2017

Albuquerque Journal, December 20, 2017:

LANL work merged in contract

The contract amount comes to “cleanup on the cheap”, said Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a frequent lab critic. A federal estimate shows that $3.8 billion in cleanup work remains at the lab, even while leaving much of the waste buried, Coghlan said.

Roswell Daily Record, December 9, 2017:

Groups plan opposition to proposed nuclear fuel site

The Saturday meeting in Roswell at North Main hotel brought together college students, faith leaders and people from various New Mexico advocacy groups. Those included the Alliance for Environmental Strategies, the Sierra Club, Beyond Nuclear, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, the Nuclear Issues Study Group, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety and the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment. A few representatives from groups in other states also attended.

Santa Fe New Mexican, November 30, 2017:

State auditors challenge WIPP leak settlement

Instead of imposing the fines, however, the state Environment Department issued a new consent order in 2016 that creates milestones for future cleanup but does not stipulate deadlines or penalties.
Jay Coghlan, director of the nonprofit Nuclear Watch New Mexico and a critic of the Environment Department, filed a lawsuit against the state for failing to enforce lab cleanup penalties. In a statement this week, he said Tongate “and others are positioning the state’s Environment Department to ‘cooperate’ with the lab. Nuke Watch views it as ‘collaborating’ with the lab, in the pejorative sense of the word.

“We want a New Mexico Environment Department that actively, aggressively protects the environment,” Coghlan said.

Albuquerque Journal, November 28, 2017:

Terry Wallace named new director of Los Alamos lab

A frequent lab critic wasn’t impressed with Wallace’s history at LANL. “Wallace is a lab good ol’ boy,” said Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico. “He’ll no doubt have his hand out for more taxpayer dollars for more nuclear weapons programs on the Hill, plus his own pet billion dollar boondoggles.”

Santa Fe New Mexican, November 13, 2017:

Letters: A plume of contamination

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Butch Tongate must have been joking to accuse Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico of personally profiting from Los Alamos National Laboratory’s environmental failures (“Full extent of chromium plume unknown,” Nov. 3). Tongate must know his $125,000-a-year salary plus benefits dwarfs Coghlan’s salary from his struggling nonprofit.
But even more inappropriate is Tongate’s description of the New Mexico Environment Department’s relationship to LANL as “cooperative.” The city water task force I served on in the early 2000s was told by a LANL hydrologist that there was zero possibility of lab contaminants reaching the regional aquifer where a toxic chromium plume is now spreading. Tongate and his staff’s job is to protect our health and environment- it is not to cooperate with LANL in cheating us by allowing “cleanup” on the cheap. Fortunately, in 14 months, this administration will end, and with it the coddling of LANL. Then maybe we can see some real, job-producing cleanup at the lab.
– Cathie Sullivan (Ms. Sullivan serves on Nukewatch’s steering committee)

Santa Fe New Mexican, November 3, 2017:

Full extent of chromium plume remains unknown

Butch Tongate, secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department, told lawmakers the state was working with the lab on the cleanup and would not require it to drill new wells at this time around the area of the plume.
That spurred criticism from Jay Coghlan, director of the nonprofit Nuclear Watch New Mexico and a long-standing critic of the lab. Coghlan said he was disappointed to hear the secretary say that “there is no urgent requirement to put in new monitoring wells in the near future.”

Outside the hearing room, Tongate accused Coghlan of profiting from his criticism of environmental failures at the lab. “We think you are in a mode- I would call it a collaborationist- with Los Alamos,” Coghlan fired back, “which we don’t like.” “Well, I would call it cooperative,” Tongate said of his agency’s relationship with the lab. “I don’t see any benefit in being adversarial,” he said, “the way it was” under the previous administration.

Los Alamos Monitor, November 1, 2017:

Santa Fe’s call to halt plutonium pit program will not affect Los Alamos

Nuclear Watch Executive Director Jay Coghlan said they would like to see more communities in the region pass similar resolutions, with a goal to get LANL and the state to listen to their concerns. Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales is the chairman the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities, a coalition that represents the community‚Äôs interests in relation to the LANL. “Other local governments may pass resolutions similar to that just passed by the City of Santa Fe. Perhaps this could persuade the Regional Coalition to actively advocate for enhanced nuclear safety before plutonium pit production is expanded, and genuine, comprehensive cleanup that could truly drive regional economic development,” Coghlan said in a written statement.

Oak Ridge Today, October 23, 2017:

DOE, NNSA deny alleged risk of ‘catastrophic collapse’ of old Y-12 buildings

The plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit filed in federal court in July alleged that there is a risk of a catastrophic collapse of old buildings containing nuclear weapon components at the Y-12 National Security Complex, possibly due to a large earthquake. The 44-page civil complaint, which is related to the planned Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12, was filed July 20 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The seven plaintiffs include three public interest organizations- Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, Nuclear Watch of New Mexico, and Natural Resources Defense Council of Washington, D.C.

Santa Fe New Mexican, September 19, 2017:

Further tests are needed after tainted well sample, officials say

“Scott Kovac, with the nonprofit Nuclear Watch New Mexico, which first discovered lab reports of the new well’s chromium levels on a website, said the state and federal response to the issue leaves significant questions about how large the plume really is and how the laboratory will proceed in treating the extensive contamination.

“‘LANL has spent millions of dollars on the models and used the data to choose the location of the well in question,’ he said, yet ‘the models missed the size of the plume.’ If water is injected into the newly drilled well to pump and treat the contamination, ‘the plume will likely grow,’ he added. “Now, Kovac said, the lab’s whole mitigation plan ‘has just turned into big question mark.'”

Albuquerque Journal, September 18, 2017:

High chromium levels found at one Los Alamos well

“The readings were first made public by Nuclear Watch New Mexico, which said in a news release, ‘The new data suggest there will have to be a complete rethinking of chromium groundwater treatment’ and that cleanup will take longer and cost more.”
Los Alamos Monitor, September 18, 2017:

Mortandad Canyon chromium plume may be wider than expected

“According to Nuclear Watch Director Jay Coghlan, the data further bolsters the group’s argument that the Department of Energy and the New Mexico Environment Department need to rework its 2016 consent order. The order is a blueprint of cleanup criteria and milestones LANL and the DOE Environmental Management office needs to adhere to in its waste cleanup operations around the site.
“Timely budgets for additional urgently needed cleanup work at Los Alamos are far from being a given. The 2016 Consent Order that NMED and DOE negotiated both weakened and delayed cleanup at LANL, and allows DOE to get out of cleanup by simply claiming that it is too expensive or difficult, Coghlan said. ‘But we demand that DOE find additional funding to immediately address this threat to New Mexico’s precious water resources, without robbing other badly needed cleanup projects.'”
Santa Fe New Mexican, September 16, 2017:
Cancer-causing chemicals appear to spread in regional aquifer near LANL
“Nuclear Watch New Mexico, which first discovered the high levels of chromium in CrIV-6, called the plume a serious threat to New Mexico’s water resource.
“‘The remediation is turning out to be this decades-long- or longer- process of investigating exactly where the plume is,’ said Scott Kovac, director of operations and research for Nuclear Watch.’The geology under Los Alamos is so complicated, anybody that says they know what’s happening under there is taking liberties.’
Kovac said the high levels of chromium indicate the plume may be growing more rapidly than the lab anticipated and may result in higher costs, as well as a longer time frame, to clean up the widespread pollution.
“‘It is easy for data to get buried and never see the light of day in the Lab’s contamination database,’ he added in a statement. ‘LANL should proactively keep the public continuously informed of important new developments.'”
KSFR Radio Santa Fe, Sept 7, 2017:
Rep. Ted Lieu and Jay Coghlan Interview on 101.1 FM
Congressman Lieu (D.CA) was given the Leadership Award by Alliance for Nuclear Accountability in May of this year for his sponsorship of HR 669, a bill to restrict the president’s sole authority to launch nuclear war (mirrored in the Senate by S.200 introduced by Sen. Ed Markey D.MA). Nukewatch director Jay Coghlan is the current chairman of ANA. “Living on the Edge” with David Bacon, 101.1 FM
***Archived Podcast***
Albuquerque Journal, September 5, 2017:
When it comes to nukes, it’s complicated
[Regarding a resolution before the Santa Fe City Council]
“Here’s what Jay Coghlan of the watchdog Nuclear Watch New Mexico group said about the Obama administration’s last budget plan: ‘Recall that President Obama received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Instead, the last budget of his

administrations sets an all-time record for funding Department of Energy nuclear weapons programs. What this means at Los Alamos is that the lab’s future is being increasingly tied to expanded production of plutonium pits, the radioactive cores of nuclear weapons.'” Albuquerque Journal, September 5, 2017:

LANL director announces retirement

“The watchdog Nuclear Watch New Mexico said of McMillan’s departure: ‘There’s got to be a whole lot more behind this abrupt resignation.‚Ķ He’s the poster child for why the profit motive should not run nuclear weapons facilities. Here’s hoping for better LANL management next time.’ The lab listed McMillan’s total compensation at $1.5 million in a 2013 federal disclosure report.”

