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Archived Items Pre-2010
Watchdogs Force NNSA to Post Strategic Plans for its Nuclear Weapons Sites
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the semi-autonomous nuclear weapons agency within the Department of Energy, has quietly posted “Ten Year Site Plans” (TYSPs) for all of its eight active nuclear weapons research, production and testing sites. This unprecedented electronic access to NNSA’s strategic planning for each of its sites is the result of a successful three-year Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by Nuclear Watch New Mexico. These Plans are authoritative references for detailed site descriptions, employment levels, budgets, future missions, and proposed new or upgraded facilities. Access to these Plans should help inform public debate over future nuclear weapons policies, which Congress has required the Obama Administration to address through a new “Nuclear Posture Review.”
Nuclear Watch Press Release [196KB] -January 22, 2009
Frank Munger's Atomic City Underground - "Nuclear Watch: credit where credit's due" -January 23, 2009
Global Security Newswire - "U.S. Releases Nuclear Complex Modernization Details" -January 23, 2009
The Case for Stockpile Curatorship
Highlights of Recommendations:
President Obama has pledged to work toward a nuclear weapons free world, but has also promised to adequately maintain the U.S. stockpile as long as other countries possess nuclear weapons. This is not necessarily a contradiction - - both could be implemented through a “Curatorship Program” that is built upon and augments already existing programs.
The “Enhanced Surveillance Program” and replacement-as-needed of limited life components can reliably maintain the U.S. stockpile while global nonproliferation objectives are being progressively worked toward.
While continuing to reject RRW, Congress should legislate a requirement for independent expert risk/benefit analyses of proposed changes to existing nuclear weapons that could erode confidence by straying from original, tested designs.
Congress should bar any new and/or replacement designs and modifications or changes made through Life Extension Programs that introduce new military characteristics.
Unneeded nuclear weapons production facilities, such as Los Alamos’ Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project “Nuclear Facility” and Y-12’s “Uranium Processing Facility”, should have construction funding deleted and reprogrammed to Enhanced Surveillance.
Congratulations to the New Members of New Mexico’s Congressional Delegation!
Let’s put them to work for us...to deny funding for the unneeded CMRR Nuclear Facility and to redirect that money for today’s urgent needs: nuclear nonproliferation, global threat reduction, energy efficiency, and environmental research and cleanup.
Rep. Tauscher on a New Nuclear Posture for the 21st Century
In remarks delivered at the Center for American Progress, a progressive policy research and advocacy organization, Representative Ellen Tauscher of California offered encouragement towards reshaping the U. S. strategic nuclear posture towards reducing the nuclear danger in the world while still maintaining a sufficient deterrent. Tauscher, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the House Armed Services Committee, calls for a new kind of Nuclear Posture Review that begins by asking the questions, “what are nuclear weapons for and what capabilities are needed to meet those objectives?” Tauscher recommends balancing the need to maintain some nuclear weapons while also working to curb their proliferation. She concludes that recognizing the limited objectives of our nuclear weapons leads to the requirement for only a limited number of weapons.
Constructing a 21st Century Nuclear Posture, Rep. Ellen Tausher remarks at the Center for American Progress [92KB] –November 17, 2008
Incoming Administration Unveils Its Strategy for Global Nuclear Security
November 6, 2008- Barack Obama and Joe Biden have declared strong positions in their Fact Sheet on Defense and have stated goals for preventing nuclear terrorism and nuclear weapons proliferation. The incoming Administration states that it will prevent terrorists from acquiring a nuclear bomb by securing nuclear weapons materials at all vulnerable sites around the world within four years. The “Proliferation Security Initiative” will be institutionalized to strengthen international policing and interdiction efforts aimed at stopping shipments of WMDs, their delivery systems and production materials. Obama proposes to strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency with more authority, personnel and technologies. A verifiable treaty will be negotiated to end the production of fissile nuclear weapons materials. Real incentives and pressure will back up tough diplomacy to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and verify full dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Additionally, Obama intends to work with Russia to bi-laterally take nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert and to deeply and verifiably reduce nuclear arsenals globally. He further seeks to show the world that this country believes in the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty’s mandate to ultimately eliminate all nuclear weapons, while disavowing unilateral disarmament. Finally, he states that he will end the development of new nuclear weapons.
Sec. Gates Declares Reducing Nuclear Weapons Not Possible Without Building New Design
Santa Fe, NM: Today, exactly one week before the November 4 presidential elections, Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a strong pitch for new-design nuclear weapons, the so-called Reliable Replacement Warheads (RRWs), for which the Bush Administration has repeatedly pushed. Secretary Gates claimed today that because of inevitable aging the long-term outlook for the safety, security and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal was “bleak” without RRW. It is tragic that in its waning days the Bush Administration still pushes for new nuclear weapons. It makes no national security sense to trade in what we know are reliable nuclear weapons for speculative new ones. It certainly makes no financial sense to rebuild the stockpile in today’s deteriorating economic climate when it is not needed. And finally, it makes no sense from a perspective of global leadership toward eliminating the one class of weapons of mass destruction which are the gravest strategic threat against us, and that is nuclear weapons.”
Nuclear Watch press release [172KB] –October 28, 2008
The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability Condemns Plan to Restart Dangerous and Dirty Reprocessing
The Department of Energy (DOE) this week is releasing the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) that promotes returning to “reprocessing” spent nuclear reactor fuel. Reprocessing, incorrectly referred to as “recycling,” extracts fissile material including weapons-useable plutonium from the fuel and is the fundamental link between a nuclear reactor and a plutonium bomb.
The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, of which Nuclear Watch is a proud member, is a national network of more than 30 member organizations. Many are located in communities that will potentially be impacted by GNEP.
ANA GNEP press release [48KB] -October 16, 2008
Citizens’ Victory! NNSA Decides to Not Expand Plutonium Pit Production at LANL
Santa Fe, NM: For nearly two years the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the semi-autonomous nuclear weapons agency within the Department of Energy, has been seeking to raise the level of plutonium pit production at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Yesterday NNSA released a final Complex Transformation SPEIS summary that states net production at Los Alamos would be limited to a maximum of 20 pits per year. Nuclear Watch applauds the downward trajectory of projected plutonium pit production, which is a result of effective citizen activism leading to Congressional denials of funding. Nuclear Watch claimed that all along the primary purpose of expanded pit production was to produce new-design nuclear weapons. Now at this late date, the departing leadership at NNSA is bowing to the political reality that Congressional rejection of new-design nuclear weapons means that there is no need for expanded plutonium pit production. Naturally we are pleased with NNSA’s decision to follow our advice.
