NNSA to present hearings on possible new nuclear weapons production in NM

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), within the U.S. Department of Energy, will come through New Mexico next week to peddle their wares, in this case a new draft Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SPEIS). The agency will be making a whirlwind tour of New Mexico cities and towns, in adherence with federal law, which requires them to solicit citizen input on the report. The report suggests that the U.S. should start developing new nuclear weapons, which many citizens and non-profit groups find not only a violation of our existing treaty obligations, but also a very risky maneuver which sends the wrong message to other countries around the world who may be pondering the idea of joining the "nuclear club." Opponents argue that producing new nuclear weapons puts us in the awkward position of saying "do as we say, not as we do" to the rest of the world. Moreover, they argue, violating the Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty - ratified in 1970 and signed into law, and re-ratified in 1995 - also sends a message that the U.S. does not honor its word or its treaty signature; again, with many possible negative ramifications.

Hearing locations and times

March 10, 2008 - 6 p.m.—10 p.m.
Socorro, New Mexico
Macey Center (at New Mexico Tech), 801 Leroy Place

March 