Near the end of World War II, on August 6^th, 1945, the United States dropped a uranium atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.  Three days later, the United States dropped a plutonium atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.  To acknowledge the harm done in the development, testing and use of the atomic bombs by the United States, two events are taking place on Saturday, August 5^th in Albuquerque and one event on Wednesday, August 9^th in Los Alamos.  For more information or to find similar commemorative events in your area, please see the Physicians for Social Responsibility website at https://psr.org/remembering-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-2023/

In New Mexico, the first event is at 10 am on Saturday, August 5^th when “The Forgotten Bomb” documentary will be shown at The Guild Cinema, located at 3405 Central Avenue, Northeast in Albuquerque.  Created by local filmmakers Bud Ryan and Stuart Overbey, “The Forgotten Bomb” is described as  “a discovery of the true story of nuclear weapons and how the world might learn to live without them.”  In sum, “The Forgotten Bomb explores our preconceptions about nuclear weapons and their history, investigates how they inform our sense of identity and discovers what the Bomber can learn from the Bombed.”  Ryan will be present for a Q and A following the film.  https://www.forgottenbomb.com/    

You are invited to join the Inaugural Albuquerque Peace Festival also on Saturday, August 5^th from 2 to 6 pm at Roosevelt Park for music, food trucks, speakers and informational tables.  This is a rain or shine event at Coal and Spruce Streets Southeast.  https://abqpeacefest.org/

Where is Roosevelt Park? The park is located at 500 Spruce Street SE. The northern border of the park is Coal Avenue. There is No Parking on Coal Ave.

From Santa Fe and parts north, take exit 224A on southbound I-25, continue through the intersections at MLK and Central, past Lead Ave, then turn left on Coal Ave.

From Belén and parts south, take exit 224A on northbound I-25 and turn right on Coal.

Please park on the east side of the park on Sycamore Street or Hazeldine at the end of Spruce.

The Albuquerque Peace Festival is an effort by diverse organizations to bring attention to the danger of nuclear weapons, the horror of nuclear war, and promote efforts toward longstanding peace locally, nationally, and globally. Program – Schedule of Events – APF2023

At 5:15 pm, a ceremonial bell will be rung in coordination with the August 6^th events in Hiroshima, Japan at 8:15 am – the time of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima. Following the bell ringing, Carla DeSola, the founder of the Omega West Dance Company, will lead a circle peace dance for everyone to participate in.  https://www.spiritmovesomega.com/carla-de-sola.html    

For more information and to make a donation to the effort, please visit https://abqpeacefest.org/

At 1 pm on Wednesday, August 9^th, a commemorative gathering recognizing the harm of the bombing of Nagasaki will take place on the south side of Ashley Pond in Los Alamos.  Please bring banners, flags and signs.

You are invited to participate in one or more of the events.

1. Friday, August 4^th from noon to 1 pm MT – 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, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Trinity: Legacies of Nuclear Testing – A People’s Perspective Art Exhibit at the Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main Street, Las Cruces, NM.  The exhibit will be up until September 23, 2023.  https://www.lascruces.gov/1528/Branigan-Cultural-Center

3. Wednesday, August 9^th at 1 pm – Please join members of Veterans For Peace, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Nonviolent Santa Fe and others for an informal gathering at Ashley Pond to commemorate the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki on that day 78 years ago. We will engage in silent meditation at the shelter shown on the aerial photo.  Also bring water and protection from sun and/or possible rain. Please encourage friends and family to join you in attending.

4. Saturday, August 26^th at 10 am – 60^th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s original March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom – in Albuquerque, NM.
5. The March will bstart at Faith Temple Church, at 1000 Broadway Southeast.  http://www.faithtemplecogic.org/default.asp?sec_id=180005641  The gathering and line up will begin at 9:30 am.  The march will begin at 10 am with a rally from 10:30 am to noon. For more information, contact Charles Powell, Planning Chair for the Albuquerque March at CRPowell5@gmail.com

Martin Luther King III is making a march in Washington, DC on this date.  He says:  “It’s Not a Commemoration, it’s a Continuation!  We March on!”

A delegation from the Archdioceses of Santa Fe and Seattle is embarking on a transformative Pilgrimage of Peace to the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Akita, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, from July 31 to August 12, 2023.  The delegation comprises Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, and Most Reverend Paul D. Etienne, Archbishop of Seattle, along with representatives from various organizations and archdiocesan offices dedicated to nuclear disarmament and social justice.  Funding for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe delegation is strictly through grants and personal contributions; no funds from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe are being used.

The Pilgrimage of Peace is driven by a compelling vision and mission statement, which is rooted in a world free from nuclear weapons and their inherent threat to lasting peace.  By advocating for universal disarmament and fostering global cooperation, the delegation aims to eliminate nuclear weapons and cultivate an environment where peace can flourish unimpeded.

Most Reverend John C. Wester stated, “During this Pilgrimage of Peace to Japan, I hope to encourage conversation about universal, verifiable nuclear disarmament and to walk together toward a new future of peace, a new promised land of peace, a new culture of peace and nonviolence where we all might learn to live in peace as sisters and brothers on this beautiful planet, our common home.  I hope one day, we will stop building these weapons, disarm our state and our world, and embark on a new future without the fear and terror of the nuclear threat.

