Through comprehensive research, public education and effective citizen action, Nuclear Watch New Mexico seeks to promote safety and environmental protection at regional nuclear facilities; mission diversification away from nuclear weapons programs; greater accountability and cleanup in the nation-wide nuclear weapons complex; and consistent U.S. leadership toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

UPDATED JULY 2024

Plutonium Sampling at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Cost of RECA Chart

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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LANL’s Central Mission: Los Alamos Lab officials have recently claimed that LANL has moved away from primarily nuclear weapons to “national security”, but what truly remains as the Labs central mission? Here’s the answer from one of its own documents:

LANL’s “Central Mission”- Presented at: RPI Nuclear Data 2011 Symposium for Criticality Safety and Reactor Applications (PDF) 4/27/11

Banner displaying “Nuclear Weapons Are Now Illegal” at the entrance in front of the Los Alamos National Lab to celebrate the Entry Into Force of the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty on January 22, 2021

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Follow the Money!

Map of “Nuclear New Mexico”

In 1985, US President Ronald Reagan and Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev declared that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”

President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev shake hands after signing the arms control agreement banning the use of intermediate-range nuclear missles, the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Reduction Treaty.

Waste Lands: America’s Forgotten Nuclear Legacy

The Wall St. Journal has compiled a searchable database of contaminated sites across the US. (view)
Related WSJ report: https://www.wsj.com

NEW & UPDATED

Judges find uranium plan near Bears Ears National Monument in Utah violates law

On October 25, 2024, two administrative judges ruled that the federal government’s approval of a plan to expand Daneros Mine had violated the law. The judges ordered the attorneys in the case to provide more information so that the judges can determine what the remedy should be.

The Interior Board of Land Appeals issued an order that the plan to expand the mine violated the law because it failed to include an adequate monitoring and response plan to detect and manage groundwater from a perched aquifer below the surface of the mine, and that water from the aquifer could potentially leak into the underground mine and become contaminated through contact with uranium ore or other harmful materials. That’s important because the mine sits fewer than 25 miles as water flows from the Colorado River, on which 40 million people rely.

By Tim PetersonThe Grand Canyon Trust | December 16, 2024 grandcanyontrust.org

After six years, there’s a speck of light at the end of the tunnel for a legal case challenging Daneros uranium mine, a controversial uranium mine on public lands near Bears Ears National Monument.

Perched below the towering walls of Wingate Mesa above Red Canyon and Fry Canyon, the Daneros Mine site and lands around it were proposed for inclusion in Bears Ears National Monument by the five tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition in 2015. When Bears Ears was designated in 2016, Daneros ended up outside the monument’s boundaries, but only by about three miles.

Proposed uranium haul route from Daneros Mine to White Mesa Mill.

Uranium-ore hauling raises concerns about the risk of accidents and contamination. And uranium mining itself has a history of contaminating water, air, and land.

Partnership for a World Without Nuclear Weapons Congratulates Nihon Hidankyo for Nobel Peace Prize

Gratitude to the Norwegian Nobel Committee for Recognizing the Cries and Witness of those Who Suffered the Effects of the Atomic Bombings

Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Japan; Santa Fe, NM; Seattle, WA – December 10, 2024 – As founding diocesan bishops of the Partnership for a World Without Nuclear Weapons, we are grateful to The Norwegian Nobel Committee for awarding Nihon Hidankyo this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Partnership for a World Without Nuclear Weapons | December 10, 2024 pwnw.org

For far too long, the cries of all those who have suffered the effects of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been muted by the false narrative that countries need to build their nuclear weapon capacity to “keep the peace.” In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The Hibakusha of Nihon Hidankyo have been giving witness for decades to the folly of nuclear weapons and to the threat that they pose to human civilization as we know it.

We congratulate the Nihon Hidankyo for earning this year’s peace prize. May their call for the elimination of nuclear weapons be heard ever more clearly and change many people’s hearts in our war-torn world. May the souls of the victims of the atomic bombings rest in peace and rejoice in our work together for peace.

