Cost of RECA Chart
In 1985, US President Ronald Reagan and Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev declared that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”
NukeWatch NM Google News Feed
- UNM faculty featured in USA Today documentary on New Mexico's nuclear legacy - UNM Newsroom October 28, 2026UNM faculty featured in USA Today documentary on New Mexico's nuclear legacy UNM Newsroom
- Trinity test fallout haunts New Mexico as US expands nuclear plans - Kansas City Star October 23, 2026Trinity test fallout haunts New Mexico as US expands nuclear plans Kansas City Star
- Secret nuclear weapons report released amid SC, NM factory fight. Here’s what to know - The State August 17, 2026Secret nuclear weapons report released amid SC, NM factory fight. Here’s what to know The State
- Once secret report on atomic weapons production released as greens fight plans in SC, NM - The State August 14, 2026Once secret report on atomic weapons production released as greens fight plans in SC, NM The State
- Nuclear Watch New Mexico sues Department of Energy for plutonium pit report - Santa Fe New Mexican August 5, 2026Nuclear Watch New Mexico sues Department of Energy for plutonium pit report Santa Fe New Mexican
- Nuclear weapons pit study kept secret, groups say. Here’s what to know - The State July 14, 2026Nuclear weapons pit study kept secret, groups say. Here’s what to know The State
- Hidden study casts doubt on need for nuclear weapons factories in SC, NM, critics say - The State July 11, 2026Hidden study casts doubt on need for nuclear weapons factories in SC, NM, critics say The State
- Plaintiffs in SRS plutonium pit lawsuit demand documents, extension of public comment period - Post and Courier July 10, 2026Plaintiffs in SRS plutonium pit lawsuit demand documents, extension of public comment period Post and Courier
- New Mexico environment officials mandate more legacy nuclear waste at WIPP - Source New Mexico April 24, 2026New Mexico environment officials mandate more legacy nuclear waste at WIPP Source New Mexico
- Rare tour of Savannah River plutonium facility stokes opponents fears of 'new nuclear arms race' - Post and Courier April 23, 2026Rare tour of Savannah River plutonium facility stokes opponents fears of 'new nuclear arms race' Post and Courier
- Nuclear watchdogs toured a planned SC plutonium plant. Here’s what they saw. - South Carolina Daily Gazette April 22, 2026Nuclear watchdogs toured a planned SC plutonium plant. Here’s what they saw. South Carolina Daily Gazette
- WATCH: Vasquez Presses Administration Officials on Their Openness to Resuming Above-Ground Nuclear Testing, Jeopardizing American Health and Safety - Representative Gabe Vasquez | (.gov) April 22, 2026WATCH: Vasquez Presses Administration Officials on Their Openness to Resuming Above-Ground Nuclear Testing, Jeopardizing American Health and Safety Representative Gabe Vasquez | (.gov)
- A major environmental decision is now locked in, with lingering questions about the process behind it - Federal News Network April 22, 2026A major environmental decision is now locked in, with lingering questions about the process behind it Federal News Network
NEW & UPDATED
Regulators order halt to plume cleanup, say contaminants moving toward pueblo
“It’s been nearly 20 years since the chromium plume was discovered, yet DOE is still struggling with cleanup,”
The current pump-and-treat method is marginally effective at best and a process that actually could take centuries to complete at this pace, said Scott Kovac, Nuclear Watch New Mexico’s operations director.
The contaminated water should be removed, treated and taken to another site instead of injected back into the plume, he said.
By Scott Wyland, The Santa Fe New Mexican | February 22, 2023 santafenewmexican.com
State regulators have ordered the U.S. Energy Department to stop injecting treated water into an underground chromium plume by April 1, saying the method is pushing the contamination at the Los Alamos National Laboratory site toward a nearby pueblo and deeper into the aquifer.
The state Environment Department has called into question a pump-and-treat method the federal agency’s environmental management branch has used for years in an effort to remedy the mile-long toxic plume and keep it from spreading to the adjacent San Ildefonso Pueblo.
Regulators say the technique of extracting contaminated water, treating it and pumping it back into the aquifer is not remediating the decades-old plume or containing it but instead is stirring up the hexavalent chromium and pushing it toward the pueblo.
Hexavalent chromium is a known carcinogen. If ingested in drinking water, it can harm the liver, kidneys and reproductive systems, and some research indicates consuming large amounts over a long period can cause stomach cancer.
“DOE has not demonstrated … that injection of treated water has resulted in hydraulic control of the plume,” Environment Department spokesman Matt Maez wrote in an email. “NMED is concerned about threats to public health and the environment from the plume being pushed towards and onto San Ildefonso, instead of being mitigated by DOE’s current injection strategy.”
