|
|
|
October 11, 2024 Bulletin 351: TOMORROW: Community briefing, volunteer training: U.S.-Russian relations & the Ukraine War, the criminality of nuclear weapons Permalink for this bulletin (please forward!). Previously: Bulletin 350: Ad with "Call for Sanity" endorsers published; upcoming New Mexico events; fresh warhead core ("pit") cost analyses, Sep 25, 2024 Dear friends and colleagues -- First, most of you haven't seen the second of our two recent double-page ads in the weekly, free Santa Fe Reporter, available as a printable 11"x17" pdf file for those who are interested. We devoted part of the ad to education about the Ukraine War, a bit to the key international law basis for opposition to U.S. nuclear rearmament now underway -- in which the warhead core ("pit") production at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) plays an important part -- and the balance to some of the issues surrounding pit production at LANL. Print, forward, or otherwise use it however you wish! Second, for those of you who are local but not on our New Mexico Activist Leaders mailing list and so haven't gotten a recent reminder, please consider attending tomorrow's briefing on U.S.-Russian relations, the Ukraine War, and the criminality of nuclear weapons. The last part of the meeting will be devoted to some specific outreach and organizing plans -- local, with national and international implications!
Third, there have been two interesting developments in "pit production world" since the political and technical analyses in Bulletin 350. We commend these articles to you with their associated comments (important!).
As the environmental impacts of pit production in New Mexico and LANL expansion overall begin to mount, there are important developments in those areas as well (e.g. "Santa Fe County commissioners object to environmental finding on LANL power line," Santa Fe New New Mexican, Oct 8, 2024). As we said in one of the above comments, we are pleased with Judge Lewis's decision in South Carolina. The decision is however in some ways a non-decision, as we stated. The existing programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) has not been formally vacated, and no remedies have been ordered -- including no injunctive relief. Many people don't understand this. In many ways the case is still wide open. As can be seen from the plaintiffs involved, the legal venue, the attorneys, and the pleadings, this lawsuit has been primarily aimed at halting preparations for pit production in South Carolina, as the Exchange Monitor notes and the Union of Concerned Scientists implies as well (see the final paragraphs). That is unlikely to happen but should plaintiffs succeed in that aim, pit production would occur solely in New Mexico. Pit production at LANL (to support a new warhead for equipping the Sentinel ICBM with multiple warheads) would continue and ramp up as much as possible, with all its attendant environmental, social, and cultural impacts. That said, the judge's ruling that the PEIS is inadequate applies to both sites. It is important for those who want to halt production of new warheads during the next decade, not just at some distant future time, to weigh in. We will be discussing how to do that on Saturday (TOMORROW!) and in the next Bulletin. Best wishes, Greg |
|||
|
|
|||
|
