A review of the Department of Energy (DOE) National Environmental Policy Act website shows that it is behind schedule in providing the public with up-to-date site-wide environmental impact statements, or SWEISs, for the four main sites involved in DOE’s proposed surplus plutonium plans.  Generally, a SWEIS is done every ten years.  But that is not the case for the sites where DOE plans to process and dispose of more than 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium.  As a result, the public has not been afforded a timely opportunity to weigh in on the latest environmental changes at the sites.  It is premature for DOE to ask for public comments on its surplus plutonium plans based on obsolete NEPA documentation – some decades out-of-date.  Comments are currently due on Thursday, March 16^th, 2023 to SPDP-EIS@NNSA.DOE.gov.

The four main sites are the Pantex Plant located in the Texas panhandle, the Savannah River Site located in South Carolina, and two sites in New Mexico:  Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).

DOE’s plan is to ship plutonium “pits,” or the triggers, for nuclear weapons from Pantex to LANL to be pulverized.  From LANL, the powdered plutonium would be shipped to the Savannah River Site for more processing for disposal at WIPP.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies, such as DOE, to assess the environmental effects of proposed major federal actions prior to decision-making.  In the case of the four sites, DOE has not analyzed the environmental effects in a timely manner.  The draft EIS for the surplus plutonium disposition project plans are unsupported with up-to-date information, data and analysis as required by NEPA.

The burden falls on the public to oppose DOE’s plans.

For example, the Pantex EIS was completed in 1996 – 27 years ago.  No WIPP EIS has been done since 1990 – 33 years ago.  It is unclear whether a Savannah River Site SWEIS has ever been done.  At LANL, a new SWEIS process should have been completed in 2018.  To view the NEPA history for these sites, go to: https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doe-environmental-impact-statements and enter the site’s name in the Search box.

NEPA also prohibits the “irreversible and irretrievable” commitment of resources that would be involved in a proposed action before the environmental review process is complete.  In the last three fiscal years, the total LANL budget increased from roughly $3.9 billion to $4.9 billion – a one billion dollar increase – all without the proper NEPA analysis of the impacts and effects of “investing” those funds at LANL.  https://nukewatch.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/LANL-FY23-Lab-Table-Chart-scaled.jpg

CCNS urges you to include a statement in your comments that DOE must withdraw the draft Surplus Plutonium Environmental Impact Statement for public comment until it brings its SWEIS analyses current for the four main sites.  Comments are currently due on Thursday, March 16^th, 2023 to SPDP-EIS@NNSA.DOE.gov.

For more information about DOE’s proposed plans, check out Tom Clements’ January 23, 2023 analysis in Plutonium Pondering:  How much SRS plutonium has gone to WIPP?  How much plutonium does DOE plan to ship to WIPP?  66 Metric Tons?!  https://srswatch.org/plutonium-pondering-how-much-srs-plutonium-has-gone-to-wipp-how-much-plutonium-does-doe-plan-to-ship-to-wipp-66-metric-tons/

Clements states:

In my opinion, of the entire processing, transportation and disposal cycle, the greatest risks to workers and the public occur during plutonium processing related to plutonium oxide preparation [at LANL] and the mixing and packaging of the downblended material into the disposal containers [at SRS].

1. Friday, March 10^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. If you missed the Sunday, March 5^th Unite! March in Love for Life! for Nuclear Disarmament, organized by the Donald & Sally-Alice Thompson Chapter and Joan Duffy Chapter of the Veterans for Peace.  KKOB-TV Channel 4 covered the March.  https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/albuquerque-activists-gather-to-protest-nuclear-weapons/  

3. Thursday, March 16^th – Comments due to DOE/NNSA about the draft Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program. For more information, please visit http://nuclearactive.org/

4. Saturday March 18^th at 2 pm at San Mateo & Gibson outside Kirtland Air Force Base – Peace in Ukraine – On the 20^th Anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq, Say No to Endless U.S. Wars. Organized by ANSWER ALBUQUERQUE.  For more information, https://www.answercoalition.org/albuquerque or call 505 392-8460.

5. Thursday, March 23^rd at 5:30 pm – WIPP Community Forum & Open House at the Hobbs Country Club, 5001 W. Carlsbad Hwy. The Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) and the new contractor at WIPP, the Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO), are hosting an in person and virtual meeting to provide a short update with an extended Q&A period.  For more information at infocnter@wipp.ws or call 1-800-366-9477.

6. April 1^st to 7^th – Join the Sacred Peace Walk, an interfaith journey of approximately 60 miles from Las Vegas to the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) (formerly the Nevada Test Site), through the Great Basin Desert in Nevada, on the beautiful traditional lands of the Indigenous Western Shoshone and Paiute Peoples, bringing the message of non-violence to the test site and Creech AFB (the center of drone warfare and assassination for the US military and the CIA). For more information, contact the Nevada Desert Experience at kingsbayplowshares@gmail.com and http://nevadadesertexperience.org/

7. April 15^th to 22^nd – Shut Down Drone Warfare – Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico – “From Tax Day to Earth Day, Rise Up!” Co-sponsored by CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and Ban Killer Drones.  Join for a week of peaceful resistance against drone warfare and out-of-control U.S. empire.  Why Holloman?  It is the largest-drone training base in the U.S. – training 600 or more drone pilots and operators annually.  For more information:  http://www.shutdowndronewarfare.org/

What would you do with more than 30 metric tons of “surplus” plutonium in the form of triggers for nuclear weapons?  The Department of Energy (DOE) has been working to find a solution for at least 30 years.  Over that time, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) were not included in the plans and were not analyzed in the environmental impact statements required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  Now both DOE sites in New Mexico, LANL and WIPP, are analyzed in the recently released statement.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

Please get involved!  Public comments are now due to DOE by Thursday, March 16^th to SPDP-EIS@NNSA.DOE.gov

In the latest draft environmental impact statement, DOE plans to ship the triggers from its Pantex Plant, north of Amarillo, to LANL in Northern New Mexico on I-40.  At Clines Corners, the trucks would proceed north on U.S. 285 to I-40 to the 599 by-pass around Santa Fe and back onto 285 to LANL.  At LANL, the triggers would be pulverized into powder at the over-subscribed Plutonium Facility.  From LANL, the powdered plutonium would be shipped to South Carolina for processing at the DOE’s Savannah River Plant.  The final leg of the 3,300-mile trip ends in southeast New Mexico at WIPP.  Nevertheless, the draft statement does not provide an estimate of the number of years, nor the number of shipments that are planned.

