Hi All,
It’s time for an independent investigation of the radiation release at WIPP. Please see the Update below for more information.
ACTION ALERT – AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF WIPP IS NEEDED
Please contact Governor Martinez and your U.S. Senators and Representatives to request that an independent investigation of the radiation release at WIPP be conducted ASAP. Below is the contact information for the New Mexico delegation. Please email CCNS at ccns@nuclearactive.org with your comment and any response you may receive. Please share this with your networks. Thank you!
Albuquerque District Office at Phone: 505-346-6781; Fax: 505-346-6723 Washington, DC Office at Phone: 202-225-6316; Fax: 202-225-4975
* Representative Steve Pearce – http://pearce.house.gov/
Alamogordo at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723)
Hobbs at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723)
Las Cruces at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723)
Las Lunas at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723)
Roswell at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723) Socorro at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723) Washington, DC at Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723) or (202) 225-2365
(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:
• An Independent Investigation of WIPP is Needed
It has been almost two months since the vehicle fire and radiation release from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and we don’t know the essential facts about what happened. We do know that the radiation release was never supposed to happen, and the federal government is unprepared to safely address the situation. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency, charged with determining whether WIPP would leak in 10,000 years, said it would not.
On Wednesday, two eight-person teams traveled down an elevator to the underground salt mine located 2,150 feet below the surface. It is the first time that people have entered the site since the February 14th radiation release. They wore anti-contamination suits with air-breathing units. First reports indicate that no airborne contamination was detected. That was expected since they entered where outside air comes into the mine and the workers were more than 1,000 feet from where they will find contamination.
Joni Arends, of CCNS, stated, “We understand that plans needed to be prepared in order to ensure the safety of the workers re-entering the mine, and we applaud the Department of Energy (DOE) for being thorough. On the other hand, for more than 15 years, CCNS has pressed DOE and the New Mexico Environment Department to enhance the emergency preparedness requirements in the hazardous waste permit in anticipation that such an event could happen. We were ridiculed by the agencies. And now we see that our concerns were more than justified.”
For decades the non-governmental organizations have made suggestions to promote enhanced protection of workers at WIPP and community members living along the WIPP transportation routes. Those organizations and others are continuing to carefully monitor what’s happening and demanding that all information be made public. But those efforts are not enough, given the unprecedented nature of the release and the many unknowns.
Now is the time for an independent investigation of the radiation release. An Accident Investigation Board was formed to investigate the vehicle fire, which was composed of DOE employees and consultants. Their report is out and now they have been charged with investigating the radiation release. But they are not doctors and epidemiologists who are qualified to assess the exposures received by at least 21 workers. Those people, and the DOE, do not have all the expertise needed to create a plan to decontaminate a salt mine from the first-of-its-kind accident. There will be no easy, fast solution as to what will happen at WIPP. We do know that an independent investigation is needed now.
Please contact your elected officials, including the Governor, congresspersons and senators, and urge them to support an independent investigation of the WIPP radiation release.
This has been the CCNS News Update. Please go to our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org to read the independent investigation action alert.
The only color photograph available for the Trinity blast, taken by Los Alamos scientist and amateur photographer Jack Aeby from near Base Camp. As Aeby later said, “It was there so I shot it.”
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 30,000 people living in the immediate vicinity were engulfed in a radioactive cloud and rained on with radioactive particles.
What the US Government did next was astounding; they packed their bags, turned their backs and walked away.For 69 years the US Government has takenno responsibility for the health repercussions and the effects of exposure to radiation from the Trinity Test for these citizens of the United States of America.
Las Mujeres Hablan (LMH) and the Tularosa Basin Downwind Consortium (TBDC) are working together on a project to tell “the rest of story” not found in history books and we need your help.
Together we will stage a peaceful demonstration coordinated with the “open house” at the Trinity Test Site on Saturday, April 5th at the Stallion Gate entrance to the site. http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/Trinity/Pages/default.aspx Our theme is to remember and honor the dead through a Dia de los Muertos action.It will be a somber occasion to recognize and expose the pain that secrecy can impose.
