On Monday, July 22nd from 6 to 7:30 pm, several YUCCA members attended and gave comment at an in person and virtual town hall where NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby and EM Senior Advisor Candice Robertson, key officials from DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Office of Environmental Management (EM) made short presentations and were available to answer questions.
Questions included: What is the future of WIPP, which was supposed to be a pilot project, and closed in March 2024? How much waste will be generated by the proposed increase during the fabrication of plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons at LANL? How long will WIPP remain open? (DOE is saying WIPP would operate for 60 more years, or at least until 2083, which is essentially forever.)
In the 1970s through 1990s, DOE promised the People of New Mexico that if WIPP were opened, it would be able to clean up and dispose of all of 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 WIP must stay open for at least six more decades to dispose of waste from LANL and other sites.
You can find many resources to help you learn more about the impacts of the expansion of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico from: Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Stop Forever WIPP, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, and the Los Alamos Study Group.
Click here to listen to two experts Don Hancock and Myrriah Gómez as 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 facilitated 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.
FRACKING WASTE IS RADIOACTIVE - LEARN FROM OUR RECENT SPEAKER SERIES WITH JUSTIN NOBLE
Investigative journalist and expert witness in our rulemaking Justin Nobel is wrapping up a week of discussion events across our state highlighting his book: "Petroleum-238 Big Oil's Dangerous Secret and the Grassroots Fight to Stop It".
Thank you to everyone who attended Justin's events!
If you missed them, you can get up to speed through any of the below resources:
Listen to this riveting podcast by New Energy Economy
Watch the recording of his conversation in Albuquerque at the Peace and Justice Center
Listen to his radio interview
We are so lucky to have Justin as an expert witness in our rulemaking hearings. (If you're really interested, you can read Justin's testimony). His work to expose the toxic dangers of the oil and gas industry has been a great resource to us all - thank you, Justin!
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