Let’s remember that LANL is located in a recognized seismic zone, above the regional drinking water aquifer and the Rio Grande and in a wildfire zone.  WIPP is located in the productive gas and oil region of the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico.

Since at least 1994, DOE has spent billions to prevent access to the surplus plutonium.  One proven method is to immobilize the triggers.  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) describes immobilization as, “Immobilization encapsulates the plutonium in glass or ceramic materials prior to disposal.”  GAO Report to the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate – Surplus Plutonium Disposition:  NNSA’s Long-Term Plutonium Oxide Production Plans are Uncertain, GAO-20-166, October 2019.  https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-166.pdf

Immobilization would eliminate the need to pulverize the triggers into powdered plutonium, the most deadly form of plutonium.  But in 2002, DOE canceled the immobilization program “due to budgetary constraints,” even though thousands of public comments supported immobilization.

Here are some suggested topics to cover in your comments:

The DOE’s plans would change the form of plutonium to powder.  If inhaled, powdered plutonium causes cancer one hundred percent of the time.

As reported by Sandia National Laboratories, powdered plutonium, if released over land, is almost impossible to clean up.  Transporting powdered plutonium risks ranch and farmlands, businesses, schools, homes and communities.

We do not consent to DOE’s irresponsible plans.

For more information, see previous CCNS News Updates:  http://nuclearactive.org/news/081512.html (Aug. 15, 2012); http://nuclearactive.org/will-does-surplus-plutonium-end-up-in-new-mexico/ (Jan. 11, 2019); http://nuclearactive.org/doe-plans-to-move-tons-of-surplus-plutonium-to-wipp-and-lanl-postpones-tritium-venting/ (Dec. 17, 2020);  http://nuclearactive.org/does-dramatic-plan-to-move-tons-of-surplus-plutonium-for-processing-at-lanl-and-disposal-at-wipp/ (Jan. 12, 2023); http://nuclearactive.org/its-time-to-speak-out-at-does-surplus-plutonium-hearings-in-carlsbad-and-los-alamos/ (Jan. 20, 2023); and http://nuclearactive.org/stop-surplus-plutonium-waste-from-coming-to-wipp/ (Jan. 29, 2021).

1. Friday, March 3^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. Sunday, March 5^th from 1 to 5 pm – Unite! March in Love for Life! for Nuclear Disarmament, organized by the Donald & Sally-Alice Thompson Chapter and Joan Duffy Chapter of the Veterans for Peace.  March from Morningside Park to Sandia Weapons Lab/Kirtland AFB Gate.  Walk or drive for 2.9 miles.

Meet at 1 pm on at the Morningside Park, at 219 Morningside Drive, SE, Albuquerque, NM.  Here’s the schedule:

12:45 at Morningside Park the Raging Grannies start a sing-along
1:00 PM Start speakers interspersed with a sing-along or two for 45 minutes
– Elizabeth Smith opening remarks – 1 or 2 min
– Raging Grannies song
– Bill Tiwald 1 or 2 min -detailing activities/announcements
– Party for Socialism and Liberation  4-5 min-
– Sally-Alice Thompson – Announcement 2-4 min
– Paul Pino of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium 4-5 min plus a song by Paul
– Demand Nuclear Abolition – 4-5 min
– Affordable Student Housing UNM –  Lizbeth Olivarez 4-5 min
– International Depleted Uranium Study Team – 4-5 min
– Green Party of Metropolitan Albuquerque – Em Ward 4-5 min
– Bill Tiwald – 2 min concerning our weapons/their weapons and what they will do to the earth & its inhabitants
– Raging Grannie song to start the march

Before 2 PM we proceed to march this route
⁃ Proceeding from the southeast corner of Morningside Park across Morningside Drive and Lead Avenue to the south side of Lead Avenue.
⁃ Proceed east on the south side of her Lead Avenue miles meeting Coal/Zuni .3 miles
⁃ Cross Coal/Zuni at Washington Street with a Circle K with a restroom available.
⁃ Proceed east on the south side of Zuni (wide bike lane) to the 7-Eleven (no restroom)  1.1 miles
⁃ Proceed on the south side of Zuni to Allsup’s restroom available 1.8 miles
⁃ Cross to the east side of Louisiana Blvd to 1.9 miles
⁃ Proceed on the east side of Louisiana past the NM Veterans Memorial at 2.8 miles.
– 4:30 to 5:00 PM finish the march at the Louisiana Gate of the Air Force Base/Sandia Weapons Lab.
– At the gate  – closing by Charles Powell and a Raging Grannies song.