A rough sketch of the Dia de los Muertos action is to have as many people as possible painted with skeleton faces as we share death with those that have passed. We need people to make cardboard skeleton masks for those wishing not to paint their faces.
We need signage with messages such as “the rest of the story” or “the untold story”,”65 years of silence” and crosses leading up a mile to the site and cintas muerte blanca (white death ribbons) will be tied along the fence leading to the site. At all times we will remember that our message is conveyed out of love and remembrance, honoring the suffering and death from this atrocity.
This action is part of a bigger project that LMH is coordinating with the National Institute of Health. This work includes a study to understand and reconstruct the amount of radiation people were exposed to by the detonation of the atomic bomb.
Our goal is to tell the rest of the story…the involuntary exposure and the suffering that ensued during 69 years of silence. Our goal is to move forward the expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to those downwind populations exposed by the Trinity Test and to all New Mexicans.
“The United StatesRadiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) is a federal statute providing for the monetary compensation of people, including atomic veterans, who contracted cancer and a number of other specified diseases as a direct result of their exposure to atmospheric nuclear testing undertaken by the United States during the Cold War, or their exposure to high levels of radon while doing uranium mining.”
A Memorial in support of RECA was introduced at the 2014 state legislative session by Senator Howie Morales (SM35), and in the House (HM36) by Rep. Brian Egolf where it passed unopposed. http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?Chamber=S&LegType=M&LegNo=35&year=14, http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?Chamber=H&LegType=M&LegNo=36&year=14
At the site, we will provide literature about the Trinity Test, RECA and ways people can support Downwinders.
For more information please contact Tina Cordova at tcordova@queston.netor 505-897-6787, or Joni Arends, of CCNS, at ccns@nuclearactive.org or 505-986-1973.
(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:
* Peaceful Dia de los Muertos Demonstration Planned at Trinity Site Entrance on Saturday, April 5th
The Trinity Test Site, the location of the first test explosion of a nuclear device on July 16, 1945 on the White Sands Missile Range, is open to the public one day a year. It will be open on Saturday, April 5th.
The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium and Las Mujeres Hablan, two advocacy organizations, are working together to tell the rest of the Trinity Test story that is not found in history books. They have been working with local communities, congressional members , and New Mexico legislators to bring attention to the tragic health effects suffered by those exposed to the first atomic test. The cancer rates in the counties surrounding the Trinity Site are among the highest in the nation.
The advocacy groups are organizing a peaceful Dia de los Muertos demonstration at the Stallion Range Station, on Highway 380, east of San Antonio, New Mexico, beginning at 9 am on Saturday, April 5th and asking participants be on-site for two hours. The theme is to remember and honor the dead and recognize and expose the pain that secrecy imposes. http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/Trinity/Pages/default.aspx
The organizers ask that participants paint their faces with skeletons or bring cardboard skeleton masks. Please bring your own water, snacks and posters.
Organizers will be providing information about the need to expand RECA and the National Institute of Health study to understand the lifestyles of those living downwind and downstream of the Trinity test.
Tina Cordova, one of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium organizers, said, “Sixty-nine years have passed. It’s time to recognize those who were unknowing, unwilling, uncompensated, innocent participants in the world’s largest science experiment. People in New Mexico have been suffering in silence ever since the bomb was detonated in July 1945. It’s time we reveal the rest of the story and people are made aware of the complete legacy of Trinity.”
Everyone who has been affected, who has had a family member that has been affected, or who has an interest in the issue are invited to attend. Videographers will capture the event for inclusion in a documentary that is in production.
This has been the CCNS News Update. For more information and to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org.
Hi, The location and time for the public information meeting in Santa Fe on Monday, March 31st has changed. The new location is the Santa Fe Main Library, located at 145 Washington Avenue, in downtown Santa Fe, from 6 to 7:30 pm.
We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, March 27th at the Albuquerque Peace & Justice Center and Monday, March 31st at the Santa Fe Main Library.