The mission of the Pilgrimage of Peace is to establish a strong ecclesial and personal relationship with the bishops of Japan.

Most Reverend Paul D. Etienne stated, “God calls us to build a global community where the whole human family can flourish.  Let us keep educating ourselves, praying for peace, and appealing for verifiable nuclear disarmament, which reflects our Catholic teachings and is the path for the common good.”

He continued, ”Guided by the Holy Spirit and under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of Nagasaki, the delegation embarks on this sacred mission, standing in solidarity with the bishops of Japan to build a lasting legacy of peace for present and future generations.

The delegations will be praying a novena for peace starting August 1 and ending August 9, the day the U.S. dropped a plutonium atomic bomb on Nagasaki.  The novena, the travel schedule and daily digest may be found on the Pilgrimage of Peace website at https://archseattle.org/about-the-archdiocese-of-seattle/archbishop-etienne/pilgrimage-of-peace/

1. Friday, July 28^th from noon to 1 pm MT – 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, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Trinity: Legacies of Nuclear Testing – A People’s Perspective Art Exhibit at the Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main Street, Las Cruces, NM.  The exhibit will be up until September 23, 2023.  https://www.lascruces.gov/1528/Branigan-Cultural-Center

3. Saturday, August 5^th at 10 am, the Guild Cinema will show the documentary “The Forgotten Bomb: A discovery of the true story of nuclear weapons and how the world might learn to live without them,” made by local filmmakers Bud Ryan and Stuart Overbey. In sum, “The Forgotten Bomb explores our preconceptions about nuclear weapons and their history, investigates how they inform our sense of identity and discovers what the Bomber can learn from the Bombed.”  https://www.forgottenbomb.com/  and https://www.guildcinema.com/movies/the-forgotten-bomb

4. Saturday, August 5^th from 2 to 6 pm at Roosevelt Park – Albu(r)querque Peace Festival with music, speakers, informational tables and food trucks. The Albu(r)querque Peace Festival is an effort by multiple organizations to bring attention to the danger of nuclear weapons, the horror of nuclear war, and promote efforts toward longstanding peace locally, nationally, and globally.  For more information:  https://abqpeacefest.org/  230721 Update

5. Wednesday, August 9^th at 1 pm – Please join members of Veterans For Peace, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Nonviolent Santa Fe and others for an informal gathering at Ashley Pond to commemorate the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki on that day 78 years ago. We will engage in silent meditation at the shelter shown on the aerial photo.  Also bring water and protection from sun and/or possible rain. Please encourage friends and family to join you in attending.

Rain or shine, please join diverse organizations and individuals at the Inaugural Albu(r)querque Peace Festival on Saturday, August 5^th from 2 to 6 pm at Roosevelt Park for music, speakers, informational tables and food trucks. The Albu(r)querque Peace Festival is an effort by multiple organizations to bring attention to the danger of nuclear weapons, the horror of nuclear war, and promote efforts toward longstanding peace locally, nationally, and globally.  https://abqpeacefest.org/

At 5:15 pm, a commemoration bell will be rung in coordination with the August 6^th events in Hiroshima, Japan at 8:15 am – the time of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 near the end of World War II.

Co-sponsoring the inaugural event are the following seventeen organizations (as of July 19, 2023):  Donald and Sally-Alice Thompson Chapter of the Veterans for Peace – Albu(r)querque; the Joan Duffy Chapter of Veterans for Peace – Santa Fe; Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety; the Green Party Albu(r)querque Metropolitan Area; Taos Environmental Film Festival; the ANSWER Coalition; Stop the War Machine; Party for Socialism and Liberation – Albu(r)querque; the Raging Grannies; The Paper; Unity Spiritual Center Albu(r)querque; the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition; the New Mexico Peace Choir; Demand Nuclear Abolition; Progressive Democrats of America-Central New Mexico; Nuclear Watch New Mexico; and Communities for Clean Water.

If you would like to participate as a co-sponsor, please contact CCNS at ccns@nuclearactive.org by Friday, July 21^st.  Please include your logo in the email.

Roosevelt Park, 500 Spruce St SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, is southwest of University Boulevard and Coal Avenue, Southeast.

For more information and to make a donation to the effort, please visit https://abqpeacefest.org/

Also, on Saturday, August 5^th at 10 am, the Guild Cinema will show the documentary “The Forgotten Bomb: A discovery of the true story of nuclear weapons and how the world might learn to live without them,” made by local filmmakers Bud Ryan and Stuart Overbey.  In sum, “The Forgotten Bomb explores our preconceptions about nuclear weapons and their history, investigates how they inform our sense of identity and discovers what the Bomber can learn from the Bombed.”  https://www.forgottenbomb.com/  and https://www.guildcinema.com/movies/the-forgotten-bomb

Peter Phillips, with Veterans for Peace Albu(r)querque and an organizer of the Festival, invites you to join in the August 5^th events.  Phillips is a Professor Emeritus of Political Sociology, Sonoma State University.  He said, “New Mexico has a legacy of being the prime location for the advance of nuclear weapons in the world.  New Mexicans must now take the moral leadership role of seeking the total elimination of all nuclear weapons.”