Shuttle with vehicles back to Morningside Park and go home.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Smith at 8eli.love.8@gmail.com and Bill Tiwald at tiwaldbill@gmail.com    

3. March 9 and 10, 2023 – ICAN and ICAN Norway are hosting the ICAN Act on It Forum in Oslo, Norway. You are invited to join campaigners, youth, politicians, academics and others interested in nuclear disarmament to amplify voices demanding the end of unlawful and inhumane nuclear weapons.  March 2023 is the 10^th anniversary of the first conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, hosted by Norway.  https://www.icannorway.no/

4. April 1^st to 7^th – Join the Sacred Peace Walk, an interfaith journey of approximately 60 miles from Las Vegas to the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) (formerly the Nevada Test Site), through the Great Basin Desert in Nevada, on the beautiful traditional lands of the Indigenous Western Shoshone and Paiute Peoples, bringing the message of non-violence to the test site and Creech AFB (the center of drone warfare and assassination for the US military and the CIA). For more information, contact the Nevada Desert Experience at kingsbayplowshares@gmail.com and http://nevadadesertexperience.org/

5. April 15^th to 22^nd – Shut Down Drone Warfare – Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico – “From Tax Day to Earth Day, Rise Up!” Co-sponsored by CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and Ban Killer Drones.  Join for a week of peaceful resistance against drone warfare and out-of-control U.S. empire.  Why Holloman?  It is the largest-drone training base in the U.S. – training 600 or more drone pilots and operators annually.  For more information:  http://www.shutdowndronewarfare.org/

CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) filed a Verified Petition for An Original Writ of Mandamus with the New Mexico Supreme Court about the improper regulation by the Water Quality Control Commission of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory.  CCNS and HOPE have argued for more than a decade that the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility is legally required to be regulated by the federal and state hazardous waste laws.

LANL has admitted that the Facility handles, treats and stores hazardous waste, which means that it is subject to regulation under the hazardous waste laws, but neither LANL nor the Water Quality Control Commission will concede that the Facility must be regulated by the hazardous waste laws.  The hazardous waste laws are more protective of human health and the environment, including the requirement of a seismic analysis.

CCNS and HOPE have opposed the issuance of a groundwater discharge permit, DP-1132, under the Water Quality Act for the Facility.  The petition for a writ of mandamus asks the New Mexico Supreme Court to order the Commission to perform its statutory duty and reverse the permit.

LANL has flatly opposed lawful regulation under the state Hazardous Waste Act.  LANL even secretly hired two New Mexico Environment Department hearing officers during state proceedings about the unfounded groundwater discharge permit.

But under the law any facility managing hazardous waste must have a Hazardous Waste Act permit.  Further, the Water Quality Act contains a specific provision that it “does not apply to any activity or condition subject to the …. Hazardous Waste Act.”  § 74-6-12.B NMSA 1978.

In reality, CCNS and HOPE argue, “Protection of New Mexico citizens and communities is undermined by applying the [Water Quality Act] to the [Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility] instead of the [Hazardous Waste Act], which the law requires.  The [Water Quality Act] authorizes regulation of a discharge towards ground water but cannot regulate a hazardous and radioactive waste treatment facility.”  Petition, ¶ 13.

CCNS and HOPE appealed DP-1132 to the Water Quality Control Commission in June.  In the following eight months, the Commission has stayed the proceedings; denied any consideration of the prohibition in the Water Quality Act, and ignored the legal rights of CCNS and HOPE.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/ , scroll down to Water Quality Control Commission to WQCC 22-21 CCNS and HOPE Petition for Review of NMED Ground Water Discharge Permit DP-1132. 

The mandamus petition asks the Supreme Court either to reverse DP-1132 because the New Mexico Water Quality Act does not apply; or, alternatively, to vacate the Commission’s stay of all proceedings and to vacate all orders issued by the hearing officer who was hired by LANL.  Petition, ¶ 12.

Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Jr., represents CCNS and HOPE.  http://lindsaylovejoy.com/

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1. Friday, February 24^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. Tuesday, February 28^th at 8 am MT; 10 am ET – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will livestream its hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment: How Congress Can Recognize Ratification and Enshrine Equality in Our Constitution.  To view the livestream:  https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/the-equal-rights-amendment-how-congress-can-recognize-ratification-and-enshrine-equality-in-our-constitution   For more information:  https://www.eracoalition.org/

3. Sunday, March 5^th from 1 to 5 pm – March in Love for Life for Nuclear Disarmament, organized by the Donald & Sally-Alice Thompson Chapter and Joan Duffy Chapter of the Veterans for Peace.

Meet at 1 pm on at the Morningside Park, at 299 Morningside Drive, SE, Albuquerque, NM.  The Raging Grannies will sing between speeches by representatives of the march sponsors.  The march will start on Lead Avenue, east on Zuni to Louisiana Blvd (on the south side of Zuni), south on Louisiana to gate of Sandia/KAFB.  March finishes at the gate by 4 to 4:30 pm.  Sag (support and gear) vehicles for those who would march part of the route or none of the route.  Porta-potty available along the route.  For more information, contact Elizabeth Smith at 8eli.love.8@gmail.com and Bill Tiwald at tiwaldbill@gmail.com    

4. March 9 and 10, 2023 – ICAN and ICAN Norway are hosting the ICAN Act on It Forum in Oslo, Norway. You are invited to join campaigners, youth, politicians, academics and others interested in nuclear disarmament to amplify voices demanding the end of unlawful and inhumane nuclear weapons.  March 2023 is the 10^th anniversary of the first conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, hosted by Norway.  https://www.icannorway.no/

5. April 1^st to 7^th – Join the Sacred Peace Walk, an interfaith journey of approximately 60 miles from Las Vegas to the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) (formerly the Nevada Test Site), through the Great Basin Desert in Nevada, on the beautiful traditional lands of the Indigenous Western Shoshone and Paiute Peoples, bringing the message of non-violence to the test site and Creech AFB (the center of drone warfare and assassination for the US military and the CIA). For more information, contact the Nevada Desert Experience at kingsbayplowshares@gmail.com and http://nevadadesertexperience.org/

6. April 15^th to 22^nd – Shut Down Drone Warfare – Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico – “From Tax Day to Earth Day, Rise Up!” Co-sponsored by CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and Ban Killer Drones.  Join for a week of peaceful resistance against drone warfare and out-of-control U.S. empire.  Why Holloman?  It is the largest-drone training base in the U.S. – training 600 or more drone pilots and operators annually.  For more information:  http://www.shutdowndronewarfare.org/