Onward,
CCNS
CCNS NEWS UPDATE Runs 3/21/14 through 3/28/14
(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:
• DOE Plans to Ship LANL TRU Waste to Commercial Facility; Upcoming Public Meetings in Albuquerque and Santa Fe about WIPP
On March 13th, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it was working on a contract with a commercial waste facility to “stage” the plutonium-contaminated transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) that is scheduled to be disposed at the closed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Frank Marcinowski, a DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary, said that the shipments would begin in early April to the unnamed commercial facility.
The transport of the waste is needed for LANL to meet the unenforceable Framework Agreement that Governor Susana Martinez established for the removal 3,706 cubic meters of transuranic waste stored in fabric tents to WIPP. A June 30th, 2014 deadline was established and the state and federal governments want to move the remaining 546 cubic meters of waste from LANL before the deadline. http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/documents/LANL_Framework_Agreement.pdf
Joni Arends, of CCNS, said, “The Framework Agreement, which has delayed other legacy waste cleanup at LANL, was established without any public input. Now DOE now is making plans to move transuranic waste to an unnamed commercial facility for staging. Is DOE thinking what will happen to that waste if WIPP never reopens? Before the contract is signed, there should be an opportunity for informed public input.”
Ted Wyka, Chairman of the DOE Accident Investigation Board, is leading the investigations of the February 5th fire and the February 14th release at WIPP. The 180-page fire investigation report is available at http://www.wipp.energy.gov/.
Southwest Research and Information Center, Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, and Nuclear Watch New Mexico will be sponsoring three public information meetings in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe about the recent incidents at WIPP and how you can get involved.
The first public information meeting will take place in Albuquerque on Tuesday, March 18th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) office, located at 10th and Gold, Southwest. The second Albuquerque meeting will take place on Thursday, March 27th from 6 to 8 pm at the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center, located at 202 Harvard, Southeast. A complementary dinner will be available at both meetings. Don Hancock, of Southwest Research and Information Center, will provide the latest information, along with Rey Garduño and Lucille Cordova.
The third meeting will take place in Santa Fe on Monday, March 31st from 6 to 7:30 pm at the Santa Fe Main Library, located at 145 Washington, in downtown Santa Fe. Please note the new location. Don Hancock, of Southwest Research and Information Center, Scott Kovac, of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, and former CCNS Board member Sasha Pyle will give presentations.
This has been the CCNS News Update. For more information and to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org.
(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:
• DOE Plans to Ship LANL TRU Waste to Commercial Facility; Upcoming Public Meetings in Albuquerque and Santa Fe about WIPP
On March 13th, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it was working on a contract with a commercial waste facility to “stage” the plutonium-contaminated transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) that is scheduled to be disposed at the closed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Frank Marcinowski, a DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary, said that the shipments would begin in early April to the unnamed commercial facility.
The transport of the waste is needed for LANL to meet the unenforceable Framework Agreement that Governor Susana Martinez established for the removal 3,706 cubic meters of transuranic waste stored in fabric tents to WIPP. A June 30th, 2014 deadline was established and the state and federal governments want to move the remaining 546 cubic meters of waste from LANL before the deadline. http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/documents/LANL_Framework_Agreement.pdf
Joni Arends, of CCNS, said, “The Framework Agreement, which has delayed other legacy waste cleanup at LANL, was established without any public input. Now DOE now is making plans to move transuranic waste to an unnamed commercial facility for staging. Is DOE thinking what will happen to that waste if WIPP never reopens? Before the contract is signed, there should be an opportunity for informed public input.”
Ted Wyka, Chairman of the DOE Accident Investigation Board, is leading the investigations of the February 5th fire and the February 14th release at WIPP. The 180-page fire investigation report is available at http://www.wipp.energy.gov/.
Southwest Research and Information Center, Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, and Nuclear Watch New Mexico will be sponsoring three public information meetings in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe about the recent incidents at WIPP and how you can get involved.