1. Friday, July 21^st from noon to 1 pm MT – 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, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Trinity: Legacies of Nuclear Testing – A People’s Perspective Art Exhibit at the Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main Street, Las Cruces, NM.  The exhibit will be up until September 23, 2023.  https://www.lascruces.gov/1528/Branigan-Cultural-Center

3. Friday, July 21 release of Oppenheimer in the U.S. and U.K. by Universal Pictures. https://www.oppenheimermovie.com/

4. Thursday, July 27, 2023 from 5 to 7 pm – Kirtland AFB Bulk Fuels Facility leak project open house at the groundwater treatment system facility. The GWTS is located on Kirtland Air Force Base, with public access provided for this event through the Ridgecrest Gate (Ridgecrest Dr SE & Louisiana Blvd SE, south of Gibson Blvd.)

If you would like additional information, please contact the 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs office at (505) 846-5991 or by email at 377ABW.PA@us.af.mil.

5. Wednesday, August 9^th at 1 pm – Please join members of Veterans For Peace, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Nonviolent Santa Fe and others for an informal gathering at Ashley Pond to commemorate the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki on that day 78 years ago. We will engage in silent meditation at the shelter shown on the aerial photo.  Also bring water and protection from sun and/or possible rain. Please encourage friends and family to join you in attending.

You are invited to come to a free in-person and live stream public vigil entitled “From Reflection to Action:  An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test” on Sunday, July 16^th from 4 to 6 pm Mountain Time at Santa Maria de la Paz Church at 11 College Avenue in Santa Fe.  The vigil will commemorate the 78^th year since the detonation of the first atomic weapon, called The Gadget, at the Trinity Test Site in south central New Mexico and provide you with tools to work for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. Doors open at 3:15 pm so you may view exhibits and visit with representatives of local organizations, including CCNS.

The organizers have asked you to pre-register to attend in person or on youtube at: form.jotform.com/ASFPMD/July162023Event  To view the event on July 16^th:  youtube.com/watch?v=2EnpL0aDQ1E

Among the scheduled speakers is Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe.  Wester declared, “We can no longer deny or ignore the extremely dangerous predicament of our human family.  We are in a new nuclear arms race even more dangerous than the first, and I believe we need to rejuvenate a sustained, serious conversation about universal, verifiable nuclear disarmament.”

Other areas of New Mexico had already been impacted by nuclear weapons research.  Beginning in the spring of 1943, design research for The Gadget was done at the Y Site, now known as Los Alamos National Laboratory, in Northern New Mexico.  The Tewa name is Sankaweh.

Research was needed to determine the amount of time for the spherical shell of the atomic bomb to collapse, or implode, on itself.  The Y-Site scientists conducted 32 open-air explosive tests in Bayo Canyon at Sankaweh before the Trinity test.  They used high-level radioactive lanthanum, or RaLa, as a substitute for plutonium, which was still being developed.  Along with RaLa, depleted uranium and conventional high explosives were used.  Some of the spherical shells were the size of a matchhead, but contained hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of curies of radioactivity.

Each test used hundreds of pounds of high explosives that dispersed the radioactivity upwind and downwind to the Rio Grande and northeast to Pueblo de San Ildefonso, Santa Clara Pueblo and beyond.

The RaLa tests and Trinity test are documented in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Los Alamos Historic Document Retrieval and Assessment Project 2010 Final Report.  https://wwwn.cdc.gov/LAHDRA/Content/pubs/Final%20LAHDRA%20Report%202010.pdf

Information about the 254 Radioactive Lanthanum (RaLa) experiments is found throughout the Final LAHDRA Report.  For an overview, check out Chapter 16:  Partial Chronology of Accidents, Incidents and Events at LANL (pp. 427-461 of the pdf), which provides information about each of them.

Chapter 10 is devoted to the Trinity Test (pp. 237-291 of the pdf).  Check out the Conclusions Regarding Public Exposures from the Trinity Test (p. 286 of the pdf).

Joni Arends, of CCNS, said, “The nuclear weapons industry has severely impacted the People, lands and economy of New Mexico.  It is beyond time to eliminate nuclear weapons.  To learn what you can do, come to the July 16^th vigil.”

1. Friday, July 14th from noon to 1 pm MT – 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, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Saturday, July 15^th from 7 am to 9 am MT free virtual meeting of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space – Latest development on war via space. https://space4peace.org/  To register:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/global-network-31st-annual-meeting-latest-developments-on-war-via-space-tickets-638565886757  

3. Saturday, July 15^th from 7 am to 4 pm – 44^th Annual Church Rock Uranium Tailings Spill Commemoration, hosted by the Red Water Pond Road Community, the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, and the Pipeline Road Community. For more information, please contact Susan Gordon at sgordon@swuraniumimpacts.org

4. Saturday, July 15^th – Trinity:  Legacies of Nuclear Testing, a People’s Perspective Art Exhibit from 11 am to 1 pm at the Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main Street, Las Cruces, NM.  Exhibit will be up until September 23, 2023.  
   