On February 14^th, 2014, one or more drums of radioactive and hazardous waste exploded in the deep underground disposal site of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). To raise public awareness of the Valentine’s Day anniversary and the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) expansion plans, individuals and non-government organizations joined together for a press conference at the New Mexico State Capitol.  Afterwards, they delivered red roses to the Governor’s Office to remind her that she has the tools to protect the People from dangerous radioactive waste.  To view the event, visit Frost Fowler’s film at https://vimeo.com/frostfowlerfilms/download/798958494/0885ef27a7

Cindy Weehler, with the 285 Alliance, spoke eloquently at the press conference.  Her full statement is below.  Weehler said:

“Today is the anniversary of the most infamous Valentine’s Day in New Mexico’s history.   It happened on February 14, 2014, at the WIPP nuclear weapons’ waste repository.  A drum holding hazardous chemicals and radioactive waste exploded inside WIPP, spewing radiation throughout the underground, reaching the surface, closing WIPP for years, and costing billions to reopen.  It could have happened on the route as the truck passed local neighborhoods, schools, and businesses.  For New Mexicans, Valentine’s Day isn’t just a holiday, it’s a reminder that transporting and handling nuclear waste is a risk.

“People who live in the many neighborhoods along the WIPP route are here today. Each person holds a Valentine rose labeled with the name of their neighborhood or one nearby and all are on the route.

“The risk that concerns the neighborhoods along the transport route is an accidental release of powdered plutonium, because

1) inhaled powdered plutonium causes cancer 100% of the time, and

2) powdered plutonium is almost impossible to clean up if released over buildings and land, according to Sandia Labs.  Site Restoration: Estimation of Attributable Costs From Plutonium-Dispersal Accidents, Sandia National Laboratories, 1996, SAND96-0957; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/249283

“Estimating risk for complex projects is incredibly difficult and has never been done with complete accuracy.  As it began the space shuttle program, NASA predicted the chance of a shuttle explosion as 1 in 100,000.  NASA’s assumption was made with the overconfidence that good engineering would make the shuttle program very safe. Then the Columbia and Challenger shuttles exploded, showing the risk was actually 1 in 66.  Jones, H. (2018).  NASA’s Understanding of Risk in Apollo and Shuttle.  NASA Ames Research Center. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190002249/downloads/20190002249.pdf

“DOE [and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)] demonstrate the same misplaced overconfidence with their plan to expand WIPP’s mission.  Worse, this isn’t astronauts taking on a risk that they chose. It is civilians who have no idea that they are test subjects being put at risk.  So, our first Valentine message is to the public: you’re at risk and you deserve to know it. The federal government has no plans to tell you. We’ve asked them to do so for three years.

“The original WIPP mission was risky, as the explosion, which happened after only 15 years, demonstrates.  But it felt manageable because it had limits.  The new expanded WIPP mission is much riskier because it no longer has most of those limits.  It increases how long WIPP will operate, the amount of waste, number of shipments, distance of transport, and danger of the waste.  It’s only a matter of time before human error derails a project so vast and complex.

“We want the public and the Governor to see the faces – OUR faces – of the people whom DOE has chosen to put at risk.  They’re YOUR faces, too.  We won’t know exactly when or where an accident will occur; only that, like the space shuttles and the WIPP explosion, it will and that it will be catastrophic for that particular neighborhood.

 “The legal and social limits are still in place that the DOE made with New Mexico and the state has the option to stop this federal overreach.

“Our message to the Governor is first, ‘Thank you for supporting our petition last year, when we asked you for help.’  Second, on this day that so perfectly symbolizes risk, is ‘Governor, stand fast and say no to the federal agencies that want to remove limits on WIPP’s mission in the new permit application.’

 “The maps help you find your neighborhood in relation to the radioactive route.  Contact us at 285alliance@gmail.com if you want to understand how the WIPP expansion affects your neighborhood. Our purpose is to present this information to anyone who wants to know more.”

The press conference was hosted by a coalition that includes The 285 Alliance, Tewa Women United https://tewawomenunited.org/, and Stop Forever WIPP https://stopforeverwipp.org/home . 

For more information, please attend The 285 Alliance Community Forum on Sunday, February 19^th between 3 and 5 pm at the El Dorado Community Improvement Association (ECIA) Railroad Building, located at One La Hacienda Loop (near the swimming pool).

Action items include learning how the new DOE mission will affect you; create a comment with your concerns and send it immediately to the correct agency; send the Governor a short video message; and do it with other concerned citizens.  Bring your smartphone or iPad.  WIPP Community Forum 2_19_23(3)

1. Friday, February 17^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. Sunday, February 19^th between 3 and 5 pm – The 285 Alliance Community Forum at the El Dorado Community Improvement Association (ECIA) Railroad Building, One La Hacienda Loop, Santa Fe. For more information, contact 285alliance@gmail.com

3. March 9 and 10, 2023 – ICAN and ICAN Norway are hosting the ICAN Act on It Forum in Oslo, Norway. You are invited to join campaigners, youth, politicians, academics and others interested in nuclear disarmament to amplify voices demanding the end of unlawful and inhumane nuclear weapons.  March 2023 is the 10^th anniversary of the first conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, hosted by Norway.  https://www.icannorway.no/

4. April 1^st to 7^th – Join the Sacred Peace Walk, an interfaith journey of approximately 60 miles from Las Vegas to the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) (formerly the Nevada Test Site), through the Great Basin Desert in Nevada, on the beautiful traditional lands of the Indigenous Western Shoshone and Paiute Peoples, bringing the message of non-violence to the test site and Creech AFB (the center of drone warfare and assassination for the US military and the CIA). For more information, contact the Nevada Desert Experience at kingsbayplowshares@gmail.com and http://nevadadesertexperience.org/

5. April 15^th to 22^nd – Shut Down Drone Warfare – Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico – “From Tax Day to Earth Day, Rise Up!” Co-sponsored by CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and Ban Killer Drones.  Join for a week of peaceful resistance against drone warfare and out-of-control U.S. empire.  Why Holloman?  It is the largest-drone training base in the U.S. – training 600 or more drone pilots and operators annually.  For more information:  http://www.shutdowndronewarfare.org/

On February 14^th, 2014, one or more drums of radioactive and hazardous waste exploded in the deep underground disposal site of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).  To raise public awareness, non-government organizations are joining together on Tuesday, February 14^th at 1:15 in the Rotunda at the New Mexico State Capitol for a press conference.  Please join us and hold a red rose and a card containing the name of your neighborhood for a short press conference about why WIPP is not safe.

