement (PEIS) for Plutonium Pit Production at LANL and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

Under the leadership of CCNS Board Member Myrriah Gómez, CCNS will develop an educational program titled Nuclear Literacy:  Educating Nuevomexicano Communities on the Los Alamos National Laboratory Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production to engage northern New Mexicans.  Gómez is an Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico Honors College.

A curriculum specifically designed for frontline communities in Northern New Mexico will be used to engage community members, with a focus on youth engagement, about how to prepare comments about the scope of the PEIS and then how to read and respond to the forthcoming draft PEIS document.

We are honored and excited at the prospect of bringing this educational series to New Mexicans in the New Year!

1. Friday, January 2^nd from noon to 1 pm – Join the nuclear disarmament community at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval in Santa Fe for the weekly peaceful protest in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Join with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners.

2. Watch A House of Dynamite on Netflix. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has published a resource guide to viewing “A House of Dynamite.”  https://thebulletin.org/2025/10/a-bulletin-resource-guide-to-viewing-a-house-of-dynamite/

3. SAVE THE DATES – April 4^th – 11^th, 2026: Shut Down Drone Warfare at Alamogordo and Holloman AFB. For more information, email  nmvetsforpeace@gmail.com

4. If you appreciate our work, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to CCNS before the end of the year. Or sign-up to contribute monthly! We’re on Paypal or mail your contribution to: CCNS, POB 31147, Santa Fe, NM  87594-1147.  Thank you!!!

Tags: Bush II and Obama Administrations, CMRR Nuclear Facility, Complex Transformation Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, Department of Energy, DOE, Interoperable Warhead, IW, LANL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Modern Pit Facility, MPF, Myrriah Gómez Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico Honors College, National Environmental Policy Act, National Nuclear Security Administration, NEPA, Nuclear Literacy: Educating Nuevomexicano Communities on the Los Alamos National Laboratory Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production, Presidential Executive Orders, Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production, Reliable Replacement Warhead, Rio Arriba County, RNEP, Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, RRW, Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Venmo, youth engagement, “The Bombplex