13^th Annual Candelight Vigil from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm at Albert Johnson Park, 896 N. Main Street, Las Cruces, NM.  Program begins at 8 pm.  Bring a chair or blanket, sunscreen, bug spray and water.  For more information:  https://www.trinitydownwinders.com/  

Message from the Downwinders of New Mexico: 

Stand in solidarity with the Downwinders of New Mexico.  Many people cannot be with us in Las Cruces for our 13^th Annual Candlelight Vigil where we memorialize those we’ve lost to cancer.  If you want to participate from your own home make a luminaria and light it in solidarity with us on the evening of July 15, 2023.

For those of you who are not familiar with the traditional New Mexico luminaria, it is a brown paper lunch bag with a cup or so of sand in the bottom and a votive candle placed in the middle of the bag.  You can write your own message on the bag.  At dusk you light the candle and leave it lit until the candle extinguishes.  Let us know that you are standing with us by sending us an email at info@trinitydownwinders.com

5. Sunday, July 16^th – Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester’s service about A WORLD WITHOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test on July 16, 1945, at the Santa Maria de la Paz Center at 11 College Avenue, Santa Fe (just before the Santa Fe Community College (road work is taking place in the area – allow for extra travel time). https://archdiosf.org/living-in-the-light-of-christs-peace

6. Friday, July 21 release of Oppenheimer in the U.S. and U.K. by Universal Pictures. https://www.oppenheimermovie.com/

7. Thursday, July 27, 2023 from 5 to 7 pm – Kirtland AFB Bulk Fuels Facility leak project open house at the groundwater treatment system facility. The GWTS is located on Kirtland Air Force Base, with public access provided for this event through the Ridgecrest Gate (Ridgecrest Dr SE & Louisiana Blvd SE, south of Gibson Blvd.)

If you would like additional information, please contact the 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs office at (505) 846-5991 or by email at 377ABW.PA@us.af.mil.

8. Save the date: Saturday, August 5^th from 2 to 6 pm at Roosevelt Park in Albuquerque – Albuquerque Peace Festival – Hiroshima Nagasaki Commemorative Rally in collaboration with Hiroshima Day in Japan.  Details to follow.

To commemorate the 78^th anniversary of the first detonation of an atomic weapon at the nearby Trinity Test Site, the complete elimination of nuclear weapons must be prioritized.  A free in-person and live streamed public event entitled “From Reflection to Action: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test” will be held at the Santa Maria de la Paz Community Hall in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Sunday, July 16^th from 4 to 6 pm.  Doors open at 3:15 pm so you may view exhibits on nuclear issues and visit with representatives of local organizations.

Among the scheduled speakers is Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe.  Wester declared, “We can no longer deny or ignore the extremely dangerous predicament of our human family.  We are in a new nuclear arms race far more dangerous than the first, and I believe we need to rejuvenate a sustained, serious conversation about universal, verifiable nuclear disarmament.”

The government did not warn or evacuate the estimated tens of thousands of people living within a 50-mile radius of the Trinity Test blast.  The detonation produced more heat and light than the sun, generating radioactive ash that fell for days.  The communities downwind of the blast saw a spike in infant deaths in the months after the explosion and, generations later, continue to suffer its effects.

Tina Cordova, event co-organizer and co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, said, “We don’t ask IF we’ll get cancer, we ask WHEN it will be our turn.  The government basically walked away from the people of New Mexico and has taken no responsibility for all the sacrifice, suffering, and the dying.”

Attendees will learn about actions they can take toward a world without nuclear weapons, such as calling on congresspeople to co-sponsor U.S. House Resolution 77, “Embracing the Goals and Provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”  They will be encouraged to join forces with the grassroots Back from the Brink coalition to spur communities to adopt resolutions urging the U.S. to prioritize negotiations toward the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, and to extend and expand victim assistance and environmental remediation at local nuclear weapons facilities.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Soka Gakkai International-USA, Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, and United Church of Santa Fe are organizing the event.

For more information and to pre-register, go to https://archdiosf.org/social-justice

A gentle reminder:  CCNS is seeking donations large and small through throughout the summer as we challenge DOE, WIPP and LANL in court and to keep the Update and social media program going.  We are extremely grateful for your support! 