The audience will then deliver the red roses to the Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Office to remind her that she has the tools to protect the People from exposure to dangerous radioactive waste now and in the future by blocking the proposed WIPP expansion.

The organizers from Tewa Women United https://tewawomenunited.org/ , 285 ALL, and Stop Forever WIPP https://stopforeverwipp.org/ , request that you wear black and red.  There is free and easy parking at the Galisteo Parking Garage at 485 Galisteo and Paseo de Peralta. 

Please check out the map at http://nuclearactive.org/ to see if your neighborhood is on the major shipping route from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to WIPP.  https://lanl.gov/ and https://www.wipp.energy.gov/   The Department of Energy (DOE) owns both facilities and plans to concentrate more plutonium work at each.  At LANL, DOE plans to pulverize the triggers, or plutonium pits, for nuclear weapons.  More plutonium waste would be destined for WIPP.  Over several decades, about 100,000 pounds of plutonium would be made into powder.  Public comments are now due to DOE by March 16^th.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program  Stay tuned here for more information and sample public comments you can use.

DOE has been working methodically since the 2014 explosion to double the size of the waste site located 2,150 feet below ground surface, 26 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico.  http://nuclearactive.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WIPP-Timeline_Final.pdf and related posts.

Communities are joining together to raise awareness about DOE’s expansion plans and the 2024 deadline for closing WIPP.  It’s time for the Governor to use the existing agreements that requires waste repositories in other states.

With the expansion plans, there would be more shipments from DOE’s Pantex Plant, north of Amarillo to LANL where the pits would be pulverized and shipped to the DOE’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, where an adulterant would be added to defuse the plutonium.  The last leg of this 3,300-mile journey would end at WIPP.  http://nuclearactive.org/does-dramatic-plan-to-move-tons-of-surplus-plutonium-for-processing-at-lanl-and-disposal-at-wipp/

The 2014 explosion and release could have happened anywhere on the transportation route as it passed through our neighborhoods and communities.

Please join us on February 14^th at 1:15 pm in the Rotunda to ask Governor Lujan-Grisham to protect our communities and future generations by blocking WIPP expansion.  For more information:  285alliance@gmail.com

1. Friday, February 10^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. Thursday, February 9^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm – in person and virtual LANL Environmental Management Cleanup Forum at Cottonwood on the Greens (Los Alamos Golf Course), 4244 Diamond Drive, Los Alamos. Presentations include N3B (cleanup contractor) fiscal year 2023 priorities and the hexavalent chromium treatment systems, which will be followed by a question and answer period about cleanup priorities.  Agenda and connection information:  https://n3b-la.com/emcf_feb_9_2023/

3. March 9 and 10, 2023 – ICAN and ICAN Norway are hosting the ICAN Act on It Forum in Oslo, Norway. You are invited to join campaigners, youth, politicians, academics and others interested in nuclear disarmament to amplify voices demanding the end of unlawful and inhumane nuclear weapons.  March 2023 is the 10^th anniversary of the first conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, hosted by Norway.  https://www.icannorway.no/

4. April 1^st to 7^th – Join the Sacred Peace Walk, an interfaith journey of approximately 60 miles from Las Vegas to the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) (formerly the Nevada Test Site), through the Great Basin Desert in Nevada, on the beautiful traditional lands of the Indigenous Western Shoshone and Paiute Peoples, bringing the message of non-violence to the test site and Creech AFB (the center of drone warfare and assassination for the US military and the CIA). For more information, contact the Nevada Desert Experience at kingsbayplowshares@gmail.com and http://nevadadesertexperience.org/

5. April 15^th to 22^nd – Shut Down Drone Warfare – Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico – “From Tax Day to Earth Day, Rise Up!” Co-sponsored by CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and Ban Killer Drones.  Join for a week of peaceful resistance against drone warfare and out-of-control U.S. empire.  Why Holloman?  It is the largest-drone training base in the U.S. – training 600 or more drone pilots and operators annually.  For more information:  http://www.shutdowndronewarfare.org/

On Wednesday night, the Santa Fe City Council heard from dozens of people, both in person and virtually, about the proposed rezoning of 22 acres of open space on South Meadows to housing. Dave Englert, a retired New Mexico Environment Department geologist, and Joni Arends, CCNS Executive Director, urged the City Council to prioritize cleanup of the Eberline site that borders the 22 acres to the south.  Arends asked the Council to use its emergency powers to install a tent with HEPA filtration over the building now.

Arends provided comments about a January 27^th call with Environment Department officials and community members.  We learned that it may be at least two years before decommissioning and demolition of the building may take place.   This information is concerning because we also learned that the red brick building on Airport Road where radiation detection equipment was manufactured is unstable.

When asked about the ventilation system that was recently removed from the roof because the instability of the building, Environment Department officials said the roof might be leaking.  It is critical for there to be negative pressure in locations where radioactive materials are handled, processed and stored because if there is a release of radioactive materials, the negative pressure is supposed to keep the radiation inside.  This might not be the case at the Eberline facility.