Nuclear Watch Press Release [120KB] – October 10, 2008
NNSA’s summary of the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. The decision to limit plutonium pit production is stated on page S-13.
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Suit Challenges Legality of Proposed Kansas City Nuclear Weapons Plant
Federal agencies charged with evading cleanup of existing site while pursuing illegal “third-party” financing for new bomb plant
Citizens Groups Allege “Sinkhole in a Soybean Field” for Taxpayers
Washington, DC (October 9, 2008) – In response to a joint refusal by the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to consider the significant environmental impacts of moving a critical nuclear weapon production facility to a new location, yesterday a coalition of environmental and peace organizations asked a federal court in Washington, D.C. to set aside the new plant project and direct the agencies to prepare a new environmental analysis of site-cleanup and relocation alternatives for the existing Kansas City Plant (KCP).
Joint Press Release: Natural Resources Defense Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility,
Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Tri-Valley CAREs and Individual Plaintiffs [84KB] -October 9, 2008
Complaint filed in U. S. District Court, Washington DC [1.7MB] -Ocober 8, 2008
For much more information check https://www.nukewatch.org/KCNukePlant/index.html -a joint project of the Greater Kansas City Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and Nuclear Watch New Mexico.
A Last Desperate Attempt to Justify New Design Nuclear Weapons
The Secretaries of Energy and Defense have released a white paper detailing the Bush Administration's rationale for why the United States continues to need nuclear weapons and why future should be new-design “Reliable Replacement Warheads” (RRWs). Even though former national security advisors from both parties are calling for global nuclear disarmament the paper avoids any examination of how producing new U.S. nuclear weapons could undermine global nonproliferation efforts. The paper also ignores the fact that Congress has denied RRW funding for two consecutive years.
National Security and Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century, Samuel W. Bodman and Robert M. Gates [340KB] –September 22, 2008
Status and Trends of the World Nuclear Industry
Presentation to the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability by Mycle Schneider, September 2008.
Schneider, an international consultant on energy and nuclear policy, concludes nuclear power plays a limited role. It is highly likely that it will further decline. Nuclear energy will hinder reliable, sustainable energy policies.
Status and Trends of the World Nuclear Industry [3.1MB] –September 13, 2008
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Online features a 3-part series of articles, that contain much of the text analysis underlying the presentation.
“Work for Others” Key to Lab’s Growth
Sandia Labs’ annual budget surpasses Los Alamos’ because of steady growth in non-nuclear weapons “Work For Others.”
Nuclear Watch chart comparing the two labs [164KB] -September 3, 2008
NRDC Notifies DOE of Intent to Sue over the Kansas City Plant
August 4, 2008 - The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) notfied the Department of Energy about serious concerns regarding the Department's decision, made in conjunction with the General Services Administration, to abandon the legacy of contamination at the Bannister Federal Complex in Kansas City, Missouri, and move the production and procurement of non-nuclear components of nuclear weapons to a new, privately developed and locally-financed facility in a greenfield outside the city.
Natural Resources Defense Council Notice of Intent to Sue over the Kansas City Plant [584KB] -August 4, 2008
Also see NukeWatch's extensive public record of comments on the Kansas City Plant.
Nuclear Watch NM Forces the Department of Energy to Comply with the Freedom of Information Act
Santa Fe, NM – In a sweeping victory Nuclear Watch New Mexico has settled its multi-year lawsuit against the U. S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Judge Bruce Black of the Federal District of New Mexico recently signed a court order requiring the NNSA to post on the Internet all of its annual “Ten Year Site Plans” for its eight nuclear weapons sites within 60 days after each Plan is approved by NNSA Headquarters. The agency itself has described these Plans as the foundation of its strategic planning for the future nuclear weapons complex.
The new court order requiring NNSA to post Site Plans on its website should be a significant boon to the public, researchers and activists. NNSA itself states that its fiscal year 2009 Plans will begin to reflect the agency’s current and controversial proposal for “transformation” of its nuclear weapons complex. The people’s right to know under FOIA has to be continually exercised so that citizens have the information they need to hold the government accountable.
Attorney Richard Mietz of Glorieta, NM represented Nuclear Watch from the initial filing of the case to its successful conclusion.
Nuclear Watch press release [144KB] – August 7, 2008
The Federal Court Order [12KB] – July 30, 2008
House Committee Slams Security at Los Alamos
July 15, 2008- the House Energy and Commerce Committee released the first part of a two-part report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on persistent security problems at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). In a scathing press release, Committee Chairman Rep. John Dingell (D.MI) observed, “World War II was prosecuted in less time than it is taking DOE and its contractor to bring a robust security system into force at this nuclear weapons lab.” Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the Committee’s ranking member, commented, “A dozen hearings by the Energy and Commerce Committee revealed, confirmed and reconfirmed that the lab was run more like a corner hamburger stand than the crown jewel of the nation’s nuclear weapons program. Most frustrating was a culture that treated America’s nuclear secrets like leftover napkins."
We echo GAO’s call for holding LANL’s contractor strictly accountable for achieving uncompromising security, while giving it the financial incentives to do so. Instead of making weapons, make nuclear designs and materials secure.
Nuke Watch Press Release [112KB] -July 15, 2008
The House Energy and Commerce press release
The GAO’s report “Long-Term Strategies Needed to Improve Security and Management Oversight”
New Nuclear Weapons Plant to be Built by Private Developers with Tax Breaks
The Planned Industrial Expansion Authority for Kansas City has now issued a final draft “General Development Plan” for a new Kansas City Plant. This plan appears poised to give the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) one sweet deal, although the terms have yet to be spelled out. The existing Plant, operated by the Honeywell Corporation for the NNSA, produces or procures 85% of all components that make up U.S. nuclear weapons. Some of the information in this “General Development Plan” raises questions as to whether the whole proposal is really a good deal for the taxpayer. Furthermore, the existing Kansas City Plant is heavily contaminated with PCBs, volatile organic compounds and heavy metals for which there are no final cleanup plans. NNSA and the federal General Services Administration reportedly are seeking to sell the old Plant site “as is,” thus deferring large final cleanup costs for the site.
