Updates for local members: biweekly meetings suspended; internship, fellowship, volunteer opportunities; news

January 19, 2016

Dear friends –

First, we are suspending our twice-weekly get-togethers for now.  They have been valuable to and enjoyable but they do take a considerable amount of time, which is scarce.  Our doors remain open to visits, however – especially if you want to talk about working with us!

Second, THANK YOU for your generous donations, the financial foundation of our work this year. Thanks to you we’ve got a start on what will surely be an eventful year. If you know others who also might like to help, you can use this letter in your outreach.

Third, for some specific ideas about how to work with us, please see Bulletin 214, topic 4, “What is to be done.” We need your help!

Fourth, if you or anybody else you know are thinking of installing a solar photovoltaic (PV) system and engage Positive Energy to do that for you with their excellent and long-lived SunPower modules, please mention that we referred you. If you or your friend does so, Positive Energy will pay us $500 for the referral when your project is complete. There are volunteer opportunities in this “dual-use” matter as well.

Fifth, please think about candidates for internships and fellowships with us.  We explain the program a little here.  We see especially ripe opportunities this year.  There are too few workers to bring in the whole harvest.  Not a day passes without us recognizing yet another potentially very fruitful, and pleasant, project for somebody, which would amplify our work and that of others.

Sixth (mentioned to Albuquerque members already), some of you may be interested in last Tuesday's resolution in Carlsbad supporting disposal of an additional 6 metric tons of non-pit plutonium at WIPP.  We support this disposal, for reasons we have explained and would be happy to explain further in the right context. We have opened a new page for plutonium disposition here.

Seventh (also mentioned to Albuquerque members already), you might be interested in these two recent blog posts at Forget the Rest:

• The New York Times gathers a “critical” mass of former insiders now dissing nuclear modernization plans
• “What is to be done”

If you like, please subscribe (see box on top of page, right hand side)! It is our intent to provide a précis of important daily articles on this blog (please subscribe, and refer to others!). We do most of the work involved already but every hour has been spoken for lately.

Eighth, there have been several news articles recently about Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), pit production, plutonium disposal, and the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. We know of other articles on the way. Rather than list them here, look in these places, where there is context:

• Our home page
• LANL’s proposed “modular pit facility”
• Plutonium disposition
• Manhattan Project National Historical Park
• LANS’ loss of the LANL contract

There have also been some excellent articles and blog posts about nuclear weapons modernization, which we will review and examine in forthcoming blog posts.

Very best wishes,

Greg and Trish