ARCHBISHOP JOHN C. WESTER of Santa Fe
ARCHBISHOP PAUL D. ETIENNE of Seattle
ARCHBISHOP PETER MICHIAKI NAKAMURA of Nagasaki
BISHOP ALEXIS SHIRAH of Hiroshima
ARCHBISHOP EMERITUS JOSEPH MITSUAKI TAKAMI of Nagasaki
SEE MORE:

Partnership for a World Without Nuclear Weapons: Archbishop John C. Wester to Honor the 79th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki

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Japan’s Hibakusha Group “Nihon Hidankyo” Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize: Stand with the Hibakusha to end nuclear weapons

“It is the heartfelt desire of the Hibakusha that, rather than depending on the theory of nuclear deterrence, which assumes the possession and use of nuclear weapons, we must not allow the possession of a single nuclear weapon. […] I therefore plead for everyone around the world to discuss together what we must do to eliminate nuclear weapons, and demand action from governments to achieve this goal.”

From ICAN: “This was the powerful message from Terumi Tanaka, the co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo who survived the bombing of Hiroshima at 13, in the Nobel lecture today.  It was a wake-up call to all the nuclear-armed states and their allies, and a rallying cry for the entire world.”

Melissa Park, ICAN | December 10, 2024 icanw.org

For decades, hibakusha have shared their testimonies so the world could not forget – or look away – from what these weapons of mass destruction really do. It is thanks to their tireless advocacy and their resilience to keep telling these harrowing stories, that we have seen progress such as the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). And now they are asking us to help push global leaders to heed their call to put an end to nuclear weapons forever.

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombings that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the start of the nuclear age. 80 years, during which the nine nuclear-armed states left a tragic humanitarian and environmental legacy around the world through their production, use and testing, and failed to meet commitments to disarm. And 80 years in which we, everywhere, have been led to believe the world has no choice but to live with this unacceptable existential risk looming over our heads.

It is time to say: enough.

Today, we celebrate Nihon Hidankyo, honour the hibakusha, and make a new commitment to resist nuclear weapons together.

Today, we gather this momentous global celebration so that tomorrow we are undeniably and unstoppable in our efforts.

The nuclear-armed states and their allies offered congratulations to Nihon Hidankyo when this prize was announced, giving us a clear moment to remind them that to truly honour the hibakusha’s legacy is to end the era of nuclear weapons forever. 

SEE MORE:

Hiroshima – The Unknown Images

Art and “un-forgetting”: How to honor the atomic dead


 
 

Lawsuit filed against owners of Seabrook nuclear plant over alleged project sabotage

““The hydropower supplied by NECEC would displace the sale of more expensive (and highly polluting) power generated from NextEra’s fossil fuel plants, as well as reduce the prices paid to NextEra for output at its nuclear plant,” the lawsuit says.”

Beyond Nuclear | December 2, 2024 nhpr.org

The energy company Avangrid is accusing NextEra Energy, owners of the Seabrook nuclear power plant, of sabotaging the development of a transmission line meant to bring Canadian hydropower onto the New England grid.

In a lawsuit filed last month, Avangrid alleges NextEra Energy tried to prevent the New England Clean Energy Connect from coming online to protect their profits, including by delaying an upgrade to the Seabrook nuclear power plant’s circuit breaker.

Nuclear Weapons Are Stored on Native Reservations in an Example of Nuclear Colonialism

Why many of America’s nuclear weapons are stored on Native land

Ella Weber | November 27, 2024 teenvogue.com

As we celebrate Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Month, I’m reflecting on an often overlooked area where Native Americans are still harmed by our nation’s violent policies: the realm of nuclear weapons. As an undergrad and a researcher with Nuclear Princeton, I learned, for the first time, that there are 15 operational silos designed to host highly dangerous nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) on Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, home to my tribe: the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. Their presence likely makes us a priority target for nuclear attack in a potential confrontation with an adversary nation — yet another consequence of the continued violence of American colonialism on our Indigenous peoples.

A pie we’re not thankful for

“You might need a magnifying glass to scrutinize the remaining slices, more accurately described as slivers. If your grandma served you up this meager portion at the Thanksgiving table you would have something to say about it. And yet, the majority of Americans swallow this disproportionate deprivation of essential services with nary a murmur.”

Beyond Nuclear | November 24, 2024 beyondnuclear.org

Obscene amounts are spent on US nuclear weapons, but hardly anything to help the people they harmed, writes Linda Pentz Gunter

It’s pie season in America with Thanksgiving fast approaching and pumpkins ready to be pureed into pulp and baked into a delicious confection topped with whipped cream.

But there are other kinds of pies, ones we savor far less happily and that leave a bitter taste in taxpayers’ mouths.