KC Star: State agency votes to replace Bannister’s Honeywell plant -July 11, 2008
Kansas City Planned Industrial Expansion Authority Board’s General Development Plan, [7.7MB] to be considered July 11, 2008 in Kansas City, MO
KC Star: Former Bannister plant’s future a worry -June 6, 2008
Senators Call on Bush to Veto Appropriations Unless New Nuclear Weapons are Funded
Santa Fe, NM –In a last-ditch effort by Nuclear NeoCons, Senators Pete Domenici (R.-NM), Jon Kyl (R.-AZ) and Jeff Sessions (R.-AL) have urged President Bush to threaten a presidential veto if Congressional appropriations committees reject funding for the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW). In a questionable leap of logic, the senators use recent serious lapses by the Department of Defense in nuclear weapons security as a pretext to argue for an emergency supplemental funding package to revitalize the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex. They argue that the current Administration must “act in the coming months to lock in a nuclear weapons complex transformation initiative” that will expand plutonium pit production to 50 to 80 per year. Moreover, they go on to argue that the Administration should seek full funding for the RRW “engineering studies” that would lead to full production.
Sadly, Domenici is leaving behind a misguided legacy of fixing Los Alamos’s future on inevitably shrinking nuclear weapons programs. Instead of leftover Cold War thinking we need mission diversification at LANL to address new national security concerns and better ensure future jobs.
NukeWatch Press Release [140KB] –June 23, 2008
The June 19, 2008 letter by Senators Domenic, Kyl and Sessions to President Bush [72KB]
House Energy and Water Appropriations Slash Nuclear Weapons Programs
June 17, 2008- The House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee voted to cut the budget for Nuclear Weapons to $6.2 billion, down from the Administration’s $6.6 billion request. New programs, changes to nuclear weapons complex and the RRW will not be considered without a review of strategy, stockpile requirements and need for supporting complex.
Excerpt from Statement of Chairman Peter J. Visclosky: “This year, the Committee again reiterates that before considering funding for most new programs, substantial changes to the existing nuclear weapons complex, or funding for RRW, the following sequence must be completed: First, replacement of the Cold War era strategies with a 21st Century nuclear deterrent strategy sharply focused on today’s and tomorrow’s threats that is capable of serving the national security needs of future Administrations and future Congresses without the need for nuclear testing; second, determination of the size and nature of the nuclear stockpile sufficient to serve that strategy; and finally, determination of the size and nature of the nuclear weapons complex needed to support that future stockpile.”
Developments Prompt Additional Comments on LANL Environmental Impact Statement
Nuclear Watch New Mexico submits additional comments to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on the Final “Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory” We submit these additional comments in light of new developments since the draft SWEIS was issued, such as:
• The alternatives proposed in the NNSA’s draft “Complex Transformation Supplemental ProgrammaticEnvironmental Impact Statement” (SPEIS), and their impact on future plutonium pit production at LANL.
• A new GAO report that indicates only a very limited programmatic need for pit production.
• The fact that future national security requirements, which LANL is required to support, are quite likely to change given Congress’ recently enacted requirement for a new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).
Nuclear Watch Additional Comments on the LANL FSWEIS [332KB] – June 11, 2008
Santa Clara Pueblo Comments on the LANL FSWES [796KB] -June 6. 2008
Safety Board Says Designing for “Unknown” Missions Has Adverse Seismic Implications for Proposed Nuclear Facility at Los Alamos
Even while plans for new-design nuclear weapons, the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead, are on budgetary rocks in Congress, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is still continuing with its ‘build it and they will come’ approach for a new nuclear facility to support plutonium pit “trigger” production at Los Alamos. The plans are on seismically shaky ground because NNSA mandated that the laboratory areas of the nuclear facility have a flexible, open floor plan to accommodate as-yet unknown future missions. This ‘hotel concept’ has generated seismic amplifications in the CMRR facility and it is not clear whether the facility and equipment can be designed to handle such stresses. On May 12th, the Senate Armed Services Committee cut NNSA’s fiscal year 2009 CMRR budget request in half because of design uncertainty, which the Committee stated “has significant unresolved issues for which there is no clear resolution.”
Nuclear Watch New Mexico argues that all funding for the CMRR-Nuclear Facility should be deleted until the incoming president completes a new Nuclear Posture Review, as already required by Congress.
NukeWatch Press Release [124Kb] –June 4, 2008
The DNFSB report
GAO Finds Declining Need to Manufacture Plutonium Pit “Triggers”- Nevertheless Over $6 Billion Slated for Pit Production at Los Alamos
Congress’ investigative agency, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), has just released a report on the future costs and need for plutonium pit “trigger” production at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The GAO reports that an NNSA February 2007 memo established a total production requirement of 31 W88 pits. Nevertheless, NNSA is pushing to expand pit production at Los Alamos to up to 80 pits per year. However, that level of production is needed only for manufacturing new-design nuclear weapons, the so-called Reliable Replacement Warheads (RRWs). Congress rejected any funding for RRW in FY2008, and will likely do so again for FY 2009. With no need to produce RRW or non-W88 pits, and only a limited set of W88 pits to produce, there is simply no need to expand beyond the currently sanctioned production level of up to 20 pits per year. GAO calculates that all costs related to expanding plutonium pit production at LANL over the next five years could amount to more than $6 billion.
In today’s fiscal climate, this is worse than waste to put six billion taxpayer dollars into expanded nuclear weapons production that we do not need. That money should go to where it is really needed, into nonproliferation programs, energy independence and cleanup of a Lab that is seriously interested in embracing new missions.
NukeWatch Press Release [148KB] –June 3, 2008
For the GAO report “Nuclear Weapons: NNSA Needs to Establish a Cost and Schedule Baseline for Manufacturing a Critical Nuclear Weapon Component,”GAO-08-593, May 23, 2008, click https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08593.pdf
NukeWatch Comments to NNSA on the Complex Transformation SPEIS
Comprehensive Comments [404KB] -April 30, 2008
Too Much Too Soon, Too Little Too Late!
NNSA’s plan to transform the Nuclear Weapons Complex is a major overhaul based on the Bush Administration’s 2001 Nuclear Posture Review. With a new Administration and a new NPR required by Congress next year it is reasonable that any transformation should be guided by the new agenda, rather than slavishly adhering to the outdated document and the discredited policies of a lame duck Administration. Complex transformation should be tabled, not rushed. The new Complex that NNSA envisions is being promoted with misleading terms like “downsizing,” “arsenal reduction” and “consolidation” which conceal a relentless agenda of increased production capability intended for new weapons designs. NNSA’s “preferred” alternative of downsizing and consolidation does not actually include closure of any plants or site remediation, nor does it realistically address the huge volumes of waste that will result from the new manufacturing emphasis at LANL.
