CCNS Update

CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) request your support of our request for sanctions in the appeal of the groundwater discharge permit DP- 1132, issued to Los Alamos National Laboratory for operation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility. The appeal is before the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission, which has the authority to order sanctions. We seek sanctions requirin...

On Thursday, December 8th, the New Mexico Environment Department released its fact sheet for the draft Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Hazardous Waste Permit. The draft fact sheet is a way to let New Mexicans and the Department of Energy (DOE) know about the Environment Department plans for the ten-year renewal of the permit.

Under the banner of “Diplomacy is the Path to Peace,” diverse organizations are holding nationwide activities the week of December 19 th to end the war in Ukraine, not life on Earth.

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

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

This week the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) provided evidence to CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) that Stephanie Stringer, a New Mexico Environment Deputy Cabinet Secretary and Chair of the New Mexico Water Quality Commission, made adjudicatory decisions against  the non-governmental organizations while she was applying for NNSA employment. This is the second time...

On Wednesday, November 16 th , during the first virtual and in-person public hearing session, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will hear from three Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) officials about the stored and buried transuranic waste at the Area G dump. The Board wants to understand LANL’s plans to “remove legacy transuranic waste while minimizing the amount of aboveground trans...

On Wednesday, November 16th, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) will hold a virtual and in-person public hearing at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center from noon to 9:45 pm Mountain Time. The DNFSB’s goal is to gather information regarding legacy cleanup activities, nuclear safety, and increased production of plutonium pits, or triggers, for nuclear weapons at Los Alamos Nati...

On May 5, 2022, the New Mexico Environment Department issued discharge permit DP-1132 under the New Mexico Water Quality Act for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Facility manages hazardous waste and the Water Quality Act is expressly limited so that it does not apply to a hazardous waste facility. Nevertheless, the Environment Department issued...

It is essential for folks to attend – either virtually or in person - the WIPP Community Forum on Monday, October 24 , beginning at 5:30 pm at Buffalo Thunder Resort Casino. The Department of Energy (DOE), which owns both Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), has plans to greatly expand both facilities.

It’s time again to submit comments about what the scope of a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Los Alamos National Laboratory should be as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Comments are due on Tuesday, October 18 th , 2022 by 11:59 pm Mountain Time to LANLSWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov .

On September 26 th , Molly McGinty, Associate Program Director of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, spoke at the United Nations. Listen to a portion here.

On May 5 th , 2022, the New Mexico Environment Department issued a new groundwater discharge permit for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory under the New Mexico Water Quality Act. It is discharge permit DP-1132. The facility, located near the Plutonium Facility, handles, treats and stores radioactive and hazardous liquid wastes from operations across t...

On Wednesday, September 21 st , the International Day of Peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons in the Ukrainian War. His threats to use nuclear weapons surpass Russia’s official nuclear doctrine. As posted on en.kremlin.ru, Putin said, “In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly mak...

The privileges of the rich and powerful Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and its plans to expand the fabrication of plutonium pits, or triggers, for nuclear warheads continue. After 115 non-governmental organizations and individuals requested a two-month extension of time for preparation of informed scoping comments for a long-delayed draft sitewide environmental impact statement (SWEIS), LAN...

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will host two virtual meetings to gather public comments about the scope of a draft environmental impact statement for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). If you think these scoping meetings are not important, please check out the recently released 2021 LANL Campus Master Plan. The plan was obtained through the Freedom of Information...

This week 63 non-governmental organizations and 52 individuals requested that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant a two-month extension of time to provide informed public comments about the scope of the Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operations of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL SWEIS). On August 19 th , DOE announced a 45-day comment period. Currently, comments...

Taos ceramic artist Serit Kotowski’s beautiful Sacred Trust: BROKEN is an educational installation that focuses on the impact of the nuclear weapons industry in New Mexico. Using a traditional potter’s repertoire Kotowski created two sets of dinnerware to demonstrate that, if ingested, radioactive  substances are harmful, if not deadly. The plates and cups are labeled “NOT FOOD SAFE.”

New scientific work demonstrates that even a “limited” nuclear war would cause abrupt climate disruption and global starvation. A limited nuclear war is defined as a conflict confined to one region and involving a small fraction of the world’s nuclear arsenals. But such a conflict would be neither limited nor regional and despite statements to the contrary, it would be an event on a planetary scal...

Did you know that the current hazardous waste permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) states that waste disposal operations will end in 2024, followed by a ten-year period to close the underground waste disposal site?

On Tuesday, August 9 th the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission will hear virtually a petition for review of the groundwater discharge permit, DP-1132, filed by non-governmental organizations CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE). DP-1132 allows Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to handle, store and discharge treated radioactive and hazardous waters from the Radioactive Liquid Was...

August 6 th and 9 th were the days in 1945 when the U.S. bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs 77 years ago. Every year community members gather at to commemorate those events, to recognize the harm done, and to recommit to working for peace. You are invited to participate in these commemoration events.

Did you know the hazardous waste permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is up for its ten-year renewal? In August, the New Mexico Environment Department may release a draft permit for public review and a 60-day comment period.

In the face of continuing problems and escalating costs for expanded production of plutonium “pit” bomb cores for nuclear weapons, U.S. Congressman John Garamendi, of California, has offered a common sense amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for  plutonium pit accountability.

Holtec International recently purchased two shutdown nuclear power plants in Michigan to create a supply chain of spent fuel rods for its proposed consolidated interim storage facility in southeastern New Mexico’s Permian Basin. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff is expected to issue a Final Environmental Impact Statement this month and an operating license in early 2023 for the propose...