Let’s start with the military pie. Each year, the National Priorities Project (NPP) publishes a US discretionary budget pie for us to sample — sourced from the Office of Management and Budget — and it’s not a pretty sight.

Its most recent version — entitled Militarization of the federal budget in FY 2023 — delivers us a pie guaranteed to cause heartburn if not heartache. A hefty 62% of the pie is sliced off before we even begin to digest the rest, all of it going to militarism to the tune of $1.14 trillion.

Santa Fe New Mexican: Is Acid Canyon clean enough? Depends who you ask

“With the help of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, [Chemist and Northern Arizona University professor emeritus] Ketterer took samples of soil, water and plants from a few locations around Acid Canyon, which he then analyzed using mass spectrometry. He looked in particular at the proportions of two main isotopes, plutonium-239 and plutonium-240, in each sample, which he said can begin to answer questions about where and when the contamination originated.

Alaina Mencinger | November 24, 2024 santafenewmexican.com

Takeaways: Samples from Acid Canyon showed plutonium contamination in water and soil at levels one researcher called “unusually high.” Those findings were presented to lawmakers earlier this month. Department of Energy and LANL officials have pushed back against claims that the levels measured are unsafe or unexpected.

Ex-Westinghouse VP sentenced to jail in $9 billion nuclear heist of SC ratepayers

“In both the SC and GA cases, the state governments helped pave the way for the financial mismanagement of the projects by legislating that state electric ratepayers be responsible to pay for the nuclear construction in their monthly bills many years ahead of receiving a single watt of utility services.”

Beyond Nuclear | November 21, 2024 beyondnuclear.org

On November 20, 2024, the ex-Westinghouse Electric Corporation Vice President, who once headed the company’s AP1000 advanced reactor global marketing division, Jeffrey Alan Benjamin was sentenced in the District of South Carolina Federal Court to one year and a day in prison and a $100,000 fine for his role to defraud the South Carolina Public Utility Commission (PUC) and state electric ratepayers out of billions of dollars following the 2017 abandonment of the V.C. Summer units 2 & 3 nuclear plant construction project.

The US Justice Department had originally charged Westinghouse’s senior global nuclear project manager with 16 federal felony counts including conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud by withholding and providing false financial information to South Carolina regulators and state customers while the V.C. Summer AP1000 pressurized water reactor project was financially collapsing from skyrocketing cost overruns and mounting construction delays. After years of legal wrangling, Benjamin entered into a guilty plea deal to a single “information felony charge” for “aiding and abetting the failure to keep accurate corporate records.”

Arms Control Association: Putin’s Decision to Lower Threshold for Nuclear Use Is Irresponsible and Dangerous

“Because nuclear war would affect all people, Russia’s dangerous behavior demands a global response.”

Statement by Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director, Arms Control Association | November 19, 2024 armscontrol.org

(Washington, D.C.) — As foreshadowed by an earlier statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin issued a decree that revises Russian policies regarding the employment of nuclear weapons in war in a way that further blurs the threshold for Russian use of nuclear weapons and adds significant uncertainty to the already unsteady balance of nuclear terror between Russia and the United States and other members of the NATO alliance.

The new doctrine includes language that asserts that Russia “reserves the right” to use nuclear weapons to respond to a conventional-weapons attack that creates a “critical threat” to its “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” whereas the previous doctrine, which was issued in 2020, only reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if an attack on Russia threatens “the very existence of the state.”

Santa Fe New Mexican: Santa Fe County commissioners grill federal official over LANL legacy cleanup

Santa Fe County commissioners on Tuesday pressed an official from the Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office on legacy waste cleanup, including the status of a toxic chromium plume under the area’s canyons.

By Santa Fe New Mexican | November 13, 2024 santafenewmexican.com

The U.S Energy Department office is in charge of the cleanup of the legacy contamination of radioactive and chemical materials and waste resulting from operations during the Manhattan Project and the Cold War at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Jessica Kunkle, manager of the Los Alamos field office, briefed the commissioners in a presentation at the urging of Commissioner Anna Hansen.

At one point, Kunkle noted remediated land known as the “Middle DP Road Cleanup” site had been turned over to Los Alamos County for “continued economic development.” In January, the Department of Energy announced radiologically contaminated materials, including metal items, debris and glass, had been removed from the site, which is located in Los Alamos’ industrial district a little east of downtown.

CRITICAL EVENTS

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New Nuclear Media: Art, Films, Books & More

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