November 16, 2012 Jay Coghlan gave a presentation to the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities.
Read Jay's full remarks. (PDF)
Days Of Blank Checks Are Over For Nuclear Weapons Establishment
Kevin Martin of Peace Action and Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch, in The Hill, April 26.
NNSA Releases FY 2012 Performance Evaluation Reports to Nuclear Watch
View/download the full PERs, and our excerpts, read analyses and follow-ups here.
Nuclear Watch Helps To Get Nuclear Weapons Contractors' Performance Reports Made Public
View our handy table of the award fees here. (PDF)
NukeWatch has run cost comparisons between the estimate for Area G and two other excavation projects at the Lab.
At six acres, excavation of Materials Disposal Area B is almost complete, so we have hard costs. (It is around $22.7 million per acre.) An evaluation of Materials Disposal Area C was released this September. The estimated costs for excavation of the 11.8-acre site came out to be $66.7 million per acre. Read the Cost comparison here.
U.S. Nuclear Weapons Facilities: Ten-Year Site Plans
The NNSA's Ten-Year Site Plans are made public because of a victorious NWNM freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
Here is the NWNM Stipulated order.
NNSA Ten-Year Site Plan FY 2013-2022 Approval Memorandum
TYSP Guidance
"What the public doesn't really understand is that the nuclear weapons business is very much ongoing, that funding for nuclear weapons programs within the Department of Energy is nearly 50 percent above the historic average of the Cold War. . . Despite the rhetoric that this country and others are working towards a future world free of nuclear weapons, on the ground what is happening is that the U.S. is rebuilding the production side of its nuclear weapons complex."
- Jay Coghlan on DemocracyNow Oct 11, 2012
LANL Consent Order Process Blog
View Blog
Audio Podcasts: Jay Coghlan on Unicopia Radio
November 10, 2012; October 6, 2012; August 25, 2012
NukeWatch Presentation to CMRR Public Meeting Wednesday, April 25, 2012
This was the 13th semi-annual public meeting required as part of a 2005 settlement between DOE/LANL and an network of community groups.
View Scott Kovac's 's presentation to the meeting:
Download PDF
Cleanup, Don't Build Up, Nuke Weapons Programs!
Hundreds of Jobs Could Be Created that Protect the Environment: A NukeWatch report (https://www.nukewatch.org/watchblog/?p=1237)
Download our fact sheet here (PDF 9/12).
DoD used NukeWatch research in November 16 memo to DOE titled, "New Missions For The Nuclear Weapons Labs"
Santa Fe, April 23, 2012. Nuclear Watch New Mexico has just discovered that Department of Defense used our numbers (see footnote 9), in the November 16, 2011 memo to the Department of Energy titled "New Missions For The Nuclear Weapons Labs"
View the DoD memo here (PDF)
NukeWatch Presentation Public Meeting, Santa Fe, April 22
"Occupy Los Alamos!" Jay Coghlan's Power-Point presentation:
Download PDF
Defense Dept. Memo Criticizes Cost of Nuclear Weapons Labs While Los Alamos Director's Salary Nearly Triples
April 18, 2012. NWNM Press Release: See the facts and figures in this table prepared by Nuclear Watch New Mexico. Nuclear Watch New Mexico has been independently compiling data on the salaries of the three laboratory directors. We found for example, that the salary of the Los Alamos Director has nearly tripled since for-profit management began in June 2006, even as the Lab is cutting some 600 jobs. Privatization of the nuclear weapons labs' management contracts has resulted in directors' salaries far above average in both the federal government and the private sector.
See the facts and figures in this table prepared by Nuclear Watch New Mexico:
Download PDF
NNSA Releases Performance Evaluation Reports in Response to Nuclear Watch FOIA Lawsuit
In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Nuclear Watch New Mexico on March 28, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has released the Performance Evaluation Reports for its eight nuclear weapons sites. These reports are the government's scorecard for awarding tens of millions of dollars to nuclear weapons contractors, and were available to the public until 2009. But since that time NNSA has withheld them in a general move toward less contractor accountability. We seek to begin to reverse that with our litigation.
