CCNS Update

All are welcome to join peacemakers and activists on Saturday, August 9 th at 10 am in Los Alamos to commemorate the 80 th year since the U.S. bombing of Nagasaki, Japan on that day in 1945. At 10 am, a vigil and protest will begin in the Manhattan Project National Historic Park at Ashley Pond. We’ll come together to sing songs of peace and against nuclear weapons, to honor the victims and survivo...

The Red Water Pond Road Community Association and the Pipeline Road Community invite you to attend the historic 46th commemoration of the Church Rock Uranium Tailings Spill on Saturday, July 19th beginning at 6 am near the tailings spill location, 12 miles north of Red Rock State Park on State Highway 566. Free t-shirts will be available for the first 100 participants.

As you may know, the recent federal reconciliation bill increased the budget for expanded plutonium pit production at the Savannah River Site, located in South Carolina, by one billion dollars. Yes, one billion dollars in one year! A “pit” is the plutonium core of a nuclear weapon. The Department of Energy (DOE) plans to fabricate 50 plutonium pits per year there.

In anticipation of the 80th anniversaries of the 1945 atomic bombings in the USA and Japan, a number of hybrid educational events will be held next week.

In this week’s Update CCNS provides information about the upcoming commemorations of two harmful atomic events that both occurred in New Mexico on July 16th. The first is the 80th commemoration of the plutonium bomb test at the Trinity Test Site on July 16, 1945 at the White Sands Missile Range.

This week, a coalition of 13 attorneys general issued Multistate Guidance affirming the necessity and legality of environmental justice initiatives to ensure a healthy environment for all people to live, play, learn, work and worship. Despite attempts by the Trump administration to eliminate this critical work by businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations as illegal through the use of Executi...

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) planned to vent 30,000 curies of radioactive tritium into the air during several weekends this summer but it must have approval from the New Mexico Environment Department. James Kenney, Environment Department Secretary, citing significant public interest in the proposed plan, determined that prior to the Environment Department making any final decision, LANL w...

It has been raining in Northern New Mexico this week, providing many blessings of moisture and delaying the proposed venting of radioactive tritium from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), at least for now. Importantly, the New Mexico Environment Department continues its review of LANL’s application for “temporary authorization” to vent up to 30,000 curies of tritium into the air from four Flan...

Dylan K. Spaulding, author of the new report, is a senior scientist in the Union of Concerned Scientists Global Security Program. He holds an undergraduate degree in physics from Brown University and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. His work focuses on technical issues related to nuclear stockpile stewardship and policies that can reduce the threat posed by nuclear weapons.

Just a few days ago, on May 9 th , the Department of Energy (DOE) and its National Nuclear Security Administration announced that virtual public “scoping” meetings would be held next week about their plans to prepare a nationwide Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production (PEIS). DOE and NNSA are working to turn Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) into a manufacturi...

If you haven’t already signed the electronic petition to STOP Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) plans to vent large quantities of radioactive tritium into the air beginning on or after June 2 nd , 2025, there’s still time. Access the petition at actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-deny-lanls-request- to-release-radioactive-tritium-into-the-air The text of the petition is also available at...

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) plans to vent large quantities of radioactive tritium into the air beginning on or after June 2 nd , 2025. Tritium is a form of hydrogen that forms radioactive water in the environment. It can cross the placenta and fetuses, babies and children may receive a radiation dose about three times greater than adults.

During the early days of the pandemic, on March 10, 2020, LANL mailed a notice to people on the facility mailing list about the proposed venting of radioactive tritium into the air from four metal containers stored at Area G. LANL’s request provided information about its plan to seek temporary authorization to vent from the New Mexico Environment Department, specifically from the Hazardous Waste B...

the bomb is a groundbreaking multimedia installation that immerses audiences in the strange, compelling and unsettling reality of nuclear weapons. Since General Groves and Robert Oppenheimer arrived in New Mexico in late 1942 to establish the Manhattan Project, the danger has only increased. The world is confronted by the nine nations that possess about 12,000 nuclear weapons. And those nations ar...

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promised the People of New Mexico that it would cleanup and dispose of its plutonium-contaminated nuclear bomb waste by depositing it into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) over 25 years and close. DOE broke its promise when that deadline passed on March 26 th , 2024. But DOE has a new plan to keep the deep geologic nuclear waste disposal facility at WIPP o...

The Department of Energy (DOE) promised the People of New Mexico that they would cleanup and dispose of its plutonium-contaminated nuclear bomb wastes by depositing waste into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) over 25 years and close. DOE broke its promise when that deadline passed on March 26, 2024. But DOE has a new plan to keep the deep geologic nuclear waste disposal facility at WIPP open...

Community members and Tribal advocates are standing together to say NO to the proposed expansion of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). As part of a growing movement for environmental justice and accountability, local community organizations including Tewa Women United, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Communities for Clean Water, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, and Three Sisters Collective l...

Community members and Tribal advocates are standing together to say NO to the proposed expansion of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). As part of a growing movement for environmental justice and accountability, local community organizations including Tewa Women United, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Communities for Clean Water, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, and Three Sisters Collective a...

Public comments for the draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory are currently due on Thursday, April 10th. Tewa Women United, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, CCNS, Communities for Clean Water, and the Union of Concerned Scientists will host workshops to assist you in the preparation and submission of your comments. Comments may be submi...

Public comments for the draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory are currently due on Thursday, April 10th. CCNS, Tewa Women United, Three Sisters Collective, Communities for Clean Water and others will host two workshops to assist you in preparing your comments.

Did you know that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the U.S. and Russia, known as the New START, expires on February 5, 2026? It’s time for the U.S. and Russia to get back to the table to negotiate for a world without nuclear weapons!

Monday, March 3 rd begins the weeklong Third Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations in New York City. Government representatives, civil society organizations, non- governmental organizations, artists, health and justice workers and more from around the world will gather to take stock of the progress achieved by the States...

On Wednesday, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) extended the public comment period by 30 days for the draft Site Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The comment period was extended from March 11 th to Thursday, April 10 th , 2025.

On Thursday, February 20 th , Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Jr., the attorney for Honor Our Pueblo Existence and CCNS, will argue before the New Mexico Court of Appeals that the non-government organizations have standing to challenge the misregulation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility, a key facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The RLWTF treats liquid radioactive and hazardous...

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), operated by the Department of Energy, plays a critical role in maintaining the safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear stockpile. Central to this mission is the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF), which was constructed in the early 1960s to treat, store, and dispose of radioactive and hazardous liquids