Fire ‘involving URANIUM’ breaks out at Tennessee National Security Complex where America’s first atom bomb was developed, forcing evacuation of 200 staffers
The Oak Ridge complex was home to the Manhattan Project for research and development during World War II
An NNSA spokesperson confirmed that the fire started at 9.15am at the federal facility: Authorities confirmed that the material involved in the fire was a metal compound of uranium.
By EMMA JAMES FOR DAILYMAIL.COM | February 22, 2023 dailymail.co.uk
A fire ‘involving uranium’ broke out at a National Security Complex in Tennessee with all staff being evacuated from the site.
The National Nuclear Security Administration said that an emergency response responded to the blaze on Wednesday morning at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.
All of their 200 employees were accounted for, with other buildings next to the site being evacuated as a precaution.
An NNSA spokesperson confirmed that the fire started at 9.15am at the federal facility, and the blaze was limited to the site itself.
They added: ‘Emergency Services responded to the event. The site activated the Y-12 Emergency Response Organization and we’ve been in close contact with local and state officials.
But they confirmed that they would assess employees, if needed, following the incident.
State Environment Department Begins to Rein in Work On LANL’s Chromium Plume Given Major Differences With DOE
At a February 9, 2023 public community forum hosted by the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Los Alamos Office, there were strong indications that the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is convinced that DOE’s plans to remediate the chromium groundwater contamination plume under Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is not working. Kimberly Lebak, program manager for N3B, the LANL cleanup contractor, described how it is finalizing the 2023 milestones under the Consent Order that governs cleanup, despite the fact that the NMED Groundwater Bureau has requested that DOE stop injecting treated water by April 1, 2023. DOE and NMED are not seeing eye-to-eye concerning the “Interim Measure” that N3B is using to contain the chromium plume.
The two agencies disagree on the Interim Measure, originally designed to prevent chromium from migrating across the San Ildefonso Pueblo border while DOE tries to figure out a final remedy.
State Environment Department Begins to Rein in Work On LANL’s Chromium Plume Given Major Differences With DOE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, February 21, 2023 | Scott Kovac – 505.989.7342 | Email
At a February 9, 2023 public community forum hosted by the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Los Alamos Office, there were strong indications that the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is convinced that DOE’s plans to remediate the chromium groundwater contamination plume under Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is not working. Kimberly Lebak, program manager for N3B, the LANL cleanup contractor, described how it is finalizing the 2023 milestones under the Consent Order that governs cleanup, despite the fact that the NMED Groundwater Bureau has requested that DOE stop injecting treated water by April 1, 2023. DOE and NMED are not seeing eye-to-eye concerning the “Interim Measure” that N3B is using to contain the chromium plume.
The two agencies disagree on the Interim Measure, originally designed to prevent chromium from migrating across the San Ildefonso Pueblo border while DOE tries to figure out a final remedy.
Putin Suspends Nuclear-Arms Treaty Between Russia, U.S.
“‘Putin’s announcement makes it far more likely that after New START expires, there will be no agreement limiting U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals for the first time since 1972,’ said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, a Washington-based organization that supports arms control agreements.”
What does justice, therefore, mean to a community that has lost so much?
By Ann M. Simmons, Sabrina Siddiqui and Austin Ramzy THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | February 21, 2023 wsj.com
MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would step back from the last remaining major nuclear-arms-control treaty between the U.S. and Russia, and vowed to continue the military campaign in Ukraine as the diplomatic gulf widened between Moscow and the West.
Mr. Putin’s move, announced Tuesday during a wide-ranging state-of-the-nation address in Moscow, came hours before President Biden again sought to rally international support for Ukraine in Poland ahead of the first-year anniversary of the invasion, and a day after traveling to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
District Court Denies Department of Energy’s Motion to Dismiss Plutonium Pits Suit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, February 13, 2023 | South Carolina Environmental Law Project, Savannah River Site Watch, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Tri-Valley CAREs, Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition
AIKEN, S.C. — In a win for public participation and environmental protection, the United States District Court of South Carolina denied the Department of Energy’s motion to dismiss a 2021 legal action filed by multiple citizen groups. The suit was prompted by the agencies’ failure to take the “hard look” required by the National Environmental Policy Act at their plans to more than quadruple the production of plutonium pits for new nuclear weapons and split their production between the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Savannah River Site.
In her ruling, Judge Mary Geiger Lewis thoroughly rejected the defendants’ arguments that the plaintiffs lacked standing, saying it was “not a close call”.
“We were able to defeat yet another attempt to use standing as a weapon to keep members of the public out of the government’s decision-making process,” said Leslie Lenhardt, Senior Managing Attorney at the South Carolina Environmental Law Project (SCELP).
To date, the Department of Energy (DOE) has refused to fully examine the environmental and safety impacts of their cross-country plan, which would create massive quantities of dangerous and radioactive material, put hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars on the line, risk a new nuclear arms race, and violate the nation’s foundational environmental law.
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