Factsheet on the Risks of Permanent Pit Production Operations at LANL [196] -March 13, 2008
A NukeWatch Rebuttal to NNSA's attempt at spin, “Claim Versus Fact: The Truth about LANL’s Role in Complex Transformation” [152KB] - March 13, 2008
Read our backgrounder on Pit Production at LANL [212 kb] - March 1, 2008
See NukeWatch's "New Policies, Not New Bombs" Powerpoint [9.5 MB] - March 1, 2008
New Mexico Congressmen, Environmental Department Request Extension of Public Comment Period
Senator Jeff Bingaman and Representative Tom Udall request extension of CT SPEIS public comment period until July 2008.
(DOE/EIS-0236-S4) [73KB] -March 31, 2008
"Complex Transformation" Prompts Political Groundswell
Santa Clara Pueblo's Comments on the Draft Complex Transformation Supplemental Programatic Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-0236-S4)[1.8MB] - May 13, 2008
NMED objects to details in DOE plans for Complex Transformation at LANL. NMED Comments [120KB] –March 27, 2008
New Mexico Environment Secretary takes a position on Department of Energy’s Plans for Expanded Pit Production at Los Alamos. NMED: Lab Must Clean Up Legacy Waste before Embarking on New Missions. – March 13, 2008
Mayor Maestas of Espanola says it’s time to reassess the role of nuclear weapons as the primary means for addressing our national security needs. [64KB] – March 1, 2008
City of Santa Fe passes resolution opposing expanded pit production activities at LANL. [1.1MB] – February 13, 2008
Pantex Plant "Environmental Liabilities" May Top $400 million dollars
Figures just released as the result of a protracted legal battle between Nuclear Watch New Mexico and the DOE show that “Future Environmental Liabilities” at the Pantex Plant are expected to exceed 400 million dollars. The Pantex Plant, near Amarillo, TX, is the NNSA’s site for final assembly and disassembly of nuclear weapons. As part of NNSA’s proposal to “transform” its nuclear weapons complex, Pantex plans to increase bomb production rates. Its officials have never been candid with the community about the true costs of environmental mismanagement. Decades of so-called cleanup may not resolve the problems. We will likely have to live with the consequences of increasing nuclear weapons activities at Pantex for generations.
Joint Peace Farm / NukeWatch Press Release [120KB] –February 13, 2008
Relevant pages of the FY 2006 Pantex Plant Ten-Year Comprehensive Site Plan [64KB]
NNSA FY09 Nuclear Weapons Budget Request
In the Nuclear Watch analysis: Total NNSA nuclear weapons costs are ~$340 million higher than advertised in “Total Weapons Activities” because NNSA fails to include headquatrters costs. For FY09 the cost is just under $7 billion. For FY09 39% of NNSA's requested weapons activities budget would be spent in New Mexico. In what has the potential to become a showdown, NNSA is seeking additional funding for RRW through the Advanced Certification Campaign in spite of the fact that in FY08 Congress deleted all funding for RRW.
The complete NukeWatch tabulation [112KB] -February 5, 2008
Nuclear Watch Requests a Revised Draft Permit for Hazardous Waste at LANL
In August of 2007 the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) issued a draft permit for the handling and disposal of solid wastes at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) the State has authority over “hazardous” (chemical) wastes and similar wastes mixed with radioactive wastes, but not over radioactive wastes alone (however, most radioactive wastes at LANL are mixed). Nuclear Watch New Mexico opposes the draft Permit as currently formulated for the reasons described in comments below. We request that NMED withdraw this draft and prepare a revision that addresses our concerns and those of others. A new public comment period should then follow the release of a revised draft permit. Nuclear Watch also requests a public hearing on the draft LANL RCRA permit, whether or not NMED issues a revision.
Nuclear Watch comments on the draft permit [588KB] –February 1, 2008
NMED Announcement -August 27, 2007
NMED Fact Sheet on RCRA Permit -August, 2007
Full text of RCRA Permit -August 27, 2007
Final Order on Consent -November 26, 2002 (This Order from NMED contains the investigation and cleanup, or corrective action requirements, for Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Unneeded Plutonium Pit Production at Los Alamos For More Than Twice the Price
Even as this country faces a seriously troubled economy, estimated costs for producing new, unneeded plutonium pits are rapidly rising at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). NNSA has recently released a “Complex Transformation” plan, which designates LANL as its preferred permanent pit production site at a rate of 50 to 80 pits per year. A key supporting document for the plan estimates that the construction costs for Los Alamos’ new plutonium facility, ponderously known as the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) project, are more than double original projections. Without CMRR, the transformation plan estimates that LANL’s maximum production capacity will remain limited to 20 pits per year. In reality, few, if any, plutonium pits need to be produced. CMRR is a huge, unnecessary money pit. It wastes scarce resources when other urgent national security priorities cry out to be met, and sets in stone the dangerous lame duck policies of the present administration.
NukeWatch press release [112Kb] –January 31, 2008
Comments on the Kansas City Plant Environmental Assessment
Nuclear Watch asserts that NNSA/GSA should withdraw this environmental assessment. NNSA should consider and decide upon the fate of the Kansas City Plant through its current Transformation Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement process. However, even that process should await the outcome of pending review of U.S. nuclear weapons policies, which could dramatically reduce the size and nature of the nuclear weapons stockpile. That, in turn, could dramatically reduce NNSA’s claimed need for expansive capabilities, eight individual sites, and their respective workloads. At this point, KCP’s long-range workload is currently unknown, especially given recent Congressional rejection of new-design nuclear weapons under the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead Program.
Nuclear Watch New Mexico's additional comments [107KB] -January 31, 2008
Nuclear Watch New Mexico’s comprehensive comments [300KB] –January 14, 2008
NukeWatch Power Point on the KCP EA [1.7MB] - January 07, 2008
More information on the Kansas City Plant
Comments on “Government in the Sunshine Act”
Nuclear Watch submits comments as a follow-up to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s December 5, 2007 "Government in the Sunshine Act" public hearing. The public is much safer today because the Board takes its charge of providing advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Energy at DOE's defense nuclear facilities so seriously. But, concerning LANL, there is still a long way to go. The longest standing systemic issues at LANL are its inability to do anything on time and the endless promulgation of initiatives, systems, and studies to address issues instead of just getting to work and fixing the problems. It seems that the Lab feels obligated to reinvent a process wheel every time that a real solution is needed.