1. Friday, July 7th from noon to 1 pm MT – 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, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Saturday, July 8^th through Sunday, July 9^th for a 24-Hour Peace Wave 2023 on Zoom, produced by International Peace Bureau and World BEYOND War. It begins on Sat. July 8^th at 9 am Eastern, 7 am Mountain; and ends on Sun. July 9^th at 9 am Eastern, 7 am Mountain.  Watch live peace actions in the streets and squares of the world moving around the globe with the sun.  To register:  https://worldbeyondwar.org/wave/

3. Saturday, July 15^th from 7 am to 9 am MT free virtual meeting of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space – Latest development on war via space. https://space4peace.org/  To register:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/global-network-31st-annual-meeting-latest-developments-on-war-via-space-tickets-638565886757  

4. Saturday, July 15^th from 7 am to 4 pm – 44^th Annual Church Rock Uranium Tailings Spill Commemoration, hosted by the Red Water Pond Road Community, the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, and the Pipeline Road Community. For more information, please contact Susan Gordon at sgordon@swuraniumimpacts.org

5. Save the date: Saturday, August 5^th in Albuquerque – Peace Commemoration in collaboration with Hiroshima Day in Japan.  Details to follow.

CCNS and five other non-governmental organizations and one individual successfully negotiated a settlement agreement last week to revise the draft ten-year hazardous waste renewal permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).  Also at the table were the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) https://www.env.nm.gov/ and the co-Permittees, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, LLC (SIMCO).  https://wipp.energy.gov/

The NGOs are Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping (CARD) https://www.cardnm.org/ , Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety (CCNS) http://nuclearactive.org/ , Conservation Voters New Mexico (CVNM) https://cvnm.org/ , Nuclear Watch New Mexico (NWNM) https://nukewatch.org/ , Southwest Alliance for a Safe Future (SAFE) https://www.swalliance.org/ , and Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC) http://www.sric.org/ .  The individual is Steve Zappe, a grandfather and former NMED WIPP Program Manager.

In April, the NGOs and the individual requested a public hearing because they opposed portions of the draft renewal permit.  The four days of successful negotiations resulted in changes to the renewal permit and the withdrawal of the requests for a public hearing.  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/

The NGOs claimed victory that DOE is now required to provide an annual report about establishing another repository for plutonium-contaminated radioactive waste in a state other than New Mexico.  WIPP was never supposed to be the only repository for this waste, called transuranic, or TRU, generated by the production of nuclear weapons.

Additional protective conditions include the Environment Department exercising its power to revoke and require closing the site if the volume of waste disposed of at WIPP is increased or the types of waste are changed.

The permit requires the Permittees to implement a new plan with a full inventory of legacy waste around the U.S. for disposal at WIPP.  This should be the first definition of legacy waste generated by the first 55 years of nuclear weapons production.

It includes additional public notice and participation opportunities.

The permit also prioritizes getting legacy waste “off the hill” at Los Alamos National Laboratory to WIPP.   With timely implementation it may reduce contamination reaching the regional drinking water aquifer.

New Mexico Environment Department Cabinet Secretary James Kenney said, “Communities in New Mexico and around the U.S. benefit from the cleanup of legacy waste and its disposal at WIPP.  The new permit conditions affirm New Mexico’s authority and position that all roads lead from WIPP – we are no longer the last stop for cleanup but the driving force in that process that begins here.”

The Environment Department will host an in-person and virtual public meeting on September 22^nd.  The public comment period will remain open through the September 22^nd public meeting.  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/, see June 27, 2023 entry under “WIPP News.”

DOE will host an in-person and virtual Community Forum and Open House on Tuesday, July 11^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Marriott Albuquerque.  Registration is available at https://wipp.energy.gov/wipp_news_20230627.asp

A gentle reminder:  CCNS is seeking donations large and small through throughout the summer as we challenge DOE, WIPP and LANL in court and to keep the Update and social media program going.  We are extremely grateful for your support! 

1. Friday, June 30th from noon to 1 pm MT – 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, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Four EM-LA Strategic Vision Meetings about cleanup at LANL – three in-person meetings and one virtual meeting. The same information will be presented in each of the meetings.  Pre-register for one of the meetings at bit.ly/EM-LAStrategicVisionMeetings or https://n3b-la.com/outreach/#strategic-vision

a. Monday, June 26 from 5 to 7:30 pm in-person meeting at Moving Arts Española, 68 NM-291, Española, NM

b. Wednesday, June 28 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm in-person meeting at Santa Fe Community College, West Wing, Room 213, 6401 Richards Avenue, Santa Fe, NM. (Follow signs for West Wing entrance, once inside, walk up the stairs, take a left and the meeting room is on the left.)  Please note:  roadwork is taking place in the area – allow extra travel time.

c. Thursday, June 29^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm virtual

d. Friday, June 30^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm in-person meeting at Fuller Lodge, 2132 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM

3. Saturday, July 8^th through Sunday, July 9^th for a 24-Hour Peace Wave 2023 on Zoom, produced by International Peace Bureau and World BEYOND War. It begins on Sat. July 8^th at 9 am Eastern, 7 am Mountain; and ends on Sun. July 9^th at 9 am Eastern, 7 am Mountain.  Watch live peace actions in the streets and squares of the world moving around the globe with the sun.  To register:  https://worldbeyondwar.org/wave/

4. Saturday, July 15^th from 7 am to 9 am MT free virtual meeting of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space – Latest development on war via space. https://space4peace.org/  To register:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/global-network-31st-annual-meeting-latest-developments-on-war-via-space-tickets-638565886757  

5. Saturday, July 15^th from 7 am to 4 pm – 44^th Annual Church Rock Uranium Tailings Spill Commemoration, hosted by the Red Water Pond Road Community, the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, and the Pipeline Road Community. For more information, please contact Susan Gordon at sgordon@swuraniumimpacts.org

6. Sunday, July 16^th – Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester’s service about A WORLD WITHOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test on July 16, 1945, at the Santa Maria de la Paz Center at 11 College Avenue, Santa Fe (just before the Santa Fe Community College (road work is taking place in the area – allow extra travel time). https://archdiosf.org/living-in-the-light-of-christs-peace

7. Save the date: Saturday, August 5^th in Albuquerque – Peace Commemoration in collaboration with Hiroshima Day in Japan.  Details to follow.