We do not know how much radiological equipment and inventory is currently stored in the building.  Since 2007, Eberline has submitted several notices to decommission the site to the Environment Department, but no plans have been approved. Brief History of Eberline ThermoFisher 20230129

Eberline began manufacturing radiation detection equipment on Airport Road in 1953.  In 1979, the Thermo Electron Corporation, now named ThermoFisher, purchased Eberline.  ThermoFisher is a Fortune 500 corporation that posted revenues of over $11 billion for the last quarter of 2022.  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/thermo-fisher-scientific-tmo-surpasses-121512536.html

The public comment portion of the meeting ended before 10 pm. Councilor Michael Garcia asked the Council to vote to postpone the question period until the next meeting on Wednesday, February 8^th.  At that meeting, the councilors will have the opportunity to ask questions not only of Homewise, the applicant, https://lospradosnm.com/, but also members of the public who made comments.  The public comment period, however, is closed.

In the meantime, please contact your city councilors and ask them to use their emergency powers to protect public health and ensure that a tent with HEPA filtration is installed over the Eberline facility as soon as possible.  https://santafenm.gov/elected-officials

The February 1, 2023 Special Governing Body meeting may be viewed here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cyGK1bQg4Y

1. Friday, February 3^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. Fridays – February 3, 10, 17 and 24 at noon MT – Four-week online World BEYOND War book club with Vincent Intondi about his book, African Americans Against the Bomb. Limited to 18 participants.  For more information and to register:  https://worldbeyondwar.org/events/

3. Monday, February 6^th at noon at 120 S. Federal Plaza, Santa Fe – Rally for Clemency for Leonard Peltier! International Day of Solidarity – Rise up together to demand justice for Indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier!  The government recently admitted that they don’t know who shot the two FBI agents in June 1975 at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.  In response, Peltier said, “Truth has prevailed but justice has not!”  The message to President Biden is:  “We ask you, President Biden, for grace, for simple mercy, due to Peltier’s advanced age and deteriorating health, please grant him FREEDOM NOW!”

4. Thursday, February 9^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm – in person and virtual LANL Environmental Management Cleanup Forum at Cottonwood on the Greens (Los Alamos Golf Course), 4244 Diamond Drive, Los Alamos. Presentations include N3B (cleanup contractor) fiscal year 2023 priorities and the hexavalent chromium treatment systems, which will be followed by a question and answer period about cleanup priorities.  Agenda and connection information:  https://n3b-la.com/emcf_feb_9_2023/

5. March 9 and 10, 2023 – ICAN and ICAN Norway are hosting the ICAN Act on It Forum in Oslo, Norway. You are invited to join campaigners, youth, politicians, academics and others interested in nuclear disarmament to amplify voices demanding the end of unlawful and inhumane nuclear weapons.  March 2023 is the 10^th anniversary of the first conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, hosted by Norway.  https://www.icannorway.no/

Thank you for checking out our website following today’s Santa Fe Reporter article, Still in the Air:  Some Southsiders say the specter of radiation is enough reason to pump the brakes on a proposed housing development,” https://www.sfreporter.com/news/2023/02/01/still-in-the-air/ and letter to the editor in the Santa Fe New Mexican Is it Safe?  https://www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/south-meadows-open-space-is-precious/article_f07956e6-a1a9-11ed-9107-5bd546259ff2.html

As we wrote in last week’s CCNS News Update, there are too many unanswered questions about possible contamination of the Eberline/ThermoFisher industrial site and the surrounding areas.  A thorough investigation of the soil, water and air has not been done to determine what remains of the Eberline radiation detection equipment manufacturing operations that began in 1953. 

The Environmental Protection Agency opened a Superfund cleanup investigation in 2007 when manufacturing ended.  In 2009, EPA reopened the investigation.  We don’t know the status of the investigations. 

Eberline/ThermoFisher has submitted numerous decommissioning plans since that time, which have been rejected by the New Mexico Environment Department Radiation Control Bureau.  Brief History of Eberline ThermoFisher 20230129

What we do know is that without a thorough investigation, moving dirt around, digging sewer lines, and building foundations could result in exposures to workers, neighbors and school children. 

The precautionary principle must be invoked in this situation.  If you are not familiar with the precautionary principle, it “has four central components:

·       taking preventive action in the face of uncertainty;

·       shifting the burden of proof to the proponents of an activity;

·       exploring a wide range of alternatives to possibly harmful actions; and

·       increasing public participation in decision making.”  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240435/   

We offer a recent example of when the precautionary principle was not invoked.

 Let’s look to the northwest to DP Road in Los Alamos.  DP Road runs parallel to the airport on the next mesa to the south.  On the south side of DP Road there was a Manhattan Project dump, called Material Disposal Area B.  It was excavated in the late 2000s with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding.  Because of the uncertainty of the dump’s contents, CCNS urged the Department of Energy to expand the proposed cleanup area.  That was not done.  http://www.nuclearactive.org/news/122906.html ,  http://www.nuclearactive.org/news/010507.html ,   http://nuclearactive.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/HWB-RPD-PN-English-LANL-Nov-12-Meeting-1.pdf

Los Alamos County began construction of affordable housing projects on both sides of DP Road next to the dump.   Sure enough, when contractors were digging a new sewer line, they dug up radioactive and hazardous waste.

Families have been living in the housing.  Investigations are on going.  Each investigation reveals more waste.  https://n3b-la.com/middle-dp-road/  We quote from the N3B webpage:

November 21, 2022

Following additional confirmation soil sampling at the Middle DP Road (MDPR) site, the extent of soil contamination has been determined for four of the five areas where contaminated debris was initially excavated. N3B is determining whether additional remediation is needed at two of those sites. At the fifth site, N3B continues to investigate the extent of contamination from elevated levels of metals. N3B will remediate as necessary in that location. Radiologically contaminated soil has been excavated from all sites.  [Emphasis added.]