Santa Fe New Mexican Sep 5, 2017 :

Los Alamos lab director retiring at year’s end

“Others said the high salary that McMillan received while he oversaw serious safety lapses highlighted fundamental issues at the lab. Jay Coghlan, director of the watchdog group Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said, ‘We like to call him McMillion for the annual paycheck he was receiving while running the lab into the ground with an exploding radioactive waste drum at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and ongoing nuclear safety lapses at Los Alamos’ plutonium facility. He’s the poster child for why the profit motive should not run nuclear weapons facilities,’ he said.

“With the lab management contract out for bid, Coghlan and others, including the University Professional and Technical Employees union, have questioned the for-profit management model at the lab, which began when Los Alamos National Security was hired in 2006 to run LANL.” Albuquerque Journal, August 14, 2017:
Two board members question move by nuclear safety agency
“Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico commended the two board members for raising objections. ‘It’s part of a continuing pattern to try and muzzle the board,’ he said of the staff deal. “Don Hancock of the Albuquerque-based Southwest Research and Information Center said it was ‘pretty unusual’ to see a public split among DNFSB members, who are presidential appointees. ‘From the public’s standpoint, we need more confidence in the oversight of DOE and the NNSA, not less,’ he said.”
Colorado Daily, August 10, 2017:
Peace Train: On the brink of nuclear hostilities
“If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.”
– President Harry Truman, Aug. 6, 1945
“They will be met with fire and fury and, frankly, power the likes of which this world has never seen before.”
– President Donald Trump, Aug. 8, 2017
“Steve Miller of Nuclear Watch New Mexico noticed the two similar quotes, from Truman and Trump, 72 years apart. Two hours later, North Korea said it was reviewing plans to strike U.S. military targets in Guam with medium-range ballistic missiles to create “enveloping fire,” according to North Korean state media.
“Miller went on to say, ‘So here we stand on the brink of nuclear hostilities. Note that the nuclear weapons state with the smallest arsenal and a barely functioning ICBM is still an existential threat, even to the country with the largest arsenal and the most advanced delivery systems on the planet. It seems that the nuclear weapon is most useful to the smallest power, transforming it

from a military gnat into a lethal danger to even the most powerful states. One would think that it would be in the interest of the powerful country to seek the complete removal of nuclear weapons from the picture. ASAP. But in fact, given the opportunity- of the Ban Treaty negotiations for example- the US has refused to have anything to do with any such effort. (‘We do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it.’). Instead, a trillion dollar renewal and ‘modernization’ of our nuclear forces is planned. Where does that road lead?'”

Aug 3, 2017

Jay Coghlan, Nukewatch Director Interview

With David Bacon on Living on the Edge, KSFR. Archived podcast here
Santa Fe New Mexican, August 4, 2017:
Lab Might Have Known Dangerous Waste Was Unmarked
“Jay Coghlan, director of the nonprofit Nuclear Watch New Mexico, questioned why, if the state had discovered the problem with the container, it didn’t ‘deal with it immediately as an imminent danger that put workers and the public at risk?’

“Coghlan said the state has undervalued the lab’s waste management violations in the past, setting fines that are too low. And, he said, millions of dollars in fines for a number of violations that accrued under a 2005 consent order governing the management of the lab’s legacy waste went unpaid. Instead, the cleanup order was revised in June 2016, and outstanding penalties were wiped away.
“Coghlan filed a lawsuit against the state for not imposing penalties under the former cleanup agreement, but a ruling in that case is still pending.
“The Environment Department has said the new consent order creates a stronger enforcement policy than the previous agreement.
“Coghlan disagrees. ‘All of this demonstrates a lack of oversight,’ he said, ‘and a failure to use its authority on the part of Governor Martinez and the Environment Department.'”
ABC News, May 27, 2017:
US nuclear lab’s future up in the air after recent fire
“Fattening up our already bloated nuclear weapons stockpile is not going to improve our national security,” said Jay Coghlan, the director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, in a news release issued Friday. “New Mexicans desperately need better funded schools and health care, not expanded plutonium pit production that will cause more pollution and threaten our scarce water
resources.”
(Article picked up from the SF NewMexican piece below)
Santa Fe New Mexican, May 20, 2017:
Lab fire highlights ongoing LANL waste problems
“Fattening up our already bloated nuclear weapons stockpile is not going to improve our national security,” said Jay Coghlan, the director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, in a news release issued Friday. “New Mexicans desperately need better funded schools and health care, not expanded plutonium pit production that will cause more pollution and threaten our scarce water resources.” Los Alamos Monitor, March 31, 2017:
Citizen board recommends DOE shed more light on WIPP waste storage
“Scott Kovac, of Nuclear Watch, wished the DOE didn’t propose the above ground facility in the first place, because it adds an extra step and delays in getting the dangerous waste into WIPP’s permanent below ground facility.
“‘They should just spend the money fixing up WIPP instead of these other things, I think they’d be farther along.’ Kovac said.”

Reaching Critical Will, March 28, 2017:

US Nuclear Weapon Modernization: Implications For The Ban Treaty

Report on the panel discussion at the UN, March 28, 2017.
“Coghlan said that responsibility for pit fabrication shifted to Los Alamos National Lab in the late 1980s, but repeated efforts to establish full-scale (80 warheads/ year) production capacity have failed. The Trump Administration and a Republican Congress are likely to advance funding for new pit facilities at Los Alamos. ‘All of this is in the name of Stockpile Stewardship,’ said Coghlan, ‘which is a fig leaf to disguise new weapons design.'”
“More information on US modernization plans can be found in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability’s Trillion Dollar Trainwreck.”
Truth-Out, March 6, 2017:
Trump Is Bankrupting Our Nation to Enrich the War Profiteers
This is a well researched paper [in spite of blaming Obama admin developments on Trump] with many linked sources, including in three instances, links to NukeWatch.org:
– “Yet the Trump administration [sic] is proposing to spend a trillion dollars or more over the next three decades upgrading the US nuclear weapons triad…”
– “We know from other sources that $1.4 billion a year is coming from the DOE for operation of the Sandia nuclear weapons lab…”
– “Components arm, fuse, fire, generate neutrons to start nuclear reactions…”
The Daily Beast, February 28, 2017:
What Was Trump’s Air Force Pick Doing For All That Cash?
Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, an anti-nuclear watchdog group in Wilson‚Äôs home state, was even more skeptical. Wilson’s work for Lockheed Martin and other nuclear contractors “obviously raises very serious ethical questions,” Coghlan said. Coghlan conceded that the recent presidential election represented a vote for change, but added that “part of that change should be appointing ethical people to senior positions. And [Wilson has] failed that test.”
Center for Public Integrity, February 8, 2017:
Air Force Secretary Nominee Helped A Major Defense Contractor Lobby For More Federal Funds
Wilson’s appointment got the attention of an anti-nuclear watchdog group in her home state, Nuclear Watch New Mexico. Wilson ignored pleas by the group’s executive director, Jay Coghlan, to step down from the congressional commission over the perceived conflict of interest.
For Nuclear Watch New Mexico’s Coghlan, Wilson’s prospective role as the head of the Air Force- one of the primary customers for Lockheed Martin and the other nuclear weapon contractors that employed her- sets off alarms.
“It obviously raises very serious ethical questions,” Coghlan said. “The presidential vote can be viewed as a popular vote for change, but part of that change should be appointing ethical people to senior positions. And she’s failed that test. I anticipate she’s going to be asked some tough questions during her confirmation hearing.”
Politico, February 8, 2017:
Records show how Air Force nominee skirted lobbying restrictions
Same article by Patrick Malone as above, including the same citations of Nuclear Watch and Jay Coghlan.
NM Political Report, February 10, 2017:

Air Force Secretary nominee helped a major defense contractor lobby for more federal funds
Same article by Patrick Malone as above, including the same citations of Nuclear Watch and Jay Coghlan.