Read NukeWatch's full comments [152KB] –January 4, 2008
LANL Named Preferred Permanent Plutonium Pit Production Center
Santa Fe, NM – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) officially chose Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as the “preferred alternative” to be the nation’s permanent plutonium pit production site. The head of NNSA, the semi-autonomous nuclear weapons agency within the Department of Energy, laid out the agency’s vision for the future of US nuclear weapons production, research, and testing. This vision, “Complex Transformation”, was formerly known as “Complex 2030”.
Nuclear Watch Press Release [144kb] –December 18, 2007
NNSA Summary of the Complex Transformation –December 18, 2007
Federal Judge Rules DOE Makes a “Mockery” of Freedom of Information
A recent decision in federal court ruled that Department of Energy (DOE) demonstrated a pattern and practice of unlawfully withholding records from Nuclear Watch New Mexico. This ruling is a result of an action brought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), to compel the release of agency records long withheld from NukeWatch.
The purpose of FOIA is to allow citizens to learn what their government is doing and how it is being done. Once a citizen has requested documents pursuant to FOIA, the governmental agency involved has 20 days to comply or notify the party making the request of a denial. NukeWatch received its first response more than 17 months after the initial FOIA request. United States District Judge, Bruce D. Black, stated, “This makes a mockery of the 20-day target set by the Act and violates congressional intent.”
NukeWatch Press Release [140kb] – September 26, 2007
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ORDER GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON STATUTORY COMPLIANCE [104kb] – September 19, 2007
Nuclear Watch's amended complaint alleging a "pattern and practice of unlawfully withholding agency records" [32kb] -July 30, 2006
NukeWatch Argues for a Programmatic EIS and consideration of Hardened On-Site Storage for Greater Than Class C (GTCC) Waste Disposal
After 20 years of essentially ignoring “Greater Than Class C” waste the Department of Energy’s EIS proposes to evaluate potential alternatives involving various disposal methods at several DOE and generic commercial sites. DOE should broaden the scope of this EIS to a Programmatic EIS, thereby fulfilling DOE's obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act's (NEPA’s) Rules and Regulations. We contend that disposal of GTCC waste is a “program,” defined by DOE under its NEPA regulations as systematic and connected agency decisions allocating agency resources to implement a specific statutory program or executive directive. The federal government is responsible for the disposal of any low-level radioactive waste with concentrations of radionuclides that exceed the limit established by the Commission for Class C Waste, as per Section 61.55 of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Therefore the statute-driven nature of the DOE GTCC waste disposal proposal is evident.
Nuclear Watch New Mexico’s scoping comments on the GTCC EIS [184kb] -September 21, 2007
Fact sheet on Greater Than Class C waste and Hardened On-site Storage [136KB] –August 3, 2007
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability GTCC page with Resources for Public Comments on the GTCC Disposal Environmental Impact Statement.
Nuclear Weapons Activities over 65% of LANL's 2008 Budget Request
Nuclear Watch analysis of the Lab’s budget request is based on a total budget of $2.1 billion, which includes an estimated $260 million in “Work for Others.” As the chart linked below shows, Nuclear Weapons activities account for 65.8% of the total budget.
LANL FY08 Budget Request [188 KB] –July 19, 2007
Divine Strake By Another Name: Nuclear Weapons Effects Tests at White Sands
In February 2007, a branch of the Department of Defense called the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) caved in to intense public and congressional pressure and canceled its proposed “Divine Strake” nuclear weapons effects test at the Nevada Test Site. However, the very next month the agency declared in a “Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for DTRA Activities on White Sands Missile Range” that it would conduct an unspecified number of “Hard Target Defeat Tests” in New Mexico. These tests are referred to in the PEIS as “500-ton Equivalent Tests,” and are remarkably similar to the yield and mission of the now infamous Divine Strake Test.
Factsheet on 500-ton Tests at WSMR [352KB] -July 27, 2007
Los Alamos to “Celebrate” First Certified Plutonium Trigger For Nuclear Weapons
Santa Fe, NM - The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has invited Members of Congress to “celebrate” on July 2 its production of its first certified plutonium trigger (AKA “pit” or “primary”) for the W88, a sub-launched nuclear weapon. This will be the first plutonium pit produced by the U.S. certified for deployment to the nuclear stockpile since 1989. Instead of prioritizing real national security threats like global climate change and the proliferation of nuclear weapons LANL has finally produced its first certified pit, with total cumulative campaign and facilities costs of around $2.2 billion.
In contrast, there is growing Congressional and public sentiment that Lab missions should be changed to tackle contemporary national security threats and the energy challenges facing the U.S. and the world. Also on July 2 at a counter-event, advocates for these changes will discuss their proposals, while a highly experienced retired nuclear weapons designer will comment on the present reliable status of the U.S. stockpile.
Nuclear Watch Fact Sheet- LANL’s First “Certified” Plutonium Pit: Unnecessary, Provocative, Behind Schedule and Over Budget [160KB] -July 2, 2007
July 2, 2007 Albuquerque's KRQE TV News story and video.
Santa Fe New Mexican Editoral - LANL celebrates ‘pit,’ needs fresh mission -July 2, 2007
Joint PSR/Nuclear Watch advertisement published in the Santa Fe New Mexican encouraging a change of missions at LANL [916KB] -July 2, 2007
Details for Physicians for Social Responsibility and Nuclear Watch counter-event [152KB] -June 29, 2007
Nuclear Watch op-ed in Albuquerque Journal North on alternative missions for the Lab [836KB] -June 24, 2007
For Nuclear Watch original disclosure of this "Celebration" please see Nuclear Watch Press Release [228KB] -June 7, 2007
Composite Diagram of LANL's Expanding Plutonium Complex [176KB] -January 17, 2007
LANS Board Members Allegedly Involved in Breach of National Security
June 14, 2007- Time magazine reported today that yet another serious security breach occurred in association with Los Alamos National Lab. Reportedly a “IMI-1” violation, the most serious breach of national security, occurred in January when board members of the company that manages the lab, Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS) sent an email with highly classified information about the composition of U.S. nuclear weapons via unsecured networks. The incident is particularly embarrassing for the Lab after a string of high-profile security lapses. Energy Secretary Bodman, Deputy Secretary Clay Sell and Lab director Michael Anastasio have all given testimony to Congress on security at the Lab, but reportedly failed to mention the January IMI-1 incident.
