|
|
|
For immediate release August 29, 2022 Organizations, businesses, individuals call for halt in preparations for plutonium warhead core ("pit") production at Los Alamos and elsewhere
Contact: Greg Mello, 505-265-1200 office, 505-577-8563 cell Albuquerque, NM -- Tomorrow, at 10:30 am, representatives from dozens of organizations and businesses and hundreds of individuals will bring their "Call for Sanity, Not Nuclear Production" to the Rotunda of the New Mexico State Capitol in Santa Fe. These people and groups are calling on our elected officials to "oppose plutonium warhead core (“pit”) production at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) first and foremost, but also elsewhere," as well as "the design, testing, and production of new and 'upgraded' nuclear weapons." They want their governments to prioritize "human security, community resilience, and environmental protection over nuclear weapons production and our bloated military, which...consume[s] [about] two-thirds of federal discretionary spending. "We can no longer delay," they say. "We must use every opportunity, at every level of government, to prioritize human needs, invest in our communities, and build a more just and sustainable society." The introduction to their declaration states: Further development and manufacturing of nuclear weapons by the United States undermines the ethical basis of our society, breaks treaties our nation has signed, wastes our nation’s wealth, and permanently contaminates our environment while undermining true U.S. national security. In 2006, hundreds of organizations, businesses, and religious institutions in New Mexico, nearly a hundred national and international organizations, and thousands of individuals joined the “Call for Nuclear Disarmament.” The present statement follows that previous one. Both were organized by the Los Alamos Study Group. Preparations for pit production comprise the largest nuclear warhead program in the United States, estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $35 billion through 2033. The Biden Administration is requesting almost $3 billion for this effort in fiscal year 2023: $2.5 billion in its "normal" annual request and another $500 million in "unfunded priorities," most of which both armed services committees have already authorized, pending action on appropriations bills. The majority of pit production funds are to be allocated to LANL, not just next year but in every following year, with hundreds of millions in additional costs in other required site enhancements at LANL. The full scope of NNSA's plans for LANL is a closely-guarded secret assiduously kept from local governments as well as tribes and citizens, a secret which is gradually being revealed in partial glimpses via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, FOIA litigation, and other sources. Background information and analyses bearing on pit production can be found here. Study Group director Greg Mello: "Few people understand the mind-boggling scale of what is being planned at LANL, and how it is already affecting New Mexico's future. Amazingly to most people, NNSA's present pit production plan was not supported by its own staff in 2017, or by its consultants in 2018 and 2019. Politics, not good management, is driving this. "What we see right now is only the beginning. To turn LANL into a reliable factory, NNSA will need to build new nuclear facilities for decades, at enormous cost to taxpayers and to the region. Nuclear waste production won't stop either, obviously. "This is not an impregnable juggernaut, however. It will fail -- that much is certain. The questions are when and how, and with what impacts and harms." The number of organizational supporters of the Call for Sanity is increasing day by day. Current supporters include:
The full list of businesses, individuals, and organizations as of this morning can be found here. ***ENDS*** |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|