Santa Fe New Mexican, January 4, 2017:

LANL Improves In Annual Federal Evaluation; Safety, Waste Issues Persist

Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said in a statement that while the Energy Department has said it learned its lesson from Rocky Flats, Los Alamos “has had a long history of inadequate safety analyses and unacceptable nuclear criticality risks.”
“Clearly these issues need to be 100 percent resolved before NNSA even thinks about expanding plutonium pit production,” he said.

Albuquerque Journal, January 4, 2017:

Amid transitions, both NM nuke labs get good evaluations

Despite this year’s “very good” rating for LANL, Watchdog group Nuclear Watch New Mexico noted shortcomings that NNSA cited in the evaluation over criticality safety issues related to plutonium work (a nuclear criticality event is an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction) as the lab moves toward ramping up production of plutonium “pits,” the cores that trigger nuclear weapons’ explosions. Parts of the evaluation say that required improvements “to the Criticality Safety Program are moving at an unacceptably slow rate” and that the leadership in operations management “has not prioritized needed criticality safety activities and improvements adequately… The number and latency of infractions in the plutonium facility is of concern.” 2016

The Guardian, November 1, 2016:

Atomic City, USA: how once-secret Los Alamos became a millionaire’s enclave

Home to the scientists who built the nuclear bomb, the company town of Los Alamos, New Mexico is today one of the richest in the country – even as toxic waste threatens its residents and neighboring Española struggles with poverty
“‘It’s a stark example of the proverbial 1% and the other 99%,’ says Jay Coghlan, sitting in a large reclining chair in the living room of his home in Santa Fe. A 45 minute drive south-east from Los Alamos, his home doubles as an office for Nuclear Watch New Mexico. ‘Neighboring communities have not benefited much at all, with the obvious exception that there’s jobs,’ he says. ‘Benefits have been very insular and privileged to the nuclear enclave itself.’ The environmental impact of living next door to a nuclear research lab is another sore issue. Some radioactive waste is still disposed of at the lab’s ‘Area G’ compound (although this could end next year), and there is still so-called ‘legacy waste’, which has not been cleaned up and will take billions of dollars to address. The carcinogenic plume of hexavalent chromium, meanwhile, which was discovered 10 years ago, is migrating towards nearby Native lands and the regional aquifer.”

Santa Fe New Mexican, October 10, 2016:

LANL makes progress on Area G cleanup, but doubts remain

“Watchdog groups suggested the decision was based on the fact that Area G is nearing capacity. The last open trench, pit 38, which spans more than 100 meters, is the only area with space to accept new waste. ‘The pit is going to be full,’ said Scott Kovac, research director for Nuclear Watch New Mexico. ‘It is not like they are just stopping out of the goodness of their own heart.’ Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said these estimates were based on false

assumptions. ‘I will call it willful misrepresentation, ignoring 90 percent of the waste that is there,’ he said. Coghlan estimates that the full scope of waste is 30 times higher than the numbers provided by the lab.”

Sputnik International News, October 6, 2016:

End of US-Russia Plutonium Pact ‘Not Catastrophic’ for Nonproliferation Goals

WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein. Nuclear Watch New Mexico Executive Director Jay Coghlan claims that Moscow’s decision to cancel the US-Russia Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement, which is aimed at reducing stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium, will not hurt the goal of nuclear nonproliferation.

“Moscow’s decision to cancel the US-Russia Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement, which is aimed at reducing stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium, will not hurt the goal of nuclear nonproliferation, Nuclear Watch New Mexico Executive Director Jay Coghlan told Sputnik. “It’s significant, but not catastrophic,” Coghlan said on Wednesday. “I still think that both countries will eventually dispose of the excess plutonium. But I cynically add that this is only because‚Ķboth countries already have too much plutonium for their weapons, so they don’t really care.”
“Coghlan expressed skepticism that any significant nonproliferation goals would have been met under the agreement.
“‘The US has more than enough plutonium to do what it wants with nuclear weapons on into the indefinite future,’ he said. Because the agreement calls for converting weapons-grade plutonium into a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel to be used for civilian nuclear power, Russia could continue producing plutonium, Coghlan argued. ‘Russian use of MOX in breeder reactors could produce additional plutonium, depending on how the reactors are configured,’ he stated.”

Albuquerque Journal, October 6, 2016:

Report: Los Alamos to end radioactive on-site waste disposal

“Critics maintain the DOE’s cost estimates are low and note that the agency expects to use an engineered cover’ at the site, instead of exhuming and removing hazardous materials, which Nuclear Watch New Mexico says would leave the materials permanently buried above the regional aquifer and three miles uphill from the Rio Grande.

“New Mexico and the U.S. Energy Department first signed a consent order that guides cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory more than a decade ago. A revised order was signed this year. Nuke Watch is challenging the new agreement in court.”

Santa Fe New Mexican, September 24, 2016:

After controversial firing, ex-LANL employee looking to rebuild career

“Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said it was “highly unethical of the lab to fire him in the first place, and they were stomping on his right to free speech because he wasn’t stomping for the party line… His study was retroactively classified and the lab could do that because of just one word that he used,” Coghlan said. “And that word is ‘Israel.’ He listed Israel among the known nuclear weapons powers – didn’t single Israel out, just, again, mentioned the word Israel. So it goes to show just how ridiculous the nuclear weapons policies are about the use of classification. That’s kind of the worst-kept secret in the world – that Israel has nuclear weapons.”

Albuquerque Journal, September 21, 2016:

Nuke Watch: Lab cleanup report understates costs, waste amounts at Los Alamos

“Nuclear Watch New Mexico says a highly touted new cost estimate for completing cleanup of decades‚Äô worth of radioactive and hazardous waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory is based more on the likely stream of federal funding rather than the actual cost of dealing with the toxic materials.” Note: This entire article is a review of Nuclear Watch’s critique of the new DOE report on LANL cleanup; see the full article.

San Francisco Chronicle, September 10, 2016:

Los Alamos Lab in for long environmental clean-up process

“Advocacy groups have challenged the validity of the clean-up process. Some say the polluted water is still doing damage and making animals sick. ‘The Department of Energy and Los Alamos Labs, they need to have their feet held to the fire,’ said Jay Coghlan, director of anti- nuclear weapons group Nuke Watch New Mexico. His group recently filed a lawsuit, calling for a judge to void a new clean-up agreement between the state and federal government.” (Article deleted)

Amarillo Globe-News, September 8, 2016:

Report: Pantex in dire need of upgrades

“However, some nuclear watchdogs are not convinced. Jay Coghlan- a representative of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a group that seeks to promote safety and environmental protection at regional nuclear facilities- said the cost of nuclear facilities is ‘a real burden on the American taxpayer. The $3.7 billion is a big number that has accrued over the years that shows chronic disregard of safety.’ He pointed to comments from Thornberry made in 2015 during a talk at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in the field of international affairs, alleging that workers at nuclear facilities have to ‘shoot rats off of their lunch in some of the facilities that they were working in.’ In Coghlan’s view, the federal government is too lax in its oversight of Pantex and other national security complexes. ‘This is one of the root problems. The private contractors who essentially run (Pantex) are greedy and on the lookout for more money, however they can get it,’ Coghlan said. ‘If they had prudently safeguarded things as it went along, they wouldn’t be asking for more taxpayer money.'”