For more on the "Leaky Lab" (Time Magazine)
Update on FY2008 Budget Numbers for Nuclear Weapons Programs
Congress has been whacking away at the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons programs in various and differing budget categories. See our compilation of the DOE fiscal year 2008 budget request and what the House and Senate Armed Services and Appropriations Committees have marked up to date.
FY08 Nuclear Weapons Budget [188 KB] -June 14, 2007
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership - the Bush Administration’s Plan for the so-called Nuclear Renaissance
Under the ruse of reducing greenhouse emissions the administration and nuclear power industry are trying to kick-start a new round of expensive nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities. Sites contaminated from previous attempts at reprocessing have still not been adequately cleaned up and are some of the most dangerously polluted sites in the world. This proposal would top that by making the GNEP reprocessing site the single largest lethal source of radiation in the country, if not the world. Further, if Los Alamos National Lab plays a role as the research facility for this program, as much as 100 metric tons of “hot” radioactive fuel rods could be shipped to New Mexico for use in developing the process.
Nuclear Watch Comments on the scope of the GNEP Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement [272KB] –June 4, 2007
The DOE GNEP Page
House Moves to Stop the Administration's Plans for New Nukes
U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcomittee Zeroes Out RRW and the Proposed Consolidated Plutonium Center.
May 23, 2007- The House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee did their part to kill the 2008 budget for the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW), the new nuclear weapon being designed at Lawrence Livermore Lab. Funding was also dropped from the marked-up Appropriations Bill for the new Consolidated Plutonium Center, which had been proposed as part of the “Complex 2030” transformation of the nuclear weapons complex. In a statement today, Committee Chairman Peter Visclosky (D-IN) called for the development of a comprehensive nuclear defense strategy and for downsizing the nuclear weapons complex. He added, “Until progress is made on this critical issue, there will be no new facilities or Reliable Replacement Warhead.”
NukeWatch Comments on Livermore Biolab Revised Environmental Assessment
Nuclear Watch New Mexico submits comments on the Draft Revised Environmental Assessment (EA) for The Proposed Biological Safety Level (BSL)-3 Laboratory at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) (DOE/EA-1442R). This revised Environmental Assessment, which is DOE’s first NEPA document that responds to the Ninth Circuit Order and new DOE guidance on the need to consider intentional destructive acts in NEPA documents, does a miserable job of analyzing these acts. We respectfully suggest that DOE could possibly save itself considerable trouble in the future by correcting the deficiencies in this revised EA so that it can be a useful model for future analyses.
Full comments on the Draft Revised EA [340 KB] –May 11, 2007
Legislation May Aid Cold War Veterans Seeking Compensation
U.S. Representative Tom Udall (D-N.M.) is leading a bipartisan group to introduce legislation that will extend the life and expand the reach of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA)Ombudsman, a federal office created to aid sick cold war veterans in making claims for compensation. In Udall’s district is Los Alamos National Laboratory where hundreds of workers may be eligible for compensation after developing radiogenic cancers and other illnesses.
Representative Tom Udall’s News Release [30KB] –May 9, 2007
DOE Misses Opportunity to Move Livermore Lab from Developing H-bombs to "World Class Center for Civilian Science"
May 8, 2007 - The decision to award management of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to the University of California and Bechtel, essentially the same consortium recently selected to manage the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab, demonstrates the failure of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct a fair and open, competitive bidding process, according to groups that sought to transform LLNL into a premier environmental research facility. The Livermore Lab GREEN (Green Renewable Energy and Environmental Nexus), LLC consisted of two nuclear "watchdog" organizations, Tri-Valley CAREs and Nuclear Watch of New Mexico, partnered with an academic institution, New College of California, and a green energy company, WindMiller Energy.
DOE arbitrarily eliminated the GREEN, LLC bid from consideration earlier in the process. Instead the management contract goes to essentially the same consortium, with the University of California and Bechtel at the helm that has taken a bad management situation at Los Alamos and made it much worse.
NNSA Backs Off of Interim Operations at Biolab
The NNSA has responded to a letter from Nuclear Watch of New Mexico demanding that no work should take place at the LANL BSL-3 facility until a legally adequate Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been completed. NNSA’s response states that work requiring BSL protocols will not commence until completion of National Envionmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and issuance of a Record of Decision.
Nuclear Watch press release on NNSA's response [112KB] -May 2, 2007
NNSA response letter [212KB] -May 1, 2007
Nuclear Watch biolab press release [490KB] -March 28, 2007
Nuclear Watch’s letter to NNSA [127KB] -March 28, 2007
NNSA Notice of Intent -November 29, 2005
National Nuclear Security Agency Picks A Design For The First New Nuclear Weapon In 20 Years
March 2, 2007- The Bush administration announced that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was the winner of the nuclear weapon design competition with the Los Alamos lab over the plans for a Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW). The National Defense Authorization Act of FY2006 defined the objectives for the RRW program as intended to increase the reliability, safety and security of the U. S. nuclear weapons stockpile and reduce the likelihood of the resumption of underground testing. If the President and Congress agree to authorize this potentially expensive program, then eventually all of the U. S. nuclear warheads will be replaced with new designs. However, key members of Congress have voiced opposition to the program and it’s priorities. Congressman Pete Visclosky (D-Indiana), Chairman of the House subcommittee for nuclear weapons funding released a statement on March 2, 2007 saying, “This announcement puts the cart before the horse. …there appears to have been little thought given to the question of why the United States needs to build new nuclear warheads at this time.” In a concurrent statement Representative Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) said, "I am concerned how this new weapon affects our obligations under the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, because we need to be reducing the number of weapons, not creating new ones." Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) declared, “There is a long history of this Administration seeking to reopen the nuclear door, and I am 100 percent opposed to this.”
NukeWatch’s rebuttal to “Myths vs. Facts” about RRW [596KB] –March 2, 2007
National Nuclear Security Agency RRW press release –March 2, 2007
Legal Challenges and Public Pressure Successfully Stop Divine Strake!
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) announced today that a decision has been made to cancel the proposed Divine Strake experiment. Stating that, “…it’s time to look at alternative methods that obviate the need for this type of large-scale test.” James Tegnelia, DTRA Director, announced the termination of the plan that has aroused brisk public opposition. Originally scheduled to take place in June of 2006 the test has been repeatedly delayed and has faced serious challenges on legal and environmental issues. Activists, State Legislators and concerned citizens can claim a victory for nuclear nonproliferation, safety for downwinders and for indigenous rights.