Each week you depend on CCNS to provide you with the latest nuclear safety issues through the radio, on the internet and by email.  We’ve been producing the weekly CCNS News Update for over 35 years!  We need your financial support to keep our programs going.

For example, the weekly Did You Know? post reminds you about the many events of this busy summer.  You can read it on our website at nuclearactive.org, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and in your email.  All you need to do is sign up on our website.  We don’t ever sell your information.

We begin the summer by tabling at the Santa Fe Pride 30 on the Santa Fe Plaza on Saturday, June 24^th from 10 to 4 pm.  CCNS is a member of the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition that envisions a future of fairness and safety where New Mexicans are informed and involved in protecting public health and the environment.  We work to stop the expansion of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) nuclear waste dumpsite in New Mexico.

We’ll be active participants in the public hearing about the proposed renewal of the hazardous waste permit for WIPP by the New Mexico Environment Department in the late summer/early fall timeframe.  The Department of Energy has controversial plans to keep WIPP open until at least 2080, even though WIPP is scheduled to close in 2024 after 25 years of disposal operations.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is planning to vent over 100,000 Curies of radioactive tritium from either four or five containers later this summer.  CCNS is working with technical experts and Tewa Women United to develop ways to prevent these irresponsible releases into the air.  Tritium is radioactive hydrogen.  It binds with oxygen to form tritiated hydrogen that acts like water.

CCNS monitors LANL’s operations and plans for the hexavalent chromium plume that continues to migrate downward into the regional drinking water aquifer.

We continue to participate in the peaceful protest on Fridays from noon to 1 pm between the Guadalupe Church and LANL’s administrative offices in Santa Fe.  Please join us as we hold banners in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

It’s an important time to support CCNS.  Please make your tax-deductible contribution at nuclearactive.org or mail it to us at CCNS, Post Office Box 31147, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87594.  Thank you!  Together we are making a difference!

1. Friday, June 23rd from noon to 1 pm MT – 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, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Saturday, June 24^th, Pride on the Plaza from 10 am to 4 pm on the Santa Fe Plaza – Join the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition there to learn more about DOE’s plans to continue expanding WIPP in support of expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. https://hrasantafe.org/pride-2023/

3. Four EM-LA Strategic Vision Meetings about cleanup at LANL – three in-person meetings and one virtual meeting. The same information will be presented in each of the meetings.  Pre-register for one of the meetings at bit.ly/EM-LAStrategicVisionMeetings or https://n3b-la.com/outreach/#strategic-vision

1. 1. Monday, June 26 from 5 to 7:30 pm in-person meeting at Moving Arts Española, 68 NM-291, Española, NM
   2. Wednesday, June 28 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm in-person meeting at Santa Fe Community College, West Wing, Room 213, 6401 Richards Avenue, Santa Fe, NM. (Follow signs for West Wing entrance, once inside, walk up the stairs, take a left and the meeting room is on the left.)  Please note:  roadwork is taking place in the area – allow extra travel time.
   3. Thursday, June 29^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm virtual
   4. Friday, June 30^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm in-person meeting at Fuller Lodge, 2132 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM

4. Saturday, July 8^th through Sunday, July 9^th for a 24-Hour Peace Wave 2023 on Zoom, produced by International Peace Bureau and World BEYOND War. It begins on Sat. July 8^th at 9 am Eastern, 7 am Mountain; and ends on Sun. July 9^th at 9 am Eastern, 7 am Mountain.  Watch live peace actions in the streets and squares of the world moving around the globe with the sun.  To register:  https://worldbeyondwar.org/wave/

5. Saturday, July 15^th from 7 am to 4 pm – 44^th Annual Church Rock Uranium Tailings Spill Commemoration, hosted by the Red Water Pond Road Community, the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, and the Pipeline Road Community. For more information, please contact Susan Gordon at sgordon@swuraniumimpacts.org

6. Sunday, July 16^th – Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester’s service about A WORLD WITHOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test on July 16, 1945, at the Santa Maria de la Paz Center at 11 College Avenue, Santa Fe (just before the Santa Fe Community College (road work is taking place in the area – allow extra travel time). https://archdiosf.org/living-in-the-light-of-christs-peace

7. Save the date: Saturday, August 5^th in Albuquerque – Peace Commemoration in collaboration with Hiroshima Day in Japan.  Stay tuned for more information.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) plans to prepare an environmental assessment to address the hexavalent chromium contamination in the deep regional drinking water aquifer.  In comments submitted this week, the Communities for Clean Water (CCW) recommended that LANL conduct a more detailed environmental impact statement in order to protect the regional drinking water aquifer and the Environmental Protection Agency-designated Española Basin Sole Source Aquifer from the migrating contamination.  CCW Comments Hexavalent Chromium Scoping IM EA

Hexavalent chromium is toxic and highly carcinogenic and the contamination must be addressed with community input.   