KUNM FM, September 7, 2016:

LANL’s Long Environmental Cleanup

All said, the cleanup at Los Alamos has been a contentious process, to put it mildly. “‘It’s gutless,’ said Jay Coghlan, director of the anti-nuclear weapons group Nuke Watch New Mexico. ‘The Department of Energy and Los Alamos Labs, they need to have their feet held to the fire.’ “Nuke Watch recently filed a lawsuit asking a judge to throw out a new cleanup agreement between the state and the federal government- called a consent order- saying it is ineffective and was put together without the required public input.
“‘They’ve now come out with a new consent order that lacks any true enforceability,’ Coghlan said. “For example, the department of energy or Los Alamos lab can simply claim that it doesn’t have enough money for cleanup and then get out of cleanup. Or claim that it’s too technically difficult.’
“The New Mexico Environment Department has criticized the DOE’s cleanup proposals, too, but they’ve called Nuke Watch’s lawsuit ‘frivolous’ and are now seeking to block it in court.”

Albuquerque Journal, September 1, 2016:

State: Dismiss LANL cleanup lawsuit

“The New Mexico Environment Department has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Nuclear Watch New Mexico that seeks invalidation of a new agreement between the state and federal governments over cleanup of radioactive and hazardous waste from nuclear weapons work at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

“Nuke Watch maintains that a June ‘consent order’ agreement between the Environment Department and DOE was executed without a formal public hearing, as required by terms of an original 2005 cleanup deal between the state and the federal government.
“The Nuke Watch litigation also alleges DOE and the private contractor that runs the laboratory owe hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for missing cleanup deadlines set in 2005… The department wasn’t named as a defendant in the Nuke Watch suit but intervened in the case. “Nuke Watch director Jay Coghlan said via email Wednesday there’s ‘great irony in that NMED intervenes against us, raising the question whose side is it on, the environment or the polluter (in this case a $2.3 billion/year nuclear weapons facility).’ Coghlan also noted state government’s budget woes, which include a $600 million deficit. ‘Yet by our tally NMED forgave more than $300 million in potential fines for missed milestones in the 2005 Consent Order,’ he wrote.”

Santa Fe New Mexican, August 31, 2016:

State seeks to block lawsuit over LANL cleanup deal

The 2016 cleanup agreement explicitly states that the final version is not subject to appeal or public hearing, which drew criticism in June from several groups that said such language stifles public input.
Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch, called the department’s argument “flimsy semantics.” “The so-called Environment Department, whose charge is to protect the environment, takes an existing consent order that was pretty tough and essentially guts it, and further claims the public has no recourse,” he told The New Mexican on Wednesday.

Coghlan said Nuclear Watch maintains that the full public participation requirements apply to the new guidelines.
At a time when the state faces a massive deficit, Coghlan added, the state deferred to the interests of the lab and the Department of Energy rather than enforcing violations that would have generated funds for the state through fines and would have provided jobs in waste cleanup.
Some people praised the new agreement, but others raised concerns that it fails to establish any real, long-term cleanup deadlines and includes language that would enable cleanup work to be suspended if it were deemed too costly or “unreasonable.”
“We are seeing the level of funding go down for cleanup while weapons programs are rising, and the consent order is no longer the stick by which to compel increased funding for cleanup because its not enforceable,” Coghlan said. “It’s a giveaway.”

Amarillo News, August 16, 2016:

Pantex Plant to store more nuclear materials produced at Los Alamos lab

“‘Here you have the NNSA site with the most weapons-grade plutonium, a dramatically increasing mission in weapons production, yet the old site-wide environmental impact statement dates back to 1996,’ said Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico. ‘I would assert that an environmental statement is long overdue, whether we are approaching the cap on storage

at Pantex or not.'”

Albuquerque Journal, August 12, 2016:

LANL plutonium project called ‘a house of cards’

“Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said the GAO report reveals the CMMR project to be ‘a house of cards.’ He said the DOE, because of cost overruns and busted deadlines, has been on GAO’s ‘high-risk list’ watch list for the past 25 years. ‘I assert this is more of the same,’ he said.

“Coghlan noted that the report makes it clear that NNSA intends to upgrade the existing Radiological Laboratory Utility Office Building that opened in 2014 to a nuclear facility that can accommodate additional plutonium and giving it a ‘Hazard Category 3’ designation – the rating for a nuclear facility where the risks are ‘for only local significant consequences,’ as opposed to bigger risks of off-site or more widespread on-campus contamination.
“Coghlan said there’s been no environmental impact statement on that change and points to findings in the report that LANL has already started acquiring glove-boxes for the rad-lab that would have to be changed out and that the ventilation system also would need to be improved. “‘This is the first time ever the NNSA, a troubled agency to begin with, has taken a radiological lab and tried to make it into a Hazard Category 3,’ he said.”
August 6, 2016
Jay Coghlan, Nukewatch Director Interview
Earth Matters Radio re legacy of the US nuclear weapons program on the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings. Thursday Aug 6 at 10 am and 8 pm on 89.1FM. Archived podcast here
Albuquerque Journal, July 29, 2016:
Environment secretary resigns from Cabinet post
“‘The departure of Ryan Flynn is very welcome for those of us who believe that the mission of the state Environment Department is to protect the environment,’ said Douglas Meiklejohn, executive director of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. Flynn has also been at odds with Nuclear Watch New Mexico over a “consent order” agreement last month with the federal government over cleanup of decades worth of radioactive and hazardous waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Nuclear Watch has filed a court challenge to the deal, saying it contains too many loopholes.
“Nuclear Watch Director Jay Coghlan said the consent order ‘is going to be a big stain on (Flynn’s) legacy. Having said that, I’ll give him kudos that he did give us pretty good access and did hold serious discussions with us.'”

Santa Fe New Mexican, July 28, 2016:

Feds estimates LANL cleanup at $1 billion less than state

Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said in a statement that the federal cost estimate is not merely too low but also suggests “that the Lab’s major radioactive and toxic wastes dumps will not be cleaned up.” The lower price point, he said, indicates the Energy Department plans to “cap and cover” the estimated 200,000 cubic yards of toxic waste at sites atop Los Alamos mesas rather than move it to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad or another secure facility. The “so-called cleanup ‚Ķ leaves tons of radioactive and toxic wastes in the ground that will permanently threaten Northern New Mexico’s precious water resources,” Coghlan said. Nuclear Watch New Mexico has been critical of both the Energy Department and

the state Environment Department over delays in cleanup at Los Alamos. The organization filed a recent lawsuit against the lab and its federal regulators over an agreement with the state that governs the lab’s cleanup activities.

New Mexico Political Report, July 22, 2016:

Lowered deadline standards on new nuclear cleanup plan worries some

“‘The Department of Energy hates penalties,’ Scott Kovac, research and operations director with Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said in an interview. ‘A deadline might shake out some funding from its budget.’
“Jon Block, a Santa Fe attorney helping Nuclear Watch in a lawsuit against the Environment Department over the cleanup issue, said consent orders on waste cleanup are supposed to allow states to hold the federal government accountable to complete the clean up. Instead, he argued that the state Environment Department is doing the opposite. ‘They’ve turned over the cleanup to the polluter,’ Block said in an interview. ‘Instead of being the enforcer of noncompliance, they’re the cooperator, the negotiator, ‘we’re your pal.’ Block says this presents a problem because DOE’s approach to cleaning up nuclear waste is to ‘do the least work possible and spend the least amount of money.’

“The new consent order also gives DOE power to ‘update’ the Los Alamos cleanup deadlines based on issues like ‘actual work progress, changed conditions and changes in anticipated funding levels.’ To Kovac, this means that if DOE loses some of its money, the agency can use that as an excuse to not meet even the less flexible deadlines set under the new consent order.”

Albuquerque Journal, July 19th, 2016:

Nuke Watch wants June LANL cleanup agreement tossed

“NuclearWatch New Mexico is asking a federal judge to invalidate a new agreement between New Mexico and the federal government over how and when to clean up decades’ worth of hazardous waste left over from nuclear weapons work at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
“In an expanded version of a lawsuit Nuke Watch filed in May, the advocacy group maintains that the June “consent order” agreement between the New Mexico Environment Department and the federal Department of Energy was executed without a required, formal public hearing. “Scott Kovac, Nuke Watch’s research director, said in statement, “We will not let the public’s right for cleanup at the Los Alamos Lab be papered over by DOE and NMED. Both agencies agreed to all parts of the 2005 Consent Order, which included rigorous public participation requirements and a detailed the cleanup schedule, including a final compliance date. We will continue to push for the public to have a true voice in these important matters.”

