Commentary

U.S. plutonium pit production plans advance, with new requirements

February 1, 2020February 4, 2020

Published on the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM) blog December 23, 2019 by Greg Mello The fiscal year (FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act… Read More »U.S. plutonium pit production plans advance, with new requirements

Fissile material mysteries in the U.S. Department of Energy FY20 budget request

April 23, 2019April 23, 2019

(This post was previously published at the International Panel on Fissile Materials here.) On March 25, DOE released the final installment of its fiscal year… Read More »Fissile material mysteries in the U.S. Department of Energy FY20 budget request

Plan for reducing utility carbon output heads to Senate floor

March 5, 2019March 5, 2019

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/plan-for-reducing-utility-carbon-ouput-heads-to-senate-floor/article_10c214ec-1b56-516e-b827-c3353017cbd0.html This quick comment was added by Greg Mello, lightly edited here: Will this bill mitigate global warming? No, it will not. It aims to… Read More »Plan for reducing utility carbon output heads to Senate floor

US plutonium pit production plans fail to satisfy Congress; further studies underway

February 19, 2019February 19, 2019

(This post was previously published at the International Panel on Fissile Materials here.) The US Department of Energy (DOE)’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recommended… Read More »US plutonium pit production plans fail to satisfy Congress; further studies underway

Will Governor Grisham’s energy and climate policies help, or hurt, New Mexico and the climate?

January 4, 2019February 19, 2019

Greg Mello 4 January 2019 (A shorter version of this blog post appeared in a Guest Editorial in both the Albuquerque Journal here, and the… Read More »Will Governor Grisham’s energy and climate policies help, or hurt, New Mexico and the climate?

The administration’s pit production decision & its immediate aftermath

June 2, 2018February 19, 2019

(A version of this post was published at the International Panel on Fissile Materials blog.) [Analysis of Alternatives and related decision documents.] On May 10,… Read More »The administration’s pit production decision & its immediate aftermath

NM senator, reps fight back on ‘pits’ plan, Albuquerque Journal

May 31, 2018

https://www.abqjournal.com/1176862/nm-senator-reps-fight-back-on-pits-plan.html Comment: Nuclear Watch, as usual, at least SEEMS to not understand what is going on. Coghlan misrepresents the situation. The amendment in question will… Read More »NM senator, reps fight back on ‘pits’ plan, Albuquerque Journal

Planned repository for high-level nuclear waste in Lea County draws opposition, Santa Fe New Mexican

May 31, 2018

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/planned-repository-for-high-level-nuclear-waste-in-lea-county/article_6b692d50-bfcf-56a5-a6a4-e90370c93fce.html Comment: Thank you, New Mexican and Sarah Graham for covering this very important issue. Apart from cash flow and profit for Holtec, this proposal… Read More »Planned repository for high-level nuclear waste in Lea County draws opposition, Santa Fe New Mexican

Udall pushes to keep nuclear pit production in New Mexico, Santa Fe New Mexican

May 31, 2018

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/udall-pushes-to-keep-nuclear-pit-production-in-new-mexico/article_49475ae2-ed30-5acf-81aa-334712e9b549.html Comment: The push to build a new Rocky Flats plant somewhere to begin to stockpile new pits for new weapon types originated with the… Read More »Udall pushes to keep nuclear pit production in New Mexico, Santa Fe New Mexican

Decision on site for plutonium pit production expected by Friday, Santa Fe New Mexican

May 9, 2018

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/decision-on-site-for-plutonium-pit-production-expected-by-friday/article_57b32428-66fc-5736-86f4-2570ce2dedc4.html Comment: One can say there are three levels in which this issue can be approached. At the most fundamental level, nuclear weapons are inherently… Read More »Decision on site for plutonium pit production expected by Friday, Santa Fe New Mexican

About this blog

Trish and I began this blog as a kind of experiment, to see if we could efficiently share information and commentary with a wider group of people. We do so with trepidation because sharing information and opinions is hardly important unless it draws us closer to you and inspires you to take actions and find words you could not, or did not, take or find before. We hope you in turn will inspire and amaze us. Our electronic media separate as well as connect us. We can hardly communicate without them, but they also seductively draw people away from the world we must build and the person-to-person interactions we most need to do that. We prefer the first and second grammatical persons to the third. There's always a tension between quantity, promptness, and quality, and it is difficult to know how to strike the right balance or if that is possible. So we will make all sorts of mistakes. We want to be as clear as possible, which at times will mean being firm, but we hope not to lose our humility thereby. For a time this blog was called "Enraging Desert," not so much for the fine image of the lion roaring at the enraging desert in Wallace Stevens' poem but for the political and psychological use which James Hillman made of it. (http://lasg.org/wordpress/2013/03/20/re-enraging-desert/) "Forget the rest" refers of course to the Einstein-Russell Manifesto of 1955 (http://www.pugwash.org/about/manifesto.htm) against nuclear armaments and war. The admonition to "[r]emember your humanity" is more commonly recalled, but too many people who promote weapons of mass destruction think they are doing that already. "Forget the rest" points to a much larger cultural challenge, one that is inescapable at this historical moment when two centuries of economic growth are ending. It is also a challenge each of us faces in the course of our lives when we are forced to choose, as we must. "All that's inane / Be swept away as vain." (Goethe, Faust)

We Call for Sanity, Not Nuclear Production

This call is not a petition. It is a visible and public league of solidarity. After endorsing this Call, we encourage businesses and organizations to make their voices heard by calling or writing your elected officials and in other ways. Write letters to editors and guest editorials. Recruit other businesses and organizations to join and do the same.

For individuals, we encourage you to endorse the Call as well, then recruit businesses and organizations to join you in endorsing this Call.

Nearly all our elected officials either support expanded nuclear weapons or are passive. They won’t change until politically forced to do so.