CCW recommended that LANL create a publicly available real-time, interactive, three-dimensional computer model of the plume.  It would provide the public with a way to see the plume’s movement from the pump and treat treatment efforts.  It would also show the connections between the treatment wells, the City of Santa Fe and Los Alamos County drinking water wells, the regional drinking water aquifer, the Española Basin Sole Source Aquifer [ https://www.epa.gov/dwssa ], and the Rio Grande.

As an example, in November 2022 the New Mexico Environment Department directed LANL to stop using six of the paired treatment wells due to growing concerns that the injection wells were pushing the contamination deeper into the aquifer.  NMED also directed LANL to cease all injections into the plume by April 1, 2023.

CCW challenged the LANL statement that an environmental assessment would include the final cleanup remedy.  CCW argued LANL is required to determine and understand the vertical and horizontal extent of the plume before suggesting a final remedy.

CCW is a 20-year old coalition of Indigenous, Land-Based, and Conservation Organizations who work together to safeguard clean water in the Rio Grande watershed.  Its mission is to ensure that community waters impacted by pollution from LANL are kept safe for drinking, agriculture, sacred ceremonies, and a sustainable future.  https://www.ccwnewmexico.org/  

The growing coalition includes Amigos Bravos, Breath of My Heart Birthplace, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, New Mexico Acequia Association, Partnership for Earth Spirituality, and Tewa Women United.

CCW brings together the vast expertise and commitment of widely respected and well-tested advocacy groups from culturally diverse backgrounds.  Collectively, CCW represents the only community-based coalition in Northern New Mexico that is monitoring toxic threats from LANL and driving public policy changes informed by scientific evidence.

Please contact your elected officials and urge them to support preparation of an environmental impact statement now so that the waters are protected for future generations.

1. Friday, June 16^th from noon to 1 pm MT – 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, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Saturday, June 17^th at 2 pm – Koohan Paik-Mander speaking about How Space-based Warfare is Accelerating the Sixth Extinction at the Universalist Unitarian, 1107 West Barcelona Road, Santa Fe. Paik-Mander is a Hawai’i-based journalist, author and peace and environmental activist.  She will discuss humanity’s inability to lift itself out of the “race to the bottom.”   $10 suggested donation (no one turned away); proceeds to be shared by UU Santa Fe and the speaker.  Sponsored by Santa Fe Veterans for Peace.   Koohan Paik-Mander June 17 2023 emailable

3. Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 9 am MT – virtual and in-person public hearing about draft groundwater discharge renewal permit and modification application (DP-1481) for the URENCO USA uranium enrichment facility and depleted uranium byproduct storage in Eunice (five miles west of the Texas border) in southeast New Mexico. https://urencousa.com/

To view public hearing notice (GWQB 23-3), go to https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Lea County, click on URENCO USA.

As of Thursday, June 1, 2023, the 8,000 page Administrative Record for the public hearing has yet to be posted on the NMED website, despite assurances that it would be.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/ , scroll down to Environment Department Cabinet Secretary, to “Ground Water Quality Bureau 23-03 URENCO USA (UUSA) Discharge Permit Renewal and Modification Application DP-1481, Uranium Enrichment Facility and Depleted Uranium Byproduct Storage.”

To submit public comments:  https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=jMQtf

4. Wednesday, June 21 from 4 to 7 pm – Let’s Talk Safe & Affordable Energy: Join Regional Community Conversation:  Powering up a new equitable paradigm to advance and secure our aging electric grid with a focus on micro-grids.  El Morro Events Center, Gallup, NM.  Dinner Provided.  For more information:  https://nmenergyequity.org/   Flyer HERE

You are invited to join the Ohio Nuclear Free Network for its important virtual public forum, Radioactive Contamination, Environment and Public Health and the Future of the Portsmouth Nuclear Site, on Saturday, June 10^th beginning at 10:45 am Mountain Time.  The in-person and virtual forum offers an opportunity to learn from world-renowned experts about contamination at the Piketon, Ohio site and at Department of Energy (DOE) sites across the country. The forum will be available at https://bit.ly/portsforum and recorded on the Ohio Nuclear Free Network YouTube Channel.  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ohio+nuclear+free+network

Dr. Michael Ketterer, an industrial chemistry professor emeritus and former enforcement scientist at the US Environmental Protection Agency, will unveil new field test results from sampling attics and other obscure locations in people’s homes at various distances from the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, now known as the Portsmouth Nuclear Plant, or PORTS.  [ Dr. Ketterer’s work on plutonium at Rocky Flats:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WNFEFg7fhI ]