New Mexico Environmental Law Center, July 19th, 2016:

Groups Ask Judge to Declare New LANL Consent Order Invalid

“On behalf of Nuclear Watch New Mexico (NukeWatch), the New Mexico Environmental Law Center filed an amended complaint in its federal case to obtain ‘reasonable but aggressive’ cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The amended complaint asserts that the Consent Order signed by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) on June 24, 2016 is invalid.”

Albuquerque Journal, July 14th, 2016:

Debate is on over making more nuke triggers at Los Alamos lab

“Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico notes that the wording of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act that calls for making 80 pits annually asserts that the need is not driven solely by ‘life extension programs’ intended to keep current weapons in good shape.
“‘It’s not about simple maintenance,’ Coghlan said. ‘It’s about advancing weapons designs ‚Ķ I assert that that’s a blank check for them to do what they want to do.’ He added: ‘They are seeking to divorce expanded pit production from the technical necessities of the stockpile.'”

“Critics still say nothing has been offered to specifically justify up to 80 pits a year. ‘You see the stated need and then there’s no solid justification,’ said Coghlan. He cites a 2008 interview with former Republican House member David Hobson of Ohio, who helped fight off the Modern Pit Facility. When Hobson questioned the need for 450 pits annually after years of being told that the weapons stockpile was in good shape, NNSA came back with a new offer of 250 pits, Hobson told Mother Jones magazine. ‘These were nuclear weapons we were talking about and they hadn’t given it more thought than that?’ said Hobson, who served in the House from 1991 through 2009.

“Coghlan and Mello dispute the need to replace or retire weapons that have ostensibly been well- maintained over the years and with the 2006 report supporting a long life remaining for existing pits. Coughlan cites a study by Sandia National Laboratory from 1993, just after the U.S. stopped real-world nuclear weapons test explosions, that found no example of ‘a nuclear weapon retirement where age was ever a major factor in the retirement decision.'”

Albuquerque Journal, June 24, 2016:

New Mexico, feds ink new agreement for Los Alamos cleanup

“But the head of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, which called for more public input on the new order and recently sued DOE and the lab‚Äôs contract operator for missing deadlines set in the 2005 consent order, says the new deal allows too much leeway. It ‘puts DOE in the driver’s seat’ by permitting milestones or targets to be changed if there‚Äôs not adequate funding or when DOE determines that cleanup plans are ‘technically infeasible.’ Nuke Watch’s Jay Coghlan said.” “Coghlan said Flynn’s claims about the new agreement are ‘hollow and misleading’ and that the document contains ‘no long-term enforceability for cleanup at Los Alamos.’ … ‘DOE can just go, ‘This is not practical or feasible’, and get out of it,’ he said. Coghlan also said Flynn allowed LANL more than 150 compliance extensions under the old consent order and is ‘now giving DOE a new gift’ of enforcement loopholes.

Albuquerque Journal, June 17, 2016:

Environment Department: LANL cleanup could cost $4B

Some critics, however, have said that having flexible deadlines for cleanup work is not an effective way to hold the lab accountable.
In April, Nuclear Watch New Mexico filed a lawsuit against Los Alamos National Security and the Department of Energy over their failures to meet cleanup milestones under the 2005 consent order. The watchdog group said the state could have collected more than $300 million in penalties if the federal government was held accountable for the deadlines.
The state issued 150 extensions under the Martinez administration, which the lab still failed to meet, the group said.
Nuclear Watch Director Jay Coghlan said in a news release at the time that the group was aiming to make the lab and federal agency “clean up their radioactive and toxic mess first before making another one for a nuclear weapons stockpile that is already bloated far beyond what we need.”

He was referring to plans pending in Congress to increase plutonium pit production in Los Alamos over the coming decades.

Albuquerque Journal, June 17, 2016:

National military, policy experts to attend nuclear symposium

“But critics contend the billions spent on nuclear weapons in New Mexico don’t help the economy as much as the labs’ boosters claim. Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, which advocates for nuclear weapons budget reductions, characterized the coming symposium as a ‘love fest for the pending $1 trillion modernization of U.S. nuclear forces, which has the usual giant defense contractors salivating over huge profits.'”

KSFR FM, June 3, 2016:

Nuke Safety Activists Criticize Delayed LANL Performance Report

“Jay Coghlan, director of nuclear safety organization Nuclear Watch New Mexico, says there‚Äôs no good reason to have kept this information from the public for so long, especially when we‚Äôre footing the bill for LANL‚Äôs budget. KSFR‚Äôs Kate Powell checked in with Coghlan and brings us this report.”

Albuquerque Journal, June 3, 2016:

Lockheed Martin planning Sandia bid

‘Critics of Lockheed Martin have said the company should be disqualified based on a 2014 report by the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General that concluded the firm wrongfully used federal funds for lab operations to lobby for the no-bid contract extension it received several years ago. Sandia Corp. and its parent company, Lockheed Martin, paid the federal government a $4.8 million fine for using tax dollars to lobby Congress and federal agencies for renewal of its then-$2.4 billion Sandia contract with the Department of Energy in violation of federal law. ‘”How can Lockheed Martin be entrusted to run the country’s biggest nuclear weapons lab when it intentionally violates established U.S. law?” asked Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, which scrutinizes budgets and operations at Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories.

Public News Service, May 31, 2016:

Watchdog Sues Feds Over Los Alamos Nuke Waste Removal

“Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, says the DOE and its contractor, Los Alamos National Security or LANS, has done little more than kick the can down the road. ‘We are alleging 12 counts, and it’s pretty much indisputable, where they have missed compliance milestone deadlines,’ says Coghlan. ‘So, that’s what our lawsuit’s about, to try and compel the lab to meet those deadlines, which have passed.’
“Coghlan says the New Mexico Environment Department is revising its 2005 consent order to extend the deadline beyond 2018 to clean up the dumpsite. But he says there is a loophole, for it to be enforceable Congress would have to OK enough funds to complete the project. Today is the last day for public comment on the revisions. Coghlan says under the original consent order, DOE and LANS a partnership that includes Bechtel Corporation and the University of California have racked up and not yet paid more than $300 million in fines for missing deadlines. He thinks they should be forced to pay and to complete the work they’ve already been paid billions to perform.

“‘There is an estimated 200,000 cubic yards of mixed waste, both radioactive and hazardous,’ says Coghlan. ‘The lab’s idea (of) cleaning up is capping and covering them, and leaving them permanently buried.'”

Santa Fe Reporter, May 18, 2016:

Stalled LANL Cleanup to Court

“‘The federal government plans to spend a trillion dollars over the next 30 years completely rebuilding US nuclear forces. Meanwhile, cleanup at the Los Alamos Lab, the birthplace of nuclear weapons, continues to be delayed, delayed, delayed,’ Jay Coghlan, executive director of NukeWatch, said in a press release. ‘We seek to make the for-profit nuclear weaponeers clean up their radioactive and toxic mess first before making another one for a nuclear weapons stockpile that is already bloated far beyond what we need.'”

Albuquerque Journal, May 17, 2016:

Nuke Watch sues for fines against DOE, Los Alamos lab over missed cleanup deadlines

“Nuke Watch’s lawsuit asks for a court order requiring DOE and LANS to meet the 2005 cleanup requirements “‘according to a reasonable but aggressive schedule ordered by the court’ and imposing the $37,000-per-day fines for each expired deadline- now approaches $300 million, Nuke Watch said in a news release.

“The suit, filed for Nuke Watch by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, does not name NMED as a defendant. But Nuke Watch attacked the state agency in its news release, saying that in 2011 under Gov. Susana Martinez, NMED allowed LANS ‘to stop virtually all cleanup, instead engaging in a ‘campaign’ to move above-ground, monitored radioactive transuranic wastes to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.’

“‘‚Ķ That campaign ended in disaster when an improperly treated radioactive waste drum from LANL ruptured, contaminating 21 workers and indefinitely closing that multi-billion dollar facility,’ said Nuke Watch, referring to a February 2014 incident for which DOE has payed a $74 million settlement.

