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| | | published Wednesday, May 16, 2012 | 71 Views :: 0 Comments |
For Immediate Release: May 16th, 2012 Contact: Katherine Fuchs , Alliance for Nuclear Accountability - kfuchs@ananuclear.org, 414-324-4228 Aaron Albright, Rep. George Miller’s office – aaron.albright@mail.house.gov, (202) 226-0853 This week, the full House will debate two important amendments to last week’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) related to nuclear safety: one offered by Representatives Miller (CA), Visclosky (IN), and Sanchez (CA) to strike NDAA provisions that would erode safety standards and weaken oversight, and another offered by Rep. Smith (WA) that would strike provisions removing nuclear weapons from the Secretary of Energy’s jurisdiction. The Miller et al. amendment would protect the “adequate protection standard” that has guided nuclear safety oversight for more than a quarter century, ensure that nuclear oversight agencies retain a “transactional” oversight model, and prevent new layers of bureaucracy from undermining technical experts. TheSmith amendment would preserve the authority of the Secretary of Energy over the National Nuclear Security Administration.
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| | | published Wednesday, May 16, 2012 | 82 Views :: 0 Comments |
In the following op-ed, ANA Director Susan Gordon argues that Rep. Martin Heinrich is not acting in New Mexico's best interest when advocating for funding a new plutonium facility at Los Alamos. Gordon states that what New Mexico really needs is funding to clean up Los Alamos' legacy of radioactive and toxic waste.
May 16, 2012
By Susan Gordon
From the Albuquerque Journal
More than a decade late and 10 times more expensive than originally forecast, the new Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement mega-building at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is a textbook example of how Congress misspends the taxpayers’ dollars.
The main mission for the facility originally would have been to support expanded production of plutonium pits – the fissile cores of nuclear weapons. Today, however, the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nuclear weapons complex, has determined that it does not need the new CMRR.
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| | | published Monday, May 14, 2012 | 66 Views :: 0 Comments |
The following op-ed by ANA's Program Director Katherine Fuchs highlights changes to our nation's nuclear weapons oversight infrastructure that are currently being considered by the House of Representatives.
May 9, 2012
By Katherine M. Fuchs
From The Hill's Congress Blog
Today the House Armed Services Committee will debate the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), possibly overturning 25 years of safety standards at our nation’s weapons facilities. During this debate members of this committee will have a choice – they can protect communities around nuclear sites and the employees who work there or they can go on record as turning their back on those safety standards.
There are several sections of the NDAA that relate directly to nuclear safety and pose a threat to security. Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this bill is the fact that it would overturn the “adequate protection standard” that has guided nuclear safety oversight for over two decades. The adequate protection standard, which through legal precedent has been defined as not allowing cost considerations to impact safety recommendations, would be muddled by a new “low as reasonably practicable” standard, an imprecise measure undefined by statute and almost certain to favor cost-cutting measures over public safety.
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| | | published Tuesday, May 08, 2012 | 121 Views :: 0 Comments |
May 7, 2012
By Rob Pavey From the Augusta Chronicle
The schedule for disposing of plutonium at Savannah River Site’s mixed oxide fuel facility would be extended by two years under a new version of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Bill released Monday.
The markup released by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon would add two years to schedules that call for the National Nuclear Security Administration to provide detailed reports on the project’s cost and operations timetable, along with key production objectives.
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| | | published Tuesday, May 08, 2012 | 158 Views :: 0 Comments |
May 8, 2012
By Frank Munger From the Knoxville News Sentinal
 | Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance members Mary Dennis Lentsch, left, and Dennie Kelley sign a oversize letter to U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander Monday at the Howard H. Baker, Jr. Federal Courthouse. A dozen members of OREPA delivered the letter to ask that cost and safety issues be addressed at Y-12's proposed multibillion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility. (J. Miles Cary/News Sentinel)
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A peace activist group waged its growing campaign against the Uranium Processing Facility on two fronts Monday.