View the Nuclear Watch press release:
Download PDF
View complete FOIA Complaint here (PDF)
View/download the full PERs, and our excerpts, read analyses and follow-ups here.
Nuclear Watch NM Files Suit for Info on Nuclear Weapons Profits
Santa Fe, March 29, 2012. Nuclear Watch New Mexico has filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act in the federal district court of New Mexico. We seek to compel the government to release its scorecards for awarding tens of millions of dollars to nuclear weapons contractors, while at the same time these contractors are becoming less and less accountable.
Specifically, NukeWatch launched litigation to obtain the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA's) "Performance Evaluation Report" that awarded Los Alamos National Security $72.1 million in profit for fiscal year 2009. Through this action we are also seeking to compel the government to release its FY 2011 Performance Evaluation Reports for all eight NNSA nuclear weapons sites.
View NukeWatch Press Release: PDF Doc; or view as web page
View complete NukeWatch FOIA Complaint: (PDF)
Potential Workforce Loss at Los Alamos Lab Not Supported by Budget Facts
For Immediate Release: February 27, 2012. Management profit going up as jobs and accountability are cut; file in actuality, comprehensive cleanup is the real future job creator.
Why does LANS now need to drop 400-800 employees when virtually the same amount of funding employed far more people in FY 2010? Part of the answer may lie in LANS' rapidly rising profits. . .
Read the Nuclear Watch Press Release here.
Read Jay Coghlan's detailed rebuttal of the New York Times article (3/3/12), "Los Alamos Residents Brace for Layoffs at Lab" here .
Funding Eliminated for Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Plutonium Lab
Press Release: The NNSA FY 2013 Congressional Budget Request
Feb 13. Santa Fe, NM - "The Obama Administrations new fiscal year 2013 Congressional Budget
Request has zeroed out funding for the controversial Chemistry and Metallurgy Research
Replacement Project (CMRR)-Nuclear Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
While todays budget says that the CMRR-NF is being simply deferred for 5 years, that likely
terminates the project given ongoing fiscal constraints and its lack of clear need.
For the past five years Nuclear Watch New Mexico has argued that the existing plutonium
infrastructure at LANL was more than sufficient to meet the needs of our nuclear weapons
stockpile, which official studies should confirm. NNSA now appears to be agreeing with us.
While zeroing out CMRR the agency states in its budget request:
Construction has not begun on the nuclear facility. NNSA has determined, in consultation with the national laboratories, that the existing infrastructure in the nuclear complex has the inherent capacity to provide adequate support for these missions. Studies are ongoing to determine long-term requirements. NNSA will modify existing facilities, and relocate some nuclear materials..."
View/download the full Nuclear Watch press release (PDF) on the budgetary request here.
View/download NukeWatch's detailed tabulation of the NNSA's FY 2013 Budget Request here.
View/download FY2013 Los Alamos Labs Spending Chart here
Crystal Ball Budget Predictions for NNSA FY 2013 Congressional Budget Request
"We predict that FY 2013 will be a rough year for the National Nuclear Security Administration. This will be due to (among other things) its failure to achieve ignition at the ~$5 billion National Ignition Facility, the effective termination of the CMRR-Nuclear Facility (even after more than $400 million has been spent on its design), and growing Congressional doubts over its MOX Program. Added to this, the Department of Energy (NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within DOE) will likely fail with its ~$13 billion Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State. DOE will remain on the GAO's high risk list for the 20th consecutive year. Public and Congressional exasperation with DOE and NNSA wasteful spending will grow, leading to increasing budget cuts in FY 2014."
Read the full list of budgetary predictions at the Watchblog.
The NNSA FY 2013 Congressional Budget Request is expected to be released early afternoon (EST) Monday, February 13.