“Nuke Watch says NMED’s proposed consent order revisions would settle the outstanding cleanup violations and ‘absolve’ DOE and LANS of any fines.
“Scott Kovac, Nuke Watch’s research director, said that ‘under the Martinez administration NMED granted more than 150 extension requests, and DOE and LANS have still missed many of those deadlines. Nuke Watch has taken this necessary step to enforce cleanup at LANL, to hold DOE accountable for protecting New Mexicans, and to make cleanup of legacy wastes the top priority. It’s ridiculous that we have to have this cleanup debate after 70 years of contamination from nuclear weapons research and production.'”

Amarillo Globe-News, May 17, 2016:

Feds Give Pantex Contractor ‘Scathing’ Review

“‘That blew my mind,’ said Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico and board president of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. ‘They were saying, ‘We gotta have the B61-12. We gotta rush production. Then they send the wrong tail kit.’
… “‘I was a little surprised,’ Coghlan said. “(The strike) was one area where I thought that maybe CNS got unfairly dinged.’

… “‘I think this is a root cause of a number of deficiencies. They are not being self-critical and they have their hand out for taxpayer money and expect to be paid,’ Coghlan said.

“‘We are talking about extremely serious matters here. We are talking about special nuclear materials where you could end up having criticality events.'”

Santa Fe New Mexican, May 14, 2016:

Feds find progress in LANL’s performance, but still short of mark

NukeWatch Director Jay Coghlan published comment:

“The article’s last sentence on how LANL did not agree to standard whistleblower protection deserves special attention. This raises the question of who is calling the shots, the federal government as overseers, or the self-vested for-profit nuclear weapons lab that receives more than $2 billion in taxpayer money every year, and has a long dismal history of whistleblower retaliation.

“The NNSA’s Performance Evaluation Report reads:

Several contract clauses that were bilaterally incorporated into prime contracts at all other NNSA sites, including clauses for whistleblower protection for Laboratory employees and for conference management requirements, were not accepted by the Laboratory, resulting in atypical unilateral modifications by NNSA. ((report, see p. 44)

“I find this a shocking example of Lab exceptionalism, when every other NNSA site has agreed to standard whistleblower protections, but LANL does not. This is especially striking when Los Alamos is arguably the most scandal-ridden NNSA site, from the botched Wen Ho Lee affair to the missing classified tapes to the abrupt firing of two highly experienced investigators brought in to root out corruption at the Lab. How can an institution that routinely retaliates against whistleblowers be trusted?

“One of the things I am most proud about Nuclear Watch New Mexico is that we have three LANL whistleblowers on our Steering Committee. Whistleblowers must be honored, not retaliated against, for standing up on principle and exposing the incompetence, malfeasance, waste, fraud and abuse that is endemic across the Department of Energy‚Äôs nuclear weapons complex, but seems especially pronounced at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). “One cure is to have Congress make Los Alamos National Security, LLC, the for-profit contractor running the Lab, pay out of its own pocket for litigation costs against whistleblowers, instead of letting it keep its nose in a trough of unlimited taxpayers’ money.”

Jay Coghlan
Director, Nuclear Watch New Mexico

Santa Fe New Mexican, May 14, 2016:

Sandia Labs contract up for bid

Lockheed Martin is considered the front-runner, but Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, thinks it should be barred. A Department of Energy Office of Inspector General report in 2014 found that Lockheed Martin used taxpayer money in lobbying for its no- bid contract extension several years ago. Sandia Corp. and Lockheed Martin paid a $4.8 million fine. “The lab does create jobs, of that there is no dispute, but there is a lot of economic propaganda that it has this multiplying effect,” Coghlan also said. “I just don’t think it’s true.”

Santa Fe New Mexican, May 13, 2016:

Nuclear watchdog group sues feds, LANL over 2005 accord

“The nonprofit Nuclear Watch New Mexico filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court, accusing the federal government and lab managers of over a dozen violations of a 2005 consent

order to clean up hazardous waste left after decades of nuclear weapons and chemical research. Under federal law, if the nonprofit wins the case, the lab and the federal agency could be on the hook for $37,500 a day for each violation of the order.”

Albuquerque Journal, May 13, 2016:

Sandia gets outstanding evaluation from feds, but is criticized for lobbying

“Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, in a statement today, reacted to the evaluation’s comment that the lobbying controversy had hurt Sandia’s reputation.
“‘What an understatement!’ he wrote in an email. He said ‘Lockheed Martin should be made to seriously pay for its lobbying crimes at Sandia’ and called the $140,000 fee deduction for leadership ‘peanuts.’

“‘This is absurd and another sign of the out-of-control nuclear weapons industry, when Sandia officials should have been prosecuted for blatantly illegal lobbying activities and Lockheed Martin barred from competing for Sandia’s new management contract because of its criminal history.'”

Albuquerque Journal, May 13, 2016:

Sandia Labs earn high marks in annual review

Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico reacted by saying in a statement that Lockheed Martin “should be made to seriously pay for its lobbying crimes at Sandia” and called the $140,000 fee deduction “peanuts.” “Sandia officials should have been prosecuted for blatantly illegal lobbying activities and Lockheed Martin barred from competing for Sandia’s new management contract because of its criminal history,” he said

Santa Fe New Mexican May 12, 2016:

Nuclear watchdog group sues feds, LANL over 2005 accord

The nonprofit Nuclear Watch New Mexico filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court, accusing the federal government and lab managers of over a dozen violations of a 2005 consent order to clean up hazardous waste left after decades of nuclear weapons and chemical research. Under federal law, if the nonprofit wins the case, the lab and the federal agency could be on the hook for $37,500 a day for each violation of the order.
Without the extensions, argue attorneys for Nuclear Watch New Mexico, the lab and the Department of Energy are violating the consent order.
Albuquerque Journal, May 12, 2016:
Who will run Sandia Labs?
“Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a nuclear weapons watchdog group, told the Journal the expectation that significant private-sector job growth can result from any new Sandia contract is na√Øve, especially given that the lab has been a part of the Albuquerque community for decades and the city‚Äôs economy is still sputtering.
“‘The lab does create jobs, of that there is no dispute, but there is a lot of economic propaganda that it has this multiplying effect,’ Coghlan said. ‘I just don‚Äôt think it‚Äôs true.’
Coghlan also said although Sandia is ‘clearly better-run’ than Los Alamos or Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, he would prefer that Lockheed Martin be barred from receiving a Sandia contract.
“‘In my view, Lockheed Martin should be barred from competing because of its clearly illegal

lobbying practices,’ Coghlan said.”

Huntington News, May 3, 2016:

NNSA releases Environmental Review of UPF Bomb Plant Plans

“The Supplement Analysis (SA) does exactly what we expected,” said Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance which, along with Nuclear Watch New Mexico, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the Supplement Analysis more than a year ago. “It attempts to shrug off radical changes as no big deal in order to move forward with the modernization of Y12.”
“An SA is supposed to take a look at the existing environmental analysis and decide if it still matches up with the new proposed action. In this case, even though the new action is profoundly different from the old proposal, the NNSA says no new analysis is required.”

Los Alamos Daily Post, April 21, 2016:

Montano’s Whistleblowing Recognized On Capitol Hill

On Tuesday, Montano was given an award by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a national network of organizations devoted to issues of nuclear weapons and nuclear waste. He was recognized for his lifetime achievement as a whistleblower at LANL, where he worked for 32 years and retired in 2010, when his long-standing complaint of whistleblower retaliation was settled. During his embattled career he stood up to withering retaliation, while revealing business practice scandals at the lab, fighting for workers’ rights and uncovering pay discrepancies for female workers.

At a ceremony in the Senate Hart Building, Montano, along with Sen. Diane Feinstein, (D-Calif) and Rep. Adam Smith, (D-WA), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, also were honored for their efforts to hold the nuclear weapons military-industrial complex accountable.

“Nothing could mean more to me from any other group,” Montano said. “These are people who are not paid for trying to do the right thing, dealing with issues of nuclear weapons and contamination of sites. They are my kind of people, doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.”

Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico and president of the ANA Board of Directors, said Montano’s award was a tribute to his tireless efforts to expose fraud, waste and abuse and standing up against whistleblower retaliation. “We so value his courageous stance and he’s been doing it over decades,” Coghlan said in a call between lobbying visits in Washington Wednesday. “Whistleblowers are invaluable. We need to nurture them, not retaliate against them, and to listen carefully to the truth they speak to power.”
Chuck Montano serves on the NuclearWatch NM steering committee.

