nuclear-news

Expansion of LANL and WIPP are Major Public Concerns for Monday, July 22nd DOE Meeting at Buffalo Thunder Resort

July 17th, 2024,  https://nuclearactive.org/

On Thursday, July 18^th at 8 am Mountain Time, you will have an informative opportunity to hear from two experts, Don Hancock and Myrriah Gómez, when they discuss the major public concerns regarding the plans of the Department of Energy (DOE) to expand operations at two of their facilities in New Mexico.  Those sites are Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

Host of KUNM-FM’s Let’s Talk New Mexico show, Megan Kamerick will facilitate the conversation about DOE’s plans to increase the number of nuclear weapons fabricated at LANL resulting in more plutonium-contaminated nuclear waste destined for WIPP.  https://www.kunm.org/show/lets-talk-new-mexico/2024-07-12/nuclear-waste-wipp-lanl

Then on Monday, July 22^nd from 6 to 7:30 pm, key officials from DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Office of Environmental Management (EM) will make short presentations at their in person and virtual town hall.  The town hall will be held at the Buffalo Thunder Resort, located 13 miles north of downtown Santa Fe on U.S. 84 / 285 from 6 to 7:30 p.m., in the Pueblo Ballroom on the second floor.   Parking is available on the north side of the building.  https://www.energy.gov/em/events/northern-new-mexico-town-hall-july-2024

NNSA Administrator, Jill Hruby, and EM Senior Advisor, Candice Robertson, will host the town hall and be available to answer your questions.

To register, go to:  https://www.energy.gov/em/events/northern-new-mexico-town-hall-july-2024  You also email your questions ahead of time.  external.engagements@nnsa.doe.gov

It is essential that the federal agencies hear your concerns!

Your questions could include:  What is the future of WIPP, which was supposed to be a pilot project, and closed in March 2024?  https://wipp.energy.gov/  How much waste will be generated by the proposed increase during the fabrication of plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons at LANL?  https://discover.lanl.gov/publications/national-security-science/2021-winter/pit-production-explained/  How long will WIPP remain open?  DOE is saying WIPP would operate for 60 more years, or at least until 2083, or essentially FOREVER.

In the 1970s through the 1990s, DOE promised the People of New Mexico that if WIPP were opened, it would be able to cleanup and dispose of all the plutonium-contaminated waste at its sites across the country, including LANL, in 25 years and then close.  But that did not happen.  DOE now claims WIPP must stay open for at least six more decades to dispose of waste from LANL and other sites.

There are many resources to help you develop your comments at http://nuclearactive.org/ ; https://stopforeverwipp.org/ ; and https://nukewatch.org/ .

July 19, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized