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A Weekly overview of Nuclear Safety issues.
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This month, the International Uranium Film Festival in Berlin honored uraniumweapons expert and activist Damacio A. Lopez with the festival's Honorary LifetimeAchievement Award. For over thirty years, the US Air Force veteran from Socorro, NewMexico has campaigned for an international ban on depleted uranium munitions andweapons.
In an essay for NYU’s Democracy Project, David F. Levi, a former federal judgeand director emeritus of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law, reflected on thenegotiations he facilitated in New Mexico about the renewal of the hazardous wastepermit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a deep geologic repository forplutonium-contaminated waste generated in the fabrication of nuclear weapons. JudgeLevi’s essay is entitled “Participatory Democracy in Action.”
On September 26 th , 2025, during the United Nations General Assembly in NewYork City, the Republic of Ghana ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of NuclearWeapons (TPNW), and the Country of Kyrgyzstan signed on. With these actions, aglobal majority of countries have signed onto the United Nations nuclear weapons bantreaty. A total of 99 out of the 197 eligible states have taken legal action - 74 haveratified and 25 have signed. Such action sends a strong message to the nuclear-armedstates and their allies that they are now the minority and irresponsible actors threateningglobal security.
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is a small, independent federalagency that serves as a watchdog for the Department of Energy’s nuclear weaponscomplex. It is supposed to have five members, but it currently has only two. And onemember’s term expires on October 18 th . If one or more board positions aren’t filled on orbefore October 18 th , the Safety Board will no longer have a quorum to operate. Thepublic needs the Board to continue its vital nuclear safety mission at the DOE nuclearweapons facilities.
The independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has been dwindlingfrom a five-member board to one member and may disappear if we, the People, do notraise our voices to support its essential nuclear safety work. The Safety Board needs atleast two new members. And that needs to get done by October 16th. New Mexico U.S.Senators Heinrich and Lujan have key roles to play to ensure the Safety Board’s workcontinues unimpeded.
Following the 80 th year since the bombings of Trinity, Hiroshima and Nagasaki,did you know that 2025 is also the 80 th year since the formation of the United Nations?The General Assembly’s first resolution recognized nuclear disarmament as theprincipal goal of the United Nations.
On Saturday, August 30 th , after a beautiful drive across the plains of NortheasternNew Mexico, members of the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition arrived in the Village ofWagon Mound. With a population of less than 300, this rural community feels tight-knit,with many friends and families gathering to celebrate the mighty Pinto Bean every LaborDay. In addition to being next door to the beautiful Wagon Mound butte, this village isalso located right off Interstate 25. This stretch is one of the routes used by theDepartment of Energy (DOE) to transport legacy plutonium-contaminated waste frommaking the triggers, or pits, for nuclear weapons to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant(WIPP), near Carlsbad, New Mexico.
Given the recent data dumps by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) aboutits proposed venting of large quantities of radioactive tritium from four Flanged TritiumWaste Containers, the New Mexico Environment Department must reject LANL’sAugust 22 nd regulatory request for temporary authorization to vent. This Updatedescribes some of the obstacles LANL put in place to obstruct public participation andtimely access to important documents.
This week’s so-called public meeting about the proposed venting of radioactivetritium into the air from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) showed once again howLANL silences communities while fast-tracking nuclear weapons projects.
Over 24,000 people provided public comments to the Department of Energy(DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in opposition to theproposed Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) Project during a convoluted multi-federal agency and multi-year review process to expand electric power to Los AlamosNational Laboratory (LANL). Nevertheless, on Wednesday, DOE and NNSA issued itsFinding of No Significant Impact, or a FONSI.
Dr. Ghasson Shahrour, a medical expert and a Campaigner with the InternationalCampaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, wrote the following.
To prepare for a public meeting with the U.S. Defense Nuclear Facilities SafetyBoard (“the Board”) in Santa Fe on Monday evening, CCNS followed its policy ofreviewing at least the last eight weeks of the Board’s reports for Los Alamos NationalLaboratory (LANL) and used that as a basis for questions and comments to present tothe Board. What we found:
All are welcome to join peacemakers and activists on Saturday, August 9 th at 10am in Los Alamos to commemorate the 80 th year since the U.S. bombing of Nagasaki,Japan on that day in 1945.At 10 am, a vigil and protest will begin in the Manhattan Project National HistoricPark at Ashley Pond. We’ll come together to sing songs of peace and against nuclearweapons, to honor the victims and survivors of nuclear bombs development, testing anduse around the world. We’ll vow to never allow another nuclear atrocity.
The Red Water Pond Road Community Association and the Pipeline RoadCommunity invite you to attend the historic 46th commemoration of the Church RockUranium Tailings Spill on Saturday, July 19th beginning at 6 am near the tailings spilllocation, 12 miles north of Red Rock State Park on State Highway 566. Free t-shirts willbe available for the first 100 participants.
As you may know, the recent federal reconciliation bill increased the budget forexpanded plutonium pit production at the Savannah River Site, located in SouthCarolina, by one billion dollars. Yes, one billion dollars in one year! A “pit” is theplutonium core of a nuclear weapon. The Department of Energy (DOE) plans tofabricate 50 plutonium pits per year there.
In anticipation of the 80th anniversaries of the 1945 atomic bombings in the USAand Japan, a number of hybrid educational events will be held next week.
In this week’s Update CCNS provides information about the upcomingcommemorations of two harmful atomic events that both occurred in New Mexico onJuly 16th. The first is the 80th commemoration of the plutonium bomb test at the TrinityTest Site on July 16, 1945 at the White Sands Missile Range.
This week, a coalition of 13 attorneys general issued Multistate Guidanceaffirming the necessity and legality of environmental justice initiatives to ensure ahealthy environment for all people to live, play, learn, work and worship. Despiteattempts by the Trump administration to eliminate this critical work by businesses,nonprofits, and other organizations as illegal through the use of Executive Orders, theattorneys general are pushing back.
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) planned to vent 30,000 curies ofradioactive tritium into the air during several weekends this summer but it must haveapproval from the New Mexico Environment Department. James Kenney, EnvironmentDepartment Secretary, citing significant public interest in the proposed plan, determinedthat prior to the Environment Department making any final decision, LANL would berequired to perform four additional steps.
It has been raining in Northern New Mexico this week, providing many blessingsof moisture and delaying the proposed venting of radioactive tritium from Los AlamosNational Laboratory (LANL), at least for now. Importantly, the New Mexico EnvironmentDepartment continues its review of LANL’s application for “temporary authorization” tovent up to 30,000 curies of tritium into the air from four Flanged Tritium WasteContainers, or FTWCs.
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