Albuquerque Journal, April 8, 2016:

Watchdog pushes for labs’ eval data

“Nuclear Watch New Mexico has filed a second request under the Freedom of Information Act for the evaluation reports, this time calling for ‘expedited processing’ for the documents that Nuke Watch maintains is required by law.
“Nuke Watch’s new request cites part of the federal open records law that said agencies should provide a quick response to records requests if ‘a compelling need exists when failure to obtain records expeditiously could reasonably be expected to pose a threat to the life or physical safety

of an individual or, when a request is submitted by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information and there is an urgency to inform the public about actual or alleged Federal Government activity.’
“Nuke Watch says that there is ‘great public interest in the NNSA’s Contractor Performance Evaluation Reports for many NNSA Facilities, but particularly in those reports for the Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories.’

“The letter from the watchdog group’s Jay Coghlan and Scott Kovac cites a recent Journal editorial that said, ‘Either the National Nuclear Security Administration is running really late in completing performance evaluations of national weapons contractors or it is stonewalling in releasing them. Neither possibility is good.’ The Journal also has submitted a FOIA request for the evaluations.
“Nuke Watch notes that, in 2012, after release of PERs was denied, it filed a lawsuit. The evaluations were released six days later and have since been posted annually. The latest request says that, under FOIA, the reports must be posted online in the NNSA’s ‘Electronic Reading Room’ because the evaluations are ‘frequently requested records.'”

Albuquerque Journal, March 31, 2016:

State proposes overhaul of LANL cleanup agreement with DOE

“Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said Wednesday he found too many loopholes in the draft agreement. He said it essentially holds cleanup hostage to DOE funding and that ‘if DOE finds cleanup impractical’ or technically unfeasible, ‘they can get out of it.’ Under the draft plan, milestones required of the DOE would be enforced using penalties. Coghlan commented that Flynn ‘said the current consent order doesn’t work. The reason it didn’t work is because he eviscerated the consent order with more than 150 milestone extensions.’ “Coghlan also said again that there hasn’t been enough public participation in the consent order changes and they should have faced a formal process under which interested parties could request hearings to resolve disagreements.”

Albuquerque Journal, March 30, 2016:

NM Environment Dept. rolls out new plan to require cleanup at Los Alamos

“Critics including Nuclear Watch New Mexico have said development of the draft proposal should have gone through a more formal public hearing process under which interested parties can request hearings to resolve disagreements and call witnesses that can be cross-examined. A hearing officer then would make recommendations to the Environment Department.”

Santa Fe New Mexican, March 30, 2016:

Feds plan to send nuke waste to N.M.

“In January, the watchdog group Nuclear Watch New Mexico filed a notice with the state Environment Department of its intent to sue over the missed deadline.
“Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said the ventilation problems at WIPP are worrisome and need to be resolved before the plutonium is stored there. ‘We don‚Äôt think they can do it without compromising workers safety,’ he said of the plutonium plan. Plutonium is highly carcinogenic when it‚Äôs inhaled, he said.”

Santa Fe New Mexican, March 30, 2016:

New Mexico rolls out cleanup proposal for federal lab

“Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico argued that there are “giant loopholes” in the proposal that would allow the Department of Energy to call the shots and even delay cleanup if funding isn’t available… He also voiced concerns about the lack of public participation in developing the order and the ability of the public to weigh in on future changes.

“Watchdog groups have been critical of cleanup efforts at the lab, suggesting officials aren’t going far enough to address the waste that was placed in drums, plastic bags and cardboard boxes and buried years ago in unlined pits and shafts on lab property. Nuclear Watch New Mexico contends soil samples taken from Area G show detectable amounts of plutonium and americium. The group maintains there are still threats to the regional aquifer that supplies water to several Northern New Mexico communities and that the radioactive waste needs to be moved before cleanup can begin at Area G.

“We want nothing short of comprehensive cleanup at the Los Alamos lab,” Coghlan said. “That would be a real win-win for New Mexicans, permanently protecting our water and the environment while creating hundreds of high-paying jobs.”

Albuquerque Journal, March 23, 2016:

LANL meeting with safety board reveals concerns

“Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico said the lab‚Äôs belief in its own ‚Äúexceptionalism‚Äù is the problem and that LANL feels it doesn‚Äôt have to follow DOE rules.”

Albuquerque Journal, March 18, 2016:

NNSA fails to release lab evaluations for past fiscal year

Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico said this week, “There is no good reason why the government should withhold information on how contractors paid by the American taxpayer perform. It looks like we going to have to sue again to get what should have already been automatically released in the name of good governance and contractor accountability.”

Independant News, Jan 28, 2016:

Lawsuit Filed Against DOE, Los Alamos

“A New Mexico anti-nuclear group last week announced plans to sue the U.S. Department of Energy and Los Alamos National Laboratory, charging that the Laboratory has continually failed to meet hazardous waste cleanup milestones established by the state’s Environment Department. The plans were detailed in a January 20 letter from the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, a Santa Fe based firm representing the anti-nuclear organization, Nuclear Watch New Mexico. “According to a news release issued by Nuclear Watch, the January 20 letter gives the formal notice that is required in order to file the suit, ‘which (we) intend to do within 60 days.’ Jay Coghlan, director of the anti-nuclear group, complained, ‘The nuclear weaponeers plan to spend a trillion dollars over the next 30 years completely rebuilding U.S. nuclear forces (while) cleanup at the Los Alamos Lab, the birthplace of nuclear weapons, continues to be delayed, delayed, delayed.’ He said the lawsuit would aim to force DOE and Los Alamos ‘to clean up their radioactive and toxic mess first before making another one for a nuclear weapons stockpile that is already bloated far beyond what we need.’
“A $74 million settlement between DOE and the New Mexico Environment Department, announced late last week, will not affect plans for the lawsuit, according to Scott Kovac, another Nuclear Watch leader. That settlement was related to problems arising from shipments of

transuranic radioactive waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.”

Amarillo News, Jan 24, 2016:

Rise in plutonium production points to more work at Pantex

“‘Expanded plutonium pit production at the Los Alamos Lab is really all about future new-design nuclear weapons with new military capabilities produced through so-called Life Extension Programs for existing nuclear weapons,’ said Nuclear Watch Director Jay Coghlan.
“‘The real irony is that this Interoperable Warhead has been delayed for at least five years, if not forever, because of its enormous estimated expense and Navy skepticism. Yet this doesn’t keep Los Alamos and the (National Nuclear Security Administration) from spending billions of taxpayer dollars … for unnecessary and provocative expanded plutonium pit production.’

“‘In reality, no stockpile pits have been manufactured since 2011, and none are currently scheduled, to us illustrating the lack of true need for any pit production to begin with,’ Coghlan said. ‘Future production would be for W87 pits for the Interoperable Warhead that would be a combined W78 and W97 warhead. But again, the IW has been delayed for 5 years, which bureaucratically could mean its death, especially given lack of Navy support.'”
– Story also carried by Lubbock Online

Los Alamos Daily Post, Jan 24, 2016:

LANL’s Plutonium Plans Move Forward, Draw Fire

“The over-all 100-fold increase in exposure was criticized last week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Watch New Mexico and will certainly be challenged as the project unfolds.”

KRQE/AP, Jan 23, 2016:

Nuclear trigger production could resume at Los Alamos lab

“Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico said there is no need for expanded production in terms of the safety and reliability of the current stockpile, but that it is needed for future designs.”

Public News Service, Jan. 22, 2016:

Watchdog Plans Lawsuit Over Lack of Los Alamos Cleanup

“Nuclear Watch New Mexico has put the federal government and the Los Alamos National Laboratory on notice that it plans to sue over what it contends is the failure to clean up nuclear and toxic waste at the lab site. The watchdog group says the lab hasn’t executed its part of a 2005 consent order with the New Mexico Environmental Department to remove the waste. The group’s biggest concern at Los Alamos is a site known as ‘Area G,’ which Nuclear Watch director Jay Coghlan said contains up to 200,000 cubic yards of poisonous debris, much of it left over from the Cold War. ‘It’s a waste dump for both radioactive and toxic materials that dates back to 1957,’ he said. ‘The lab plans to simply cap and cover it, and leave it forever.’
“Coghlan said the deadline for the lab to have a cleanup plan in place was last December. Coghlan said his group’s concerns were raised recently when DOE announced plans for a trillion-dollar upgrade of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, with much of that money earmarked to improve the facilities at Los Alamos. ‘To oversimplify, the nuclear weaponeers are getting ready to create a whole new round of nuclear weapons,’ he said. ‘Before cleaning up their first mess, they’re getting ready to cause another.’ He said Nuclear Watch filed a legally required notice with

DOE this week, and if the department takes no action, his group will file suit within 60 days to enforce the consent agreement.
“The DOE complaint letter is online at Nukewatch.org.”