The first public information meeting will take place in Albuquerque on Tuesday, March 18th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) office, located at 10th and Gold, Southwest. The second Albuquerque meeting will take place on Thursday, March 27th from 6 to 8 pm at the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center, located at 202 Harvard, Southeast. A complementary dinner will be available at both meetings. Don Hancock, of Southwest Research and Information Center, will provide the latest information, along with Rey Garduño and Lucille Cordova.
The third meeting will take place in Santa Fe on Monday, March 31st from 6 to 7:30 pm at the Santa Fe Main Library, located at 145 Washington, in downtown Santa Fe. Please note the new location. Don Hancock and Scott Kovac, of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, will give presentations.
This has been the CCNS News Update. For more information and to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org.
In addition to the public information meetings sponsored by Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC), Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping (CARD), CCNS, and Nuclear Watch New Mexico on Tuesday, March 18th in ABQ; Thursday, March 27th in ABQ; and Monday March 31st in Santa Fe (see the Update below for more information) –
The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board will hold a public meeting in Albuquerque on Wednesday, March 19th regarding the “U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research and development (R&D) activities related to salt as a geologic medium for disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW).” The meeting will be held at the Marriott Hotel, 2101 Louisiana Blvd., NE, Albuquerque, beginning at 8 am. The agenda is available at http://www.nwtrb.gov/. Sandia and LANL scientists will be presenting, along with the former Director of the Environmental Evaluation Group (EEG), Bob Neill. Public comment is scheduled for 4:45 pm. The notice encourages the public who would like to speak to sign the “Public Comment Register” when you arrive. They may decide on a time limit for your remarks, depending upon how many people sign up to speak.
(THEME UP AND UNDER)This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.Here is this week’s top headline:
·Upcoming Public Meetings in Albuquerque and Santa Fe about WIPP
Southwest Research and Information Center, Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, and Nuclear Watch New Mexico will be sponsoring three public information meetings in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe about the recent fire and plutonium release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and how to get involved.Public input into the decision-making processes is essential now.Updated information about the serious accidents as well as proposals to expand WIPP’s mission will be presented.
The first public information meeting will take place in Albuquerque on Tuesday, March 18th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) office, located at 10th and Gold, Southwest.The second meeting in Albuquerque will take place on Thursday, March 27th from 6 to 8 pm at the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center, located at 202 Harvard, Southeast.A complementary dinner will be available at both meetings.Don Hancock, of Southwest Research and Information Center, will present the latest information, along with Rey Garduño and Lucille Cordova.
The third meeting will take place in Santa Fe on Monday, March 31st from 5:30 to 7 pm at the Santa Fe Community Foundation, located at Paseo de Peralta and Halcona Street.Don Hancock and Scott Kovac, of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, will present.
There are several proposals to expand the mission of WIPP beyond its current mission to dispose of plutonium-contaminated waste generated by the nuclear weapons complex.WIPP is a deep geologic “pilot” plant to demonstrate the safe disposal of transuranic radioactive and hazardous wastes in salt.It opened on March 26, 1999 after decades of public opposition about the safety of the facility.Plutonium is carcinogenic and even in the smallest amount is dangerous if inhaled or ingested.
The salt-hauling vehicle that was involved in the February 5th fire was being used to remove salt from an experimental area being developed for “heater tests” to determine if high-level radioactive waste could be disposed of at WIPP.
There are current five proposals on the table to expand WIPP’s mission and three proposals to reduce safety requirements.The expansion proposals would bring wastes that are currently not allowed for disposal.They are high-level waste generated by the nuclear reactors at the Hanford site in Washington state; commercial high-level waste from the West Valley site in New York; surplus plutonium from Department of Energy sites; elemental mercury from industrial sites; and high-activity low-level radioactive waste, called Greater-than-Class C waste, generated by government and commercial activities.
Proposals to reduce safety requirements include lessening monitoring of volatile organic compounds, less robust room closures, and reconfiguration of the waste rooms.
This has been the CCNS News Update.For more information and to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit our website at http://www.nuclearactive.org.