N3B continues shipping waste from the MDPR site for off-site disposal and crews are conducting site restoration where investigations and remediation have concluded. Restoration includes the replacement of storm water controls, in addition to seeding to maintain vegetation growth.

What can we learn from the DP Road example?  A thorough investigation is needed about possible contamination of the Eberline site and the 22 acres of open space on South Meadows.  The fact that EPA started two Superfund investigations reveals that many unanswered questions remain.

            Speak up at the City Council meeting this evening at 7 pm either in person or on zoom.  The instructions to connect are described in the meeting agenda.  Agenda_2023020100294215

The Santa Fe City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, February 1^st at 7 pm to consider the proposed rezoning of the 22 acres of open space on South Meadows. City of Santa Fe Notice of Meeting 20230201 CCNS urges to you contact your city councilors and encourage them to vote no on the rezoning proposal.  https://santafenm.gov/elected-officials

There are too many unanswered questions about possible contamination of the open space remaining from decades of operations of the industrial Eberline / ThermoFisher radiation detection manufacturing facility to the south.  https://www.sfreporter.com/news/2020/01/08/less-radioactive/   The proposed rezoning would allow Homewise to build homes and condominiums on the site.  https://lospradosnm.com/

The open space is located near the intersection of Airport Road and South Meadows on the south side of Santa Fe.  The surrounding area has the highest population density, the fewest acres of open space, and the greatest number of children 14 and under.  There are several schools within blocks of the abandoned manufacturing facility and a 200-unit apartment building is going up diagonal to it. 

In 1953, Eberline began manufacturing radiation detectors.  In the early 1990s, the Environmental Protection Agency opened a Superfund investigation of the site.  In 2007, manufacturing ceased.  In that same year, 800 sealed radiation sources containing plutonium or cesium were removed from the site.  In 2009, EPA reopened the Superfund investigation.

We offer a precautionary tale that more environmental investigation is needed now.

Let’s look to the northwest to DP Road in Los Alamos.  DP Road runs parallel to the airport on the next mesa to the south.  On the south side of DP Road there was a Manhattan Project dump, called Material Disposal Area B.  It was excavated in the late 2000s with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding.  Because of the uncertainty of the dump’s contents, CCNS urged the Department of Energy to expand the proposed cleanup area.  That was not done.  http://www.nuclearactive.org/news/122906.html ,  http://www.nuclearactive.org/news/010507.html ,   http://nuclearactive.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/HWB-RPD-PN-English-LANL-Nov-12-Meeting-1.pdf

Los Alamos County began construction of affordable housing projects on both sides of DP Road near the dump.   Sure enough, when contractors were digging a new sewer line, they dug up radioactive and hazardous waste.

Families have been living in the housing.  Investigations are on going.  Each investigation reveals more waste.  https://n3b-la.com/middle-dp-road/

What can we learn from the DP Road example?  A thorough investigation is needed about possible contamination of the 22-acres in Santa Fe.  The fact that EPA started two Superfund investigations reveals that unanswered questions remain.

Please contact your Santa Fe city councilors and urge them to vote no on the rezoning.  https://santafenm.gov/elected-officials

1. Friday, January 27^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. Monday, January 30^th, 2023 from 5 to 8 pm Mountain – Online (ZoomGov) public hearing about the DOE/NNSA Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program. Each speaker will have three minutes to make comments.  The meeting URL will be posted on the NNSA’s NEPA Reading Room – https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room

3. Four-week online World BEYOND War book club with Vincent Intondi about his book, African Americans Against the Bomb, on Fridays, February 3, 10, 17, 24, 2023 at noon MT. Limited to 18 participants.  For more information and to register:  https://worldbeyondwar.org/events/

4. March 9 and 10, 2023 – ICAN and ICAN Norway are hosting the ICAN Act on It Forum in Oslo, Norway. You are invited to join campaigners, youth, politicians, academics and others interested in nuclear disarmament to amplify voices demanding the end of unlawful and inhumane nuclear weapons.  March 2023 is the 10^th anniversary of the first conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, hosted by Norway.  https://www.icannorway.no/

5. If you missed Myrriah Gómez in Conversation with Alicia Inez Guzman about her new book, Nuclear Nuevo México: Colonialism and the Effects of the Nuclear Industrial Complex on Nuevomexicanos, at Collected Works on January 13, 2023, you can watch it at:  https://www.facebook.com/collectedworksbookstore

6. “Risky Returns,” is a new PAX and ICAN report that answers the question: Will producing nuclear weapons be a safe investment opportunity in the long-term?  The companies still building nuclear weapons and their investors are getting called out.  https://www.icanw.org/fewer_long_term_investments_in_nuclear_weapons_producers_dont_bank_on_the_bomb?utm_campaign=2022_dbotb_launch&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ican   The report provides an overview of investments in 2022 of 24 companies heavily involved in the production of nuclear weapons for the arsenals of China, France, India, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the USA. #nuclearban #divestment #DontBankontheBomb #bizHumanRights

“Buckle up.  This is going to be a contentious discussion.”  

On Tuesday, January 24^th and Thursday, January 26^th, the Department of Energy will hold in-person public hearings in Carlsbad and Los Alamos, respectively, about their plans to handle, treat and dispose of surplus plutonium in New Mexico.  On Monday, January 30^th DOE will also hold a virtual public hearing about these plans to ship 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium in the form of plutonium pits, or the triggers, and non-pit plutonium for nuclear weapons to process at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and dispose at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).

This is DOE’s sixth attempt to address how to handle surplus plutonium so that it could no longer be used in nuclear weapons.  DOE’s plan is found in the draft Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program environmental impact statement (EIS), which is open for public comment until February 14^th.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program

Previous DOE attempts did not include LANL and WIPP.  That has changed.  LANL and WIPP are now DOE’s targets.