Albuquerque Journal North, Jan 22, 2016:

‘Steps’ toward pit production made at Los Alamos

The Nuclear Watch New Mexico watchdog group, in a news release last week, said the recent moves “make explicit” the decision to expand pit-production capabilities at Los Alamos.
Lab watchdogs in New Mexico don’t believe a case has been made for mass production of pits, even as they also question DOE’s plans for how to make more of the nuclear triggers.

Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico said, “There is no need for expanded plutonium pit production to maintain the safety and reliability of the existing nuclear weapons stockpile, but it is vital for future new designs that the nuclear weaponeers want.”

Santa Fe New Mexican, Jan. 22, 2016:

Watchdog plans to sue over LANL’s delayed cleanup

“Cleanup at the Los Alamos Lab cannot be open-ended or it will never be accomplished,” said Scott Kovac, a NukeWatch research director, in a statement issued Wednesday.
“We’ve got to stop seeing the decline in cleanup funding,” Jay Coghlan, executive director of NukeWatch, said in an interview Thursday. Coghlan said the money should be directed to waste management rather than creating new waste. He believes the lab needs at least $50 million more than its annual funding for cleanup, a budget of about $185 million. “I really doubt [cleanup] will move forward without the lawsuit,” he said.

NukeWatch said it is seeking full accountability at every step of the cleanup effort, as well as a public comment period before the new consent order is “set in stone.”

Albuquerque Journal North, Jan. 21, 2016:

Nuclear Watch to sue over LANL cleanup problems

“We are putting the weaponeers on notice that they have to clean up their radioactive and toxic mess first before making another one for a nuclear weapons stockpile that is already bloated far beyond what we need,” said Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuke Watch, a nonprofit watchdog group. He was referring to DOE’s recent preliminary approvals for changes at Los Alamos, including new underground facilities, to accommodate re-starting production of plutonium “pits,” the triggers for nuclear weapons.

Nuke Watch’s Coghlan said Wednesday that cleanup at Los Alamos “continues to be delayed, delayed, delayed,” despite plans to spend a trillion dollars over 30 years to rebuild the U.S. nuclear weapons force.
Nuke Watch also has been pushing for a formal public hearing process- which Nuke Watch contends is required and allows interested parties to submit materials and question witnesses- as a revised consent order on cleanup is developed.

2015

Albuquerque Journal North, Dec. 18, 2015:

LANL contract up for bid after 2017

“Jay Coghlan of the Nuclear Watch New Mexico watchdog group said the situation as described by McMillan [in the Lab Director’s letter to LANL employees], with LANS getting an extension despite failing to earn an award term, was ‘deja vu all over again,’ similar to a later-rescinded

waiver that granted LANS an award year for fiscal 2012, although it hadn’t met all the performance criteria. ‘It seems awfully premature for director McMillan to indicate there’s going to be a contract extension before it’s actually finalized by the U.S. government,’ Coghlan said. ‘He’s putting the cart before the horse, maybe putting on a happy face for his employees before they leave for Christmas.'”

Santa Fe Reporter, Dec. 18, 2015:

Some Cleanup, Some Patience

“Here we are more than 40 years after the last chromium was dumped into Sandia Canyon, and we are now starting cleanup,” Nuclear Watch New Mexico’s Scott Kovac writes SFR in an email. “This shows the Lab’s preferred cleanup method, ‘natural attenuation,’ is really not cleanup at all. It’s time to start comprehensive cleanup across Los Alamos, instead of hoping for the contaminants to go away.”

McClatchy DC, Dec. 11, 2015:

America’s modernized nuclear arms roil diplomatic waters

“‘What they’re doing is taking a dumb bomb and turning it into a smart bomb and claiming that it’s not a new military capability,’ said Jay Coghlan, executive director at Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a nonproliferation group. ‘It just doesn’t square with reality.’
“Coghlan added that the B61-12’s improved accuracy and lower yield could make it easier to justify its use in the future, since smaller, more precise blasts mean less radioactive fallout. “Russia has its own modernization programs, Coghlan points out. ‘The end result is an arms race.'”

Santa Fe Reporter, Dec. 8, 2015:

Los Alamos Cleanup Past Due

“‘It’s delay, delay, delay,’ says Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, a watchdog group that took the occasion to sound the alarm on the practices and failures that they see bogging down cleanup at the lab. ‘Under the Martinez administration, the [New Mexico Environment Department] granted more than 150 extensions, which is the opposite of enforcement, and essentially eviscerated the consent order and we see declining levels of funding for cleanup at Los Alamos.’ The concern is that the longer this cleanup is postponed, the more it will fade from memory, and the less people will think to argue for a cleanup that could bring jobs to the area now, and protect its groundwater for the long term. “‘We hear that we can’t afford to do cleanup and at the same time the US government is ready to embark on a trillion dollar modernization of nuclear forces, so budget arguments against cleanup ring pretty hollow in our view,’ Coghlan says. ‘Go ask the public what they want, and ask northern New Mexicans what they want. They want cleanup over weapons.'”

Santa Fe New Mexican, Dec. 7, 2015:

LANL misses cleanup deadline set in 2005 for largest waste site

Sunday’s deadline focused on “Area G,” LANL’s largest waste deposit site. A local watchdog group, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, said comprehensive cleanup for the site “is still decades away.” In a statement released Monday, Nuclear Watch stressed the need for public participation in the revised cleanup order, including a public hearing, and condemned a plan proposed by LANL to “cap and cover” waste in Area G.

“Cleanup just keeps being delayed. If not corrected, cleanup simply won’t happen,” said Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch. “Nobody ever thought cleanup would be fully completed by the end of 2015; nobody is under any illusions about that,” he added.

Santa Fe Reporter, Nov. 18, 2015:

Consenting to Cleanup

“Jay Coghlan said, ‘My biggest fear is that through this revised consent order, the NMED is basically giving up on being in the driver’s seat.’ Coghlan said annual planning should be in the state’s control, and pointed to ‘the Department of Energy’s presence on the Government Accountability Office’s high-risk list for 25 years as justifying the skepticism… The department has a record of blown schedules and blown costs.’ he said.”

Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 13, 2015:

What price a LANL cleanup? Somewhere north of $1.2B, says NMED secretary

“During a public comment period, Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico said Hintze shouldn’t ask the public to be ‘realistic’ about the LANL cleanup because DOE itself is a ‘thoroughly unrealistic department’ with a history of blown deadlines and blown cost estimates. He said that what LANL gets for cleanup is small compared to what’s being spent by DOE to develop ‘smart’ new nuclear weapons.

“Coghlan said NMED needs to be ‘in the driver’s seat’ in dictating cleanup work to DOE and that NMED had ‘eviscerated’ the 2005 consent decree by granting more than 100 milestone extensions. The intent of the 2005 agreement was to ‘make it hurt’ when the lab didn’t meet requirements, Coghlan said. Flynn responded that he agrees that NMED needs to be in the driver’s seat and that his administration has fined DOE more than any agency in the country. But he said it was his job to make sure the lab is clean, and to protect people and the environment, not to ‘punish the lab.'”

Los Alamos Daily Post, Nov. 13, 2015:

Wash, Dry And Repeat… Billion Dollar Cleanup Settlement Starts Over

“Scott Kovak of Nuclear Watch New Mexico said he would reserve his judgement until there were more concrete details about the nature of the campaigns, but that he didn’t see what was wrong with having deadlines and deliverables. Why, when problems and surprises came up, did the managers not revise the schedules, he wondered. ‘There is no reason that schedules could not have been updated along the way,’ he said.”