(THEME UP AND UNDER)This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.Here is this week’s top headline:
·Remembering Fred Tyler, Co-Founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium
Fred Tyler, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, passed away suddenly on February 14th from an unknown lung ailment. Born in 1950 in the Tularosa Basin, Tyler was very active in his community and church, and was currently serving as a Tularosa Village Trustee. For 35 years Tyler worked for the Army and Air Force Exchange. During that time, he and his family moved 14 times before returning to Tularosa. He soon became a pecan and grape farmer.
In 2004, Tyler co-founded the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium with Tina Cordova. They both were raised in Tularosa and had heard the stories about the searing light that rose into the sky the morning of July 16, 1945. The community had been told that it was a military ammunition cache that had exploded, but it was actually the first plutonium atomic weapon explosion at the Trinity Test Site some 35 miles northwest of Tularosa. Over 13 pounds of plutonium did not fission and remains unaccounted for.
Tyler, the eldest son of Rufina Utter Tyler, had often heard the first hand stories of the blast from his mother who suffered multiple bouts of different forms of cancer. Tyler had often wondered how the blast played in the cancer that ultimately took his mother.
Cordova researched the regional autoimmune disease and cancer statistics and found that, in 1999, the national average was 202.7 per 100,000 people. In their Otero County, Cordova found it was 694.6. In neighboring Lincoln County, the rate was 764.5 per 100,000 people. The numbers have remained consistent throughout the years.
Cordova and Tyler founded the Consortium to gather data from family histories and individuals who may have been damaged by exposure to the Trinity radiation. Reinforced with the data, they went to the congressional offices to ask for financial compensation and medical benefits for the New Mexico downwinders under the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).
Senator Tom Udall has led the effort to include the Trinity downwinders in the proposed amendments to RECA, which is co-sponsored by Senator Martin Heinrich. http://www.tomudall.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1272 Representative Ben Ray Lujan introduced a companion bill in the House, which is co-sponsored by Representatives Michelle Lujan Grisham and Steve Pearce. http://lujan.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=3§iontree=&searchkey=radiation+exposure+compensation+act
In February, the New Mexico Legislature passed a House Memorial 36 in the support of the RECA amendments. http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?Chamber=H&LegType=M&LegNo=36&year=14 Representative Brian Egolf introduced the Memorial.It was put on the Consent Order and passed unanimously on the House floor.Senate Memorial 35, sponsored by Senator Howie Morales, did not get heard on the floor of the Senator.The Senator was prepared to say on the floor, ““Senate Memorial 35 is dedicate to the life and work of Fred Tyler, co-founder of Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, who died during this session.”Senator Morales, who is running for governor, is committed to advancing RECA however he is able.Holly Beaumont, with Interfaith Worker Justice, led the effort to shepherd the memorial through the 30-day session.
Tina Cordova, said, “It is our honor to dedicate this Memorial to the memory of Fred Tyler who worked tirelessly to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include the people of New Mexico who have been damaged by exposure to radiation from the Trinity blast.The work of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium will go on but we will forever miss Fred and what he brought to our efforts.”
This has been the CCNS News Update. To learn more, please visit our website at nuclearactive.org and like us on Facebook.
For more information about the work of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, please open the link vimeo.com/85980906to see a short video, “Forgotten:Trinity’s Downwinders.”Produced by journalists Dennis Carroll and Natalie Guillen, the sizzle reel features Fred Tyler and other Trinity Downwinders.It was made to elicit support and contributions toward production of a full-length documentary that will tell the story of the decades-long suffering of those who lived near and downwind from the 1945 Trinity atomic test.
Sizzle Reel for “Forgotten: Trinity’s Downwinders” http://vimeo.com/85980906About this video
“Dismissed and abandoned for nearly 70 years, New Mexico residents who lived near the site of the first detonation of a nuclear bomb suffered in silence – until now. To contribute and be a part of this historic project, please visit the film’s Web site at childrenofthebomb.blogspot.com.”