DTRA Press Release on the Cancellation of Divine Strake – February 22, 2007
NukeWatch Comments on the Divine Strake EA [516KB] –February 7, 2007
For background on the test and protests see the NukeWatch/Citizen Action documentary videos at the NukeWatch TV links in the left pane.
Nuclear Watch Analysis of the FY2008 Federal Budget Request
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is proceeding willy-nilly with the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW). NNSA is essentially trading in our already extensively tested nuclear weapons stockpile for future untested designs, in order to meet unspecified “emerging threats” without explaining why existing nuclear weapons could not meet them. Any discussion or analysis of how new-design U.S. nuclear weapons and resumed industrial-scale production could provide a negative non-proliferation example to the world is entirely absent. In contrast, RRW permeates the entire NNSA Fiscal Year 2008 Congressional Budget Request for nuclear weapons.
NNSA Weapons FY08 Funding [520KB] –February 9, 2007
NNSA Nuclear Weapons Funding by Individual Site [508KB]–February 9, 2007
Scoping Comments to the NNSA on the Complex 2030 Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SPEIS)
A serious re-examination of whether present and future U.S. nuclear weapons policies are in the best interests of national and international security is needed now. We argue that the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Complex 2030 proposal miserably fails that test. This SPEIS is an obviously prejudicial process aimed at ensuring the department's preferred outcome. The NNSA’s three alternatives, even the so-called No Action and Reduced Operations Alternatives, all expand nuclear weapons design and production. Moreover, there are continually shifting NNSA justifications for its purportedly needed Complex 2030. If the first rationale doesn’t get Congressional and public buy in, then NNSA will come up with another rationale to support the preferred outcome! This shiftiness reminds us of the Groucho Marx saying, “If you don’t like my principles, wait a minute, I got others!”
Read the full text of NukeWatch Scoping Comments [1.7MB] – January 17, 2007
NukeWatch Bomplex Scoping Meeting Presentation [1.8MB] - December 6, 2006
The Notice of Intent calls for a baseline capacity of producing 125 plutonium pit “triggers” per year and at the same time cancels the previously proposed Modern Pit Facility
Independent Review Confirms Plutonium Pits Last A Century - Rationales for Future Nuclear Weapons Complex and New Designs Seriously Undermined
Santa Fe, NM – A report delivered November 28, 2006 to Congress by a group of eminent scientists concludes: Most primary types have credible minimum lifetimes in excess of 100 years as regards aging of plutonium; those with assessed minimum lifetimes of 100 years or less have clear mitigation paths that are proposed and/or being implemented.
NukeWatch Press Release [140KB] -November 29, 2006
Plutonium Pit Lifetime Report [404KB] -November 28, 2006
Longer Lives Seen for Nukes -Albuquerque Journal North, November 30, 2006
Oldest U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Planned Stockpile Are Up to Seven Decades Younger than Expected Lifetimes
The oldest U.S. nuclear warheads have up to 70 years left until they need to be retired. Taking into account established nuclear weapons ages, future warhead retirements, and expected predictions of pit lifetimes that approach 100 years, new-design nuclear weapons and new production facilities will waste money and threaten nonproliferation. Time now for a thorough and well-informed discussion of U.S. nuclear weapons policy.
The Ages of U. S. Nuclear Weapons [360kb] -December 6, 2006
Doubts cast on need for new nukes -San Francisco Chronicle, November 15, 2006
Analyses of DOE Environmental Management - Economic and Environmental Issues in New Mexico
In April 2003, Nuclear Watch of New Mexico (NukeWatch) was funded by the Citizens’Monitoring and Technical Assessment (MTA) Fund to conduct “Analyses of Department of Energy Environmental Management: Economic and Environmental Issues in New Mexico.” Our report on these issues is available for download below.
Economic and Environmental Issues in New Mexico [4.2MB] -December 2006
Inside Briefing Summary Indicates LANL Security Breach Very Serious
Santa Fe - Nuclear Watch New Mexico has received a summary of an inside briefing at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) on the status of the Lab’s latest security infraction. If true, this summary indicates that a very serious and compromising breach has occurred; perhaps the most serious in LANL’s long line of security breaches. While its author is unknown, the precision of detail and obvious inside knowledge shown in the summary is striking.
Full Press Release from NukeWatch [124kb] - November 2, 2006
LANL Inside Briefing Summary [64kb] - date and author unknown
A Bland Assurance from the Lab [34kb] - November 3, 2006
COURT GRANTS DEMAND FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
BEFORE BIOWARFARE AGENT RESEARCH FACILITY OPENS AT LIVERMORE LAB
San Francisco – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling October 17, 2006, holding an Energy Dept. environmental study inadequate and thereby halting Energy’s impending plans to operate the first advanced biowarfare agent research facility inside a US nuclear weapons lab. This decision follows three years of litigation and public outcry against the planned operation of the dangerous facility. Plaintiffs, Livermore Lab watchdog group Tri-Valley CAREs and Los Alamos watchdog group Nuclear Watch of New Mexico as well as other individuals, demanded that the Energy Dept. conduct a thorough study of the project’s potential environmental impacts, including possible terrorist threats to the facility.
Press Release [196kb] - October 17, 2006
Comments to the National Nuclear Security Administration On the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory
Nuclear Watch New Mexico submits these final comments (linked below) to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on the Draft “Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory”. As explained in our section on the inadequacy of the SWEIS process itself, we strongly believe that NNSA has failed both procedurally and substantively, which includes the following:
• Once a decision was made to dramatically expand plutonium pit production a new Notice of Intent should have been issued, thereby triggering a new round of required public scoping comment on this absolutely central issue that was absent in the previous scoping process;
• An inadequate comment period for the DSWEIS, which required the public to review and comment on some
30,000 pages of crucial reference documents that NNSA did not make easily available;
• Incomplete, outdated, or totally absent reference documents; and
• What we believe to be a willful attempt to avoid the “hard look” that the National Environmental Policy Act requires, including woefully inadequate discussion of “Purpose and Need” that intentionally avoided discussion of the programs that are driving NNSA’s proclaimed need for expanded plutonium pit production to begin with.
NWNM Comments [600KB] -September 26, 2006
Los Alamos Lab Seeks to Quadruple Plutonium Bomb Pit Production; New Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Reveals Related Radioactive Wastes and Plutonium Storage Will Double
Santa Fe, New Mexico – With no public notice, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), has posted a new draft “Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operations of Los Alamos National Laboratory” (LANL) on the internet. In it, NNSA states it preferrs to operate LANL at the "highest levels of activity currently foreseeable, including full implementation of the mission assignments.” These include the accelerated production of additional nuclear weapons and new designs.