Joe Mangano, a noted epidemiologist, will provide evidence of dramatic cancer spikes in residents exposed to radioactive air and water in seven counties downwind and downstream of PORTS.  https://thebulletin.org/biography/joseph-mangano/

Terry Lodge, a specialist in environmental law and civil rights, will discuss the new, secretive Ohio Nuclear Development Authority and the perversion of Ohio state government into promoting advanced reactors and nuclear weapons proliferation.  https://celdf.org/about-celdf/board-staff/

Piketon is a village 80 miles south of Columbus, Ohio, and is the home of PORTS.  It is a DOE installation where, beginning in the 1950’s, fuel for nuclear power plants was enriched.  From time to time PORTS contractors have produced nuclear weapons material.

There is a 70-year legacy of enriched uranium, technetium, americium, possibly plutonium and other radioisotopes contaminating natural features and human lives for miles downwind of the site.

Even as communities are dealing with contamination, new dirty industries are locating at PORTS, including a new production line to purify depleted uranium for use in machine gun bullets, tank and artillery shells and components for nuclear weapons.  https://www.energy.gov/pppo/portsmouth-site,

A new limited study conducted under the watchful leadership of local government officials has just been publicized.  The study, funded by DOE, verifies measurable enriched uranium contamination in a six-mile radius from PORTS.   The study will support the communities’ demands for additional scientific verification, medical tracking and free treatment for cancer and radiation victims, and reparations for what has clearly become a very large sacrifice zone in southern Ohio.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-AkriuifxE

The Ohio Nuclear Free Network is working with groups living in the shadow of other federal nuclear sites to get the truth out about both the natural and human victims of more than 80 years of official nuclear war policy.  https://env-comm.org/2021/08/31/hello-world/

Did You Know?

1. Friday, June 9^th from noon to 1 pm MT – 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, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. CCNS submitted public comments on the scope of the Sandia National Laboratory Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement. The comments are available here.  230605 CCNS SNL Scoping Comments

3. Thursday, June 8^th from 6:30 – 8:30 pm MT – in person and virtual Town Hall on Santa Fe Mountains Landscape Resiliency Project at Santa Fe Community College, Jemez Meeting Rooms. The Town Hall is hosted by Santa Fe County Commissioner Chair Anna Hansen (District 2) and the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF).  The purpose is to provide information about the Santa Fe Mountains Landscape Resiliency Project (SFMLRP) and give the public an opportunity to ask SFNF leadership program managers and resource specialists about upcoming plans and actions.

Note:  There is road construction at the intersection of Richards Avenue and Avenida Del Sur.  Allow additional time for travel and utilize detours (I-25 to Rabbit Road and through Oshara Village).  For directions to SFCC during construction, visit https://www.sfcc.edu/upcoming-road-closure/

Participants can also attend the Town Hall virtually by calling 1-408-418-9388 and reference meeting number 2492 156 0294 and password: BHeD3S7aiv7.

Or by WebEx at:  https://sfco.webex.com/sfco/j.php?MTID=m256c2f4a145f9904a79d203cb2ccc6a4

4. Thursday, June 8^th from 6 to 8 pm MT – Atomic Bamboozle: The False Promise of a Nuclear Renaissance.  The Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club is hosting an exclusive showing and panel discussion of the new 46-minute documentary that warns that so-called small modular nuclear reactors, or SMNRs, are simply the same dangerous nuclear technoogy in a new shiny wrapper.  “New” nuclear is considered a climate solution – which it is not.  Join filmmaker Jan Haaken to learn why SMNRs are a false solution.  For more information:  https://www.sierraclub.org/oregon

5. Saturday, June 10^th from 9:30 to 11:30 am MT – FLOW: remembering our way to a livable future – The unfolding of human/water relations in downtown Santa Fe.  For more information:  https://wisefoolnewmexico.org/flow2023/

6. Saturday, June 10^th at 2 pm Mountain Time – Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester to Speak about the Need for Nuclear Disarmament – in person and virtually. In person at the Mountain Cloud Zen Center, 7241 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM.  Livestreamed at:  https://www.mountaincloud.org/ , click on “sit.mountain.cloud.org”  –  passcode mountain22

7. Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 9 am MT – virtual and in-person public hearing about draft groundwater discharge renewal permit and modification application (DP-1481) for the URENCO USA uranium enrichment facility and depleted uranium byproduct storage in Eunice (five miles west of the Texas border) in southeast New Mexico. https://urencousa.com/

To view public hearing notice (GWQB 23-3), go to https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Lea County, click on URENCO USA.

As of Thursday, June 1, 2023, the 8,000 page Administrative Record for the public hearing has yet to be posted on the NMED website, despite assurances that it would be.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/ , scroll down to Environment Department Cabinet Secretary, to “Ground Water Quality Bureau 23-03 URENCO USA (UUSA) Discharge Permit Renewal and Modification Application DP-1481, Uranium Enrichment Facility and Depleted Uranium Byproduct Storage.”

To submit public comments:  https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=jMQtf