CCNS Update

Last week, the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission met to deliberate and make final decisions about the state's Surface Water Quality Standards.

Excerpts from Cindy Wheeler's speech during the March 1,2022 press conference at the New Mexico Capitol explains why you should care about the expanding mission for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. 

If you are concerned about proposed expansion of beryllium machining operations at LANL, now is the time to express your interest to the New Mexico Environment Depart Air Quality Bureau! Find sample public comment letter on our website http://nuclearactive.org

Despite receiving comments from 19 non-governmental and business organizations representing tens of thousands of New Mexicans, the New Mexico Environment Department has permitted the use of the underground disposal Panel 8 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) with 16-foot high ceilings.

This week Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety (CCNS) asked the New Mexico Environment Department to withdraw its draft groundwater permit DP-1132 for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) because of the confusing, incomplete and defective documents released for public review and comment.

The NMED is again trying to skirt proper regulation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at LANL as required by the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act.

The independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recently reported that Triad National Security LLC, the nuclear weapons contractor at LANL, wants the DOE to accept the risk of bringing large shipments of plutonium-238 in uncertified containers for repackaging in the Plutonium Facility.

Saturday January 22, 2022, marks the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Join us for a wonderful event from 1 to 3pm at Ashley Pond in Los Alamos.

January 11th, Archbishop of Santa Fe John C Wester released his historic pastoral letter Living in the Light of Christ's Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament. 

Saturday January 22nd from 1 - 3 PM at Ashley Pond in Los Alamos join CCNS, Veterans for Peace, Nuclear Watch New Mexico and others for a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. and the first anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Visit Nuclear Ban Treaty Days of Action facebook Page for information. ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/336042507972854 ) For information on Dr....

The New Year will begin with the NM Environment Department's virtual public meeting about the annual cleanup plan for legacy waste at LANL.

Two appeals have been filed in the NM Court of Appeals to challenge the decision by NM Environment Dept. Secretary James Kenney to approve the new shaft at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

At 1:00p.m. Mountain Time Sunday December 19th, the Archbishop of Santa Fe, John C Wester, will hold an Unveiling and Blessing of a Sign of Peace at The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In a stunning bipartisan vote, this week the U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2021 on a vote of 25 to 8.

Tuesday November 30th, the DOE held a press conference to announce a third attempt to find communities, sovereign tribal nations, or local or state governments to host an interim federal storage facility for high-level radioactive waste from commercial nuclear reactors.

DOE has raised the height of the underground waste disposal Panel 8 from 13 feet to 16 feet in violation of the Permit.

On October 27th, New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney granted the DOE and its contractor, Nuclear Waste Partnership, the latest approval requested to expand WIPP.

The public learned this week that DOE asked the LANL cleanup contractor, N3B, to request that the NM Environment Department move 19 hazardous wast sites from one part of the hazardous waste permit to another.

Our colleague, Linda Pentz Gunter, has written a brilliant piece about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

NMED granted the Department of Energy approval to excavate and use new Shaft No. 5 and its associated drifts in the WIPP Underground. Essentially ensuring Forever WIPP.

Due to on-going maintenance problems in the underground disposal facility, WIPP requested an extension of time from NMED to store waste in the Waste Handling Building.

In response to community concerns about the proposed increased shipments of more dangerous forms of plutonium along New Mexico State Road 599, Santa Fe County District 2 Commissioner Anna Hansen will host a Nuclear Waste Emergency Response Town Hall Tuesday October 19th from 6 - 7:30 PM.

For the first time in 3 years, the New Mexico Governor's WIPP Task Force met October 6th. WIPP = Waste Isolation Pilot Plant DOE = Department of Energy NAS = National Academies of Science GAO = Government Accountability Office

When will the New Mexico Environment Department acknowledge the DOE's proposals for WIPP as expansion?

A deadline of July 10th, 2022 is looming for continuing the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) and associated programs.