Members of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance hand-delivered a letter to Sen. Lamar Alexander's Knoxville office, asking the Republican senator to help slow work on the multibillion-dollar project until safety issues raised by a federal review board have been resolved. In a separate action, the group sent a letter to Gregory Friedman, the U.S. Department of Energy's inspector general, and urged Friedman to investigate the project's work to date, with more than $500 million spent designing the new production facility, for evidence of government waste and possibly fraud.
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| | | published Tuesday, May 01, 2012 | 345 Views :: 0 Comments |
Hanford Challenge Decries Appalling Lack of Oversight, demands
Immediate Stand Down and Complete Investigation
Immediate Release - April 30, 2012 Contact: Tom Carpenter (206) 419-5829 Richland, WA: The Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General released a report today that revealed a disturbing breakdown in Hanford’s quality program that allowed radioactive waste processing vessels to be installed without required documentation proving their integrity. This means that the Department of Energy is unable to prove the safety of the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP). The IG also found a critical lack of oversight on the DOE’s part, and a failure to collect the repayment of a $15 million assessment against Bechtel, the contractor, when DOE discovered a defective vessel.
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| | | published Monday, April 30, 2012 | 192 Views :: 0 Comments |
April 30, 2012
By Rob Pavey From the Augusta Chronicle U.S. Senate budget writers followed their House counterparts this week with questions about the rising costs of the mixed oxide fuel plant under construction at Savannah River Site.
In particular, the projected annual cost of operating the facility — after it is completed — has risen from $156 million to $499 million in just two budget years, said a new draft of the 2013 Senate Energy & Water Development Appropriations bill.
The National Nuclear Security Administration, an arm of the Energy Department that manages nuclear weapons programs, “has failed to provide a sufficient justification for this increase,” the report said.
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| | | published Monday, April 30, 2012 | 300 Views :: 0 Comments |
April 28, 2012 By John Severance From the Los Alamos Monitor Apparently, there are plans in the works for an alternative solution to the Chemistry Metallurgy Research Replacement facility, which was deferred for five years by the administration.
So what is Plan B exactly?
The public is not sure yet.
According to the Nuclear Weapons and Materials Monitor, the NNSA plans to use an existing facility at Los Alamos, the Radiological Laboratory/Utility/Office Building, as well as Lawrence Livermore’s Superblock Facility and the Device Assembly Facility (DAF) at the Nevada National Security Site, and Los Alamos was expected to analyze several key components of the project during a 60-day study.
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| | | published Monday, April 30, 2012 | 282 Views :: 0 Comments |
The following article on the undoing of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Nuclear Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory extensively quotes Scott Kovac of ANA member group Nuclear Watch New Mexico as he questions Department of Energy representatives on their "plan B" for plutonium management.
April 27, 2012
By John Severance From the Los Alamos Monitor
Sometimes, the show must go on. NNSA has decided to defer the Chemistry Metallurgy Research Replacement facility for at least five years. Activists rejoiced. Those at LANL and NNSA regrouped.
End of story, right?
Not so fast.
As part of a 2005 settlement between the Department of Energy/LANL and a coalition of community groups, a decision was reached to hold semi-annual meetings to discuss CMRR updates.
Wednesday night at Fuller Lodge there was another one of those meetings.
Steve Fong of the Los Alamos Site Office told those in attendance to expect the design deliverables to be completed by the end of the year and that the design was in “closeout mode.”
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| | | published Thursday, April 26, 2012 | 383 Views :: 0 Comments |
Apr 26, 2012
By John Fleck From the Albuquerque Journal A key group of House Republicans this week signaled their support for the Obama administration’s decision to eliminate funding for a multi-billion dollar new plutonium laboratory at Los Alamos, suggesting the possibility of bipartisan agreement on the controversial move.
Some Republicans in Congress have objected loudly to the administration’s decision to indefinitely defer work on the project. But the committee with jurisdiction over the nuclear weapons budget, in a spending plan made public this week, endorsed the administration’s proposal.
In a report made public late Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee agreed with the Obama administration’s conclusion that there is currently no need for the multi-billion dollar Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Nuclear Facility.
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