August 18, 2023

Legislative meeting Monday, gm testimony / City of Santa Fe City strongly opposes pit production, nuclear weapons, LANL expansion for same

Previous letter (08/17/2023): Want to oppose pit production? Talk to us / The New Mexican implicitly comes out for pits / Ukraine / Resilience
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Friends, good afternoon.

First, if you are interested, on Monday 8/21/23 the Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee (RHMC) of the New Mexico Legislature will meet in Los Alamos in the Council Chambers of the Los Alamos County Municipal Building (agenda), starting at 9 am. We have submitted our brief testimony (we will have 7.5 minutes, with as much again for Q&A) and posted it on our web site: "It is time to request a halt to plutonium pit production at LANL." We have kept this testimony quite simple. It is also blunt.

This will be our (Greg's) fifth presentation to this committee, which as far as we can tell has taken no action regarding LANL's proposed pit production mission. We have repeatedly emphasized the Committee's possible role in fostering transparency, but at this meeting LANL and NNSA will be meeting with the Committee in executive session, away from the public and any reporters.

Until 1:45 MDT, the meeting will be webcast.

As you can see from the agenda, the Committee will be hearing about a number of topics from a number of people. It is only the second meeting of this committee this year. As you know, state legislators are not paid and the committee has no staff of its own.

Second, as we noted yesterday, the managing editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican has come out in explicit favor of major LANL expansion into Santa Fe, to better accommodate pit production on "The Hill."

This might be a good time to remind ourselves -- and the New Mexican -- of what the City of Santa Fe has officially said about pit production and nuclear disarmament, lest anyone think that nuclear weapons manufacturing was ever accepted in Santa Fe previously.

Referring to New Mexico Local Government Resolutions & Letters addressing nuclear weapons & plutonium pit production at LANL , we see that between 2003 and 2008 the City of Santa Fe formally objected four times to plutonium pit production at LANL without any conditions. Opposition was absolute. After 2005 opposition was a given, so it went in the "whereas" section of the latter two resolutions.

The Town of Taos and Taos County -- home of the Taos News, also published by the New Mexican -- are also both on record opposing plutonium pit production without conditions (in 2008).

(Later, the City of Santa Fe objected twice to plutonium pit production at LANL "until all nuclear safety issues are resolved, as certified by the independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board." This unfortunate and rather weaselly language presupposes a process which does not exist and for which there is no legal mandate. It assumes the "independence" of an agency which has struggled to maintain its very existence in the face of political interference.)

Official opposition to nuclear weapons by the City in 2005 was unequivocal, calling for the City to lead the way toward nuclear disarmament, referencing binding international law.

When we brought this 2005 resolution to the Council, we were fortunate to have with us a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, Mr. Keijiro Matsushima (see p. 32 here). In fact he almost died in Santa Fe after visiting LANL, where we sowed sunflower seeds together (one seed for each victim) near the "V Site" where the Hiroshima bomb was made. He has since died but his testimony is available on-line.

Here is Mr. Matsushima with Ed Grothus at the latter's Black Hole in Los Alamos, and speaking to a crowd at the CloudCliff in Santa Fe:

(bigger)

For reference, here are some key passages from those four Santa Fe resolutions:

City of Santa Fe Resolution 2008-17, passed unanimously Feb 13, 2008

-- Objecting to proposed nuclear weapons complex "transformation" activities at Los Alamos National Laboratory, including expanded plutonium pit production

• "WHEREAS, plutonium pits are used as the "triggers" for weapons of mass destruction and plutonium creates health and environmental hazards; and
  
• "WHEREAS, the governing body of the City of Santa Fe does not support the creation of further health and environmental hazards related to nuclear weapons for the citizens of Northern New Mexico."
• "WHEREAS, it is declared the policy of the City, through previously adopted resolutions, to promote nuclear disarmament through the Mayor's Peace Initiative for Cities of Peace; and
  
• "WHEREAS, the governing body has previously passed Resolution No. 2003-64 and 2006-104 opposing expansion of "pit" facilities construction at LANL;...
• RESOLVED...that the governing body hereby states its objection to the expansion of nuclear weapons activities at the [LANL], including further increased plutonium pit production.
  

City of Santa Fe Resolution 2006-104, passed unanimously Aug 28, 2006
-- Objecting to proposed expanded nuclear weapons activities, including plutonium pit production, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory

• "WHEREAS, plutonium pits are used to "trigger" existing nuclear weapons and will be used in future new-design nuclear weapons;
• "WHEREAS, the governing body of the City of Santa Fe does not support the creation of further health and environmental hazards related to nuclear weapons for the citizens of Northern New Mexico."
• "WHEREAS, it is declared the policy of the City, through previously adopted resolutions, for Cities for Peace, Mayor's Peace Initiative to promote nuclear disarmament
• "WHEREAS, the governing body has previously passed Resolution No. 2003-64 which opposed expansion of "pit" facilities construction at [LANL];
• RESOLVED...that the governing body hereby states its objection to the expansion of nuclear weapons activities at the [LANL], including further increased plutonium pit production.

City of Santa Fe Resolution 2005-39, passed unanimously Apr 13, 2005
-- Supporting compliance by the United States with the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons

• (See original at the link above for sweeping disarmament language, rejecting nuclear deterrence altogether)
• The governing body calls upon our elected representatives to Congress as well as upon our Governor to publicly:
• Reject all proposals to build new or expanded factories for nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons components
  

City of Santa Fe Resolution 2003-64, passed unanimously, Aug 13, 2003
-- Objecting to the location of a Modern Pit Facility in Northern New Mexico

• WHEREAS, plutonium pits are used to "trigger" nuclear weapons
• WHEREAS, the use of plutonium creates health and environmental hazards
• WHEREAS, the governing body of the City of Santa Fe does not support the creation of further health and environmental hazards related to nuclear weapons for the citizens of Northern New Mexico.
• RESOLVED...that the governing body hereby states its objection to the [DOE] regarding the location of a new and or expanded modern pit facility in Northern New Mexico.
• RESOLVED that...the governing body hereby states its objection to the construction and operation of the modern pit facility anywhere
  

If you don't want a plutonium factory at Los Alamos, and you want to do something about it, drop us a line. If you have time to help that would be great.

Best wishes,

Greg Mello, for the Study Group