Since 1994, DOE has spent billions of dollars and held dozens of public meetings and hearings about how to prevent access to surplus plutonium.  Immobilization is one method.  But in 2002, DOE canceled the immobilization program “due to budgetary constraints,” even though thousands of public comments supported immobilization of all the plutonium.

You can tell DOE three things at the hearings.

First, no additional plutonium should be brought to LANL.

Second, WIPP has a limited mission and does not have the capacity for all the surplus plutonium.

Lastly, DOE must immobilize and safely store the plutonium until technically sound, suitable disposition facilities are available.

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.  The direct link to the Online Zoom meeting is available here:   https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0549-surplus-plutonium-disposition-program  Scroll down to below the hearing location, date, time and details box.

Joni Arends, of CCNS, said, “If approved, DOE’s surplus plutonium plans will forever change New Mexico.  Current DOE plans would keep WIPP open until at least 2080 for the increased plutonium waste generated from expanded plutonium work at LANL.  It’s time to speak out about DOE’s plans.”  http://nuclearactive.org/does-dramatic-plan-to-move-tons-of-surplus-plutonium-for-processing-at-lanl-and-disposal-at-wipp/  , http://nuclearactive.org/stop-surplus-plutonium-waste-from-coming-to-wipp/ , http://nuclearactive.org/will-does-surplus-plutonium-end-up-in-new-mexico/

Even the Santa Fe New Mexican agrees.  On December 25, 2022, the 174-year old newspaper wrote in its “Our View,” entitled “Disposing of plutonium:  So many questions,” “Buckle up.  This is going to be a contentious discussion.” CCNS provides the “Our View” in its entirety below:

Our View – Santa Fe New Mexican

Getting rid of plutonium pits — so many questions

Dec 24, 2022  https://www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/editorials/getting-rid-of-plutonium-pits-so-many-questions/article_4178b6d4-824e-11ed-aaa7-775a96e0dc9f.html

A Department of Energy proposal to dilute and dispose of plutonium waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad is ready for public comment — the draft environmental impact statement, all 412 pages of it, has been released.

The public can weigh in, whether in writing or by showing up for public hearings that will take place early next year.

Buckle up. This is going to be a contentious discussion.

The U.S. wants to be rid of 34 metric tons of plutonium bomb cores, or pits, stored at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo. The pits are Cold War legacies; because WIPP is restricted in the type of waste it can take, before disposing of it, the material must be diluted. Thus, the term, dilute and dispose. The Department of Energy’s decision about the waste was announced two years ago, but with no details.

At one point the Energy Department wanted to turn Cold War plutonium into a mixed oxide fuel for use in commercial nuclear plants. That would have happened at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, but billions in cost overruns and delays hamstrung the effort, and the Trump administration killed the project in 2018.

It chose the dilute-and-disposal plan.

The draft statement fleshes out just what would happen to prepare the pits for disposal — in a facility, we might point out, that currently is seeking a renewal of its hazardous waste permit from the state of New Mexico. WIPP is open, but state Environment Department Secretary James Kenney and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham want more oversight of waste disposal at the plant.

That back and forth is separate from the Energy Department dilute-and-disposal proposal, but the permit discussion provides context for the coming fierce debate.

Here’s what community members already are questioning. The Energy Department plan includes considerable time on highways carrying radioactive material, including trucking the stuff at least twice through New Mexico. That would include trips on congested corridors inside the southern edge of Santa Fe. First, the material would be shipped to LANL, where workers would convert it to oxidized powder. From Los Alamos, the powder would be transported to Savannah River.

There, crews would add an adulterant to make the powder unusable in weapons. The dilution portion taken care of, the material would be taken to WIPP, the underground disposal site.

That’s a lot of time on the highway for radioactive material, especially considering conditions on Interstate 40. It seems an expensive and inefficient way of disposing of plutonium — a 3,300-mile trip, ending with the materials deep beneath the ground at WIPP.

That’s a site, by the way, that only was supposed to store low-level transuranic waste — the contaminated gloves, equipment, clothing, soil and other materials that need to be disposed of safely. The WIPP mission continues to be expanded, another reason the state must increase its oversight. We expect elected officials — whether the governor or members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation — to speak up further about possible plutonium pit disposal, too.

There are questions about whether the pits need to be removed from Pantex at all, or whether work to make them inoperable in weapons could take place where they currently are being held. That would mean improving storage facilities, but eliminate a lot of highway traffic. Barring keeping the pits in place, all waste roads lead to New Mexico, That why residents here have a huge stake in determining what happens to these pits.

Stay alert for notices of meetings and time for public comment. There’s no guarantee informed opposition will change plans by agencies intent on certain action, but speaking up beats staying quiet. Oh, and think about this: before rushing full speed ahead to produce even more plutonium pits, it’s time to at least try to find a way to dispose of the waste we’ve already created.

Maybe, just maybe, not all the waste has to be buried in New Mexico. Or driven across New Mexico highways. It’s a big country.

1. Thank you to everyone who voted for Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe as the 2022 Arms Control Association Person of the Year. The Archbishop is the runner-up!  The Energoatom staff at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) were selected as the 2022 Arms Control Persons of the Year through an online poll that drew more than 3,500 participants from nearly 80 countries.  https://www.armscontrol.org/pressroom/2023-01/zaporizhzhia-staff-2022-acpoy   

2. Friday, January 20^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.

3. Saturday, January 21^st from 2 pm to 3:30 pm – Build Windmills, Not Weapons free event at SOMOS (Society of the Muse of the Southwest), 108 Civic Plaza Drive, Taos, NM. Music, poetry and readings from the great Pacifists.  For more information, call 575-758-0081.

4. Sunday, January 22^nd – The Second Anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. https://www.nuclearbantreaty.org/

5. 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/

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

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