New Defense Guidance Undermines Need for new LANL Plutonium Facility
Pentagon President Barak Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta released a new defense strategy reflecting the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the need to achieve more than $450 billion in budget savings over the next decade. While specific military programs were not marked for cuts, the strategy document "U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense" notes that "It is possible that our deterrence goals can be achieved with a smaller nuclear force, which would reduce the number of nuclear weapons in our inventory as well as their role in U.S. national security strategy."
Jay Coghlan, NukeWatch Director, commented, "We welcome the Administration's acknowledgment that massive budget savings much be achieved and that our nuclear forces could be further reduced. Canceling the CMRR-Nuclear Facility is one way to begin to achieve both, immediately saving around 5 billion dollars. More importantly, canceling the CMRR-Facility is also a decision to not expand plutonium pit production, when expansion is simply not needed and would be inconsistent with America's global nonproliferation goals. Hundred's of billions of dollars could be saved over the next half-century by not expanding plutonium pit production to produce new nuclear weapons, when that money is badly needed for true national priorities."
U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense is available here.
Our Press Release is here.
Safety Board Gives Green Light For Unneeded New Plutonium Facility at LANL
On August 26th, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), an independent safety Board chartered by Congress to monitor nuclear safety at Department of Energy defense facilities, signed off on ongoing seismic and safety issues concerning Los Alamos National Laboratory's (LANL's) proposed new $2 billion-plus plutonium facility. This allows around $50 million in funding to be released for its further design. The 2009 National Defense Authorization Act required the DNFSB and DOE to submit certification to the congressional Armed Services Committees that safety and seismic concerns raised by the Board were resolved before these funds were made available. The Board had identified five certification findings ranging from structural and equipment seismic concerns to safety-related document and controls issues.
The construction of a proposed new "Nuclear Facility" for LANL's "Chemical and Metallurgical Research Replacement Project" (CMRR) is not yet funded, but its design to date has cost over $200 million. This facility, whose originally stated purpose was to directly support expanded nuclear weapons production, should not be built because it is oversized, over budget, over sold, and plain not needed. Instead of a new nuclear weapons facility, major investments at LANL should be directed toward nonproliferation programs, global nuclear threat reduction, energy efficiency, environmental research, and cleanup.
New Defense Guidance Undermines Need for new LANL Plutonium Facility
Pentagon President Barak Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta released a new defense strategy reflecting the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the need to achieve more than $450 billion in budget savings over the next decade. While specific military programs were not marked for cuts, the strategy document "U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense" notes that "It is possible that our deterrence goals can be achieved with a smaller nuclear force, which would reduce the number of nuclear weapons in our inventory as well as their role in U.S. national security strategy."
Jay Coghlan, NukeWatch Director, commented, "We welcome the Administration's acknowledgment that massive budget savings much be achieved and that our nuclear forces could be further reduced. Canceling the CMRR-Nuclear Facility is one way to begin to achieve both, immediately saving around 5 billion dollars. More importantly, canceling the CMRR-Facility is also a decision to not expand plutonium pit production, when expansion is simply not needed and would be inconsistent with America's global nonproliferation goals. Hundred's of billions of dollars could be saved over the next half-century by not expanding plutonium pit production to produce new nuclear weapons, when that money is badly needed for true national priorities."
U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense is available here.
Our Press Release is here.
NNSA issues Record Of Indecision for Nuclear Facility
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has posted its Amended Record Of Decision (AROD) for the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project (CMRR)-Nuclear Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. What all this means is that the Department of Energy has rubber stamped the final step in the SEIS process.
The NNSA offered no real alternatives to building the Nuclear Facility, and continues to push a modification of the 2004 design, mostly to meet increasing (and still unresolved) seismic concerns. The AROD still leaves undecided whether to use a 'Deep Excavation' or 'Shallow Excavation' option for construction of the Nuclear Facility, which was the only substantial choice NNSA offered.