NukeWatch Press Release [96kb] -June 26, 2006
LANL Draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement -June 23, 2006
Notice of Availability and Public Hearing. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Notice of Availability of the Draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policies and the Kansas City Plant
Kansas City, Missouri- Experienced watchdog activist, Jay Coghlan spoke on July 25, 2006 about U.S. weapons policies and how the Kansas City Plant manufactures 85% of the components of U. S. nuclear weapons.
Download the Power Point presentation [228 kb] -July 25, 2006
Domenici’s Appropriations Committee “Skeptical” Plutonium Pit Production Could Be Anywhere But Los Alamos; Orders Study of “Expanded Mission” at Key New Lab Facility
Santa Fe, New Mexico – The Senate Subcommittee for Energy and Water Development Appropriations, chaired by New Mexico’s Pete Domenici, has recently fully funded the construction of a new plutonium facility at Los Alamos called the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project (CMRR). The Subcommittee required completion of a report on changes to the CMRR facility in order to accomodate an expanded mission scope.
NukeWatch Press Release [140kb] -July 11, 2006
U.S. Postal Service Cancels Hidden “Arrangement” to Fund Construction of New Los Alamos Science Complex
Santa Fe, New Mexico – The United States Postal Service (USPS) has terminated a plan to fund construction of a new “Science Complex” at Los Alamos Nuclear Lab. The mission of the 400,000 square foot Complex would have been to “Support [nuclear weapons] Stockpile Stewardship’s related and applied scientific research.” Groundbreaking was to begin early next year, but construction funding for the Complex was “off budget” in the sense that it is not included in the Department of Energy’s $6.4 billion annual nuclear weapons budget.
Nuclear Watch of New Mexico exposed the project after discovering it in documents obtained through a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. Late Friday, the Postal Service issued a news release, announcing “We have decided not to go forward with this arrangement and we have notified the Department of Energy to that effect.”
NukeWatch Press Release [108 kb] -June 26, 2006
USPS News Release -June 23, 2006
LANL Goes Postal!
Read about the US Postal Service's special delivery of construction funding to Los Alamos National Laboratory in:
NukeWatch’s Press Release [144 kb] -June 21, 2006
Selected pages relevant to the Science Complex from Los Alamos’ FY05 & FY06 Ten Year Comprehensive Site Plans [704 kb]
The Lab says: "Los Alamos Science Complex: Alternative Financing for non-directly funded, critically needed facilities - Support [nuclear weapons] Stockpile Stewardship's related basic and applied scientific research." (single slide)
Complete LANL presentation on the Science Complex [6M]
NukeWatch rebuttal to LANL spokesperson Roark's statements to Albuquerque Journal on June 22, 2006 [120kb] -June 22, 2006
House Appropriations Axes “Irrational” Plutonium Lab at Los Alamos
Watchdogs Call on Domenici to Drop Radioactive Pork
Santa Fe, NM –In a stunning move, the congressional House Subcommittee for Energy and Water Development Appropriations cut Fiscal Year 2007 construction funding for the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The cut is from the requested $112,422,000 to $12,422,000. The old Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building, built in the middle 1950s, is highly contaminated and is being abandoned for nuclear weapons-grade plutonium work because of prohibitive costs to seismically upgrade it. The new CMRR project, essentially an advanced plutonium lab, would be physically linked to LANL’s facility for production of plutonium pits (or nuclear weapons “triggers”), and in direct support of that expanding mission.
Listen to The NukeWatch Report on the CMRR facility [2.3MB-mp3] -June12, 2006 Press Release -[114KB] -May 17, 2006
CMRR Fact Sheet - [172KB] -June 9, 2006 Help Stop LANL's New Plutonium Facility (CMRR). Write a letter to Senator Domenici!
See a sample letter [in RTF] -May1, 2006
New Los Alamos Contractor To Receive Larger Fees If They Perform Oversight On Themselves Well
Despite significant risk and Los Alamos National Laboratory’s dismal past performance, DOE wants new contractor to fast-track new self-oversight plan. The most dysfunctional weapons’ site is directed to test out a new oversight plan with first new contractor in over 60 years.
Read the memorandum [115KB]
Eminent Weapons Scientist Challenges Need for RRW
Eminent scientist Richard Garwin challenges the nuclear weapons labs' argument that the Reliable Replacement Warhead is needed.
Read the statement [1.1M] (Courtesy of the Union of Concerned Scientists)
Sandia's Study Acknowledged Long Ago that Nuclear Weapons Don't Wear Out
NukeWatch- Given the push by the Department of Energy for new-design nuclear weapons under the "Reliable Replacement Warhead" program, we think it worthwhile to refer back to a "Stockpile Life Study" done by Sandia National Laboratories in 1993. To quote: "It is clear that, although nuclear weapons age, they do not wear out: they last as long as the nuclear weapons community (DoD and DOE) desires. In fact, we can find no example of a nuclear weapon retirement where age was ever a major factor in the retirement decision." So why new nuclear eapons designs?
Read the study at: Sandia_93_StockpileLife [1.1M]
Watchdog Group Sues to Bring Los Alamos Lab's Hidden Plans into Public View
Santa Fe, New Mexico – Nuclear Watch New Mexico (NukeWatch) filed a lawsuit in the federal District Court of New Mexico to compel the Department ofEnergy to release blacked out information in an unclassified “Ten Year Comprehensive Site Plan” for the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
Previous actions, examples of redactions:
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Jeffrey Lewis, Foreign Policy , 10/30 - "The Department of Defense has released narrative summaries for 32 accidents involving nuclear weapons between 1950 and 1980, many of which involve aircraft bearing bombs. False alarms? Please. The Department of Defense admitted 1,152 "moderately serious" false alarms between 1977 and 1984 - roughly three a week. So, here's my list of 12 seriously scary events, one for each month. This list is not comprehensive, nor is it intended to be the worst events. . . "
CDC BioSafety Level 3 Not so Safe?
Udall wrote in his book !["Los Alamos Science Complex: Alternative Financing for non-directly funded, critically needed facilities - Support [nuclear weapons] Stockpile Stewardship's related basic and applied scientific research](graphics/LANL-AltFinancing.jpg){kind=link}