The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium has been working for years to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to include the people of New Mexico, as they were the first Downwinders. Please share the film’s Web page link, childrenofthebomb.blogspot.com (no www) with everyone you know. We need to bring attention to this issue.
Tax-deductible gifts, made in Fred Tyler’s memory, can be made to CAPPED Support Services, 907 New York Avenue, Alamogordo, NM 88310, and phone number (575) 434-4673. CAPPED Support Services is a non-profit cancer support center in Alamogordo that is accepting contributions for the Carroll and Guillen video “Forgotten: Trinity’s Downwinders.” Please indicate in the memo line of your check that your contribution is for the documentary.You can also make a contribution on the documentary’s Web page, childrenofthebomb.blogspot.com, or at www.capped.org. Please designate Trinity Film Project in the purpose field.
The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium is extremely grateful for your support.
(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:
· Plutonium Leaks from WIPP While Plans to Expand the Site’s Capacity Proposed
Shortly after the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) announced on Friday, February 14th that a draft hazardous waste permit was available for 60 days of public review and comment, a release of radiation was detected in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) underground. http://www.wipp.energy.gov/index.htm The detection triggered the HEPA filtration system which is designed to capture much of the contamination before the air is released into the environment. On Wednesday, February 19th, the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center announced that plutonium and americium were found in an air monitoring station more than a half mile northwest of the WIPP exhaust shaft where filtered air is released. Those radionuclides traveled more than a mile and a half from the presumed location of the underground release. http://www.cemrc.org/
A press conference was held in Carlsbad on Thursday, February 20th in which the Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn and the WIPP Manager Jose Franco both said that the release was “very serious.” Franco explained that the underground leak was the first of its kind since WIPP opened almost 15 years ago for the disposal of plutonium-contaminated waste generated by the nuclear weapons complex. He added that an investigation team will begin work soon.
Flynn explained the state’s view of the leak by saying, “Events like this should never occur. From the state’s perspective, one event is far too many. Our primary concern continues to be public safety.”
Flynn traveled to Carlsbad after he was notified that radiation had been detected above ground. He said, “We are wondering why it took a couple of days to confirm the radiological event outside of the underground. We will demand that federal officials share information with the public in real time. That’s the reason we are here.”
At the same time the New Mexico Environment Department draft hazardous waste permit supports WIPP’s proposal to increase the underground disposal capacity by 25 percent to allow much more waste for disposal; to reduce safety protections for workers and the public by eliminating robust barriers that would lessen the amount of toxic chemicals and radioactivity that could be released to the environment; and to reduce the air monitoring program for volatile organic compounds or VOCs. http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/wipp/index.html under “News”
Don Hancock, director of the Nuclear Waste Safety Program at the Southwest Research and Information Center, in Albuquerque, said, “Given the declining safety culture evidenced by the recent fire and radiation leak, this is no time to allow expansion of the capacity or the mission of WIPP. Federal, Environment Department and public resources are best used now in understanding why the accidents happened, how to safely clean up the contamination, and how to prevent future accidents and leaks.” Seehttp://sric.org/nuclear/docs/WIPP_Leak_02262014.pdf
This has been the CCNS News Update. To learn more, please visit our website at nuclearactive.org and like us on Facebook.
Recent articles about the WIPP fire and plutonium release:
ENE News has compiled a number of articles and comments – http://enenews.com/officials-theres-indications-of-a-nuclear-release-from-containers-at-new-mexico-waste-site-we-never-ever-thought-this-kind-of-an-event-would-occur-the-absolute-seriousness-of-this-is
Saturday, February 22, 2014 Carlsbad Current-Argus: Town hall meeting to discuss WIPP radiation leak – http://www.currentargus.com/carlsbad-news/ci_25206355/town-hall-meeting-discuss-wipp-radiation-leak?source=email
WIPP Information at the Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping (CARD) website, researched and written by Deborah Reade – http://www.cardnm.org/
February 21, 2011, Analysis: WIPP is no safe haven for nuclear materials – http://enviroleaks.org/2011/01/21/analysis-wipp-is-no-safe-haven-for-nuclear-materials/