As the AROD states, 'NNSA will select the appropriate Excavation Option (Shallow or Deep) for implementing the construction of this building after initiating final design activities, when additional geotechnical and structural design calculations and more detailed engineering analysis will be performed to support completing the facility design'.
It's more like a Record Of Indecision because nothing new was decided. True alternatives were not analyzed in the SEIS. The pre-determined outcome to build the Nuclear Facility was predictably chosen and the hard choice between the options of shallow or deep construction was kicked down the road. This indecision is a blatant attempt to snowball the project and start pre-construction activities that alone could cost up to three-quarters of a billion dollars. This is despite the fact that the actual elevation, type of structure, and total estimated costs are still unknown. Hopefully Congress will quit writing a blank check and demand more details before starting to spend any more money on this 6 billion dollar bamboozle that won’t produce a single new permanent job.
For further background please see our CMRR fact sheet here.
And see our LANL Primer here.
The CMRR Amended Record Of Decision is here.
Thanks To Those Who Attended the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project (CMRR)
12th CMRR Project Update Public Meeting, Tuesday, September 20, 2011: Our presentation from that evening is here (September 20,2011, 5.2 MB)
See our new fact sheet
NNSA Hides Behind Final Enviro Statement To Press On With Unneeded And Exorbitant Plutonium Facility
Without public notice this late Friday afternoon the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has posted online its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project (CMRR)-Nuclear Facility. While providing materials characterization and analytical chemistry for "special nuclear materials" the Nuclear Facility will be the keystone to an expanded plutonium pit production complex at Los Alamos, quadrupling the Lab's manufacturing capability from 20 radioactive nuclear weapons cores per year to 80. The Nuclear Facility is also slated to have a vault that can hold up to six metric tons of plutonium that it will share via underground tunnels with the Lab's plutonium pit production plant.
Read Our Press Release here.
Find the Final SEIS in Volumes on the DOE Site here.
Download Our Handy Combined SEIS here. (August 26, 2011, 25MB)
NukeWatch Comments on Draft CMRR-NF Environmental Impact Statement
Nuclear Watch New Mexico Comments on the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Nuclear Facility Portion of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building Replacement Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, New Mexico.
We appreciate public involvement in the NEPA process. We also support safe, monitored storage of radioactive wastes as a matter of national security and environmental protection. However, these should not be interpreted as support for more nuclear weapons, pit production, nuclear power, or the generation of more nuclear wastes. In our view, the best way to deal with the environmental impacts of nuclear waste is to not produce it to begin with.
We look forward to the agency's withdrawal of this draft for the reasons stated in the linked document, and look forward to further comment once NNSA puts out a serious draft without an un-predetermined outcome.
summary of comments / full comments
July 2010 - June 2011
Newsletters
Volume 11, Issue 1 : Winter 2010 [712KB]
Website and Blog Posts
32 posts to the WatchBlog s
18 items for main page
Fact Sheets, Charts and Reports
Nuclear Watch FY2011 Tabulation of Funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nuclear Weapons Complex -February 14, 2011
Nuclear Watch Scoping Comments for CMRR Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) - November 16, 2010
Presentation - “Modernization” of the Nuclear Weapons Complex: As Proposed and How It Should Be, Marylia Kelley, Jay Coghlan (with narration)[20 MB PPT] - October 28, 2010
Presentation- Kansas City Plant and the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex [14 MB PPT] (updated with development agreement info) [4 MB PDF version] -August 13, 2010
NWNM-Analysis FY11-SSM Plan - July 13, 2010
NWNM-Analysis FY11-SSM Plan Future Radioactive Waste Operations - July 13, 2010
Presentation-The Enduring Stockpile - July 3, 2010
Presentation-A Dubious Bargain - July 2, 2010
OnlineVideo
Remarks by Valerie Plame Wilson at Santa Fe Opening of Countdown to Zero -Aug 12, 2010
