Because of Fukushima and other less-well-known breeder reactor accidents, these in S.W. Japan, the Department of Energy has admitted that there are newly-understood risks of earthquakes, as a result of the planned building of a new CMRR, the innocently-named “chemistry and metallurgy research replacement center”—actually, a plan to go ahead with a nuclear weapons plant, on an earthquake fault line, in New Mexico.
There is government research by the NNSA going back to 2010 which clearly shows the risk of nuclear meltdown is greater than believed on the East Coast as well, because we now know the history of previous earthquakes much better, than we did when plants were built such as Plymouth Yankee, MA, Indian Point in NY, Three Mile Island, Shippingport, and Limerick, latter three all in PA. These are within the top ten at-risk plants, a crisis in the making. So what can we do? As it happens, right now there’s a golden opportunity.
-Number one, a small victory—the House, June 22nd, cut $100 million form the budget for the New Mexico facility, which will allow for the production of new plutonium pits, for 20-80 nukes each year, when built. This will slow it down, and we should congratulate the sponsors of the cut in the House. Check Web-site for details.
-Second, the 2004 plans for the New Mexico plutonium facility are now seen to be seriously flawed. When this happens, the Department of Energy by law has to file a new SEIS, or Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement; this new SEIS has admitted some of the flaws, but not taken action to solve them.
-As proposed, the CMRR project will cost close to $6 billion, a 1,000% increase over initial cost estimates. Beyond this, the DOE now recognizes that there is a greater risk of damage to such a facility from earthquakes.
WHAT WE CAN DO, TODAY: The National Environmental Policy Act is one of the few laws that allow the public– that’s you, the citizens– to comment, for or against, and to give all your reasons. The deadline for citizen comments is Tuesday, June 28th, so we have five days left. If you’re interested in commenting, you’ll be able to complete a form with a sample letter, and submit it to the Dept. of Energy, in your own words by clicking here. This link will redirect you to a form containing a sample letter.
Dear PNA Friends,
June 28th, some 5000 Emails were submitted by PNA and our partners to the Department of Energy. But as you see, it’s not over till it’s over!
First, we still need your help– whatever you can spare for the cause of peace, and of securing our own “loose nukes.” Please donate, online at our secure “Donate”page, or you can mail a check of any size, which is tax-deductible, to our Phila. HQ address, below.
Finally, Los Alamos town has been evacuated, and sadly, parts of it are burning. Los Alamos Labs, I see on CNN, MS-NBC, etc., are still at risk. They claim the radioactive materials are safe, but some are kept in plastic (yes plastic) hangers, full of old metal drums of plutonium and very toxic materials. Keep your letters and emails going to Congress and DoE– we still need to fix this serious problem.
If you want to help, email me, or staff, and we can talk about other ways– we have a full agenda, including Philly Peace Days this fall. Thanks again for your dedication to peace and global security,
Ed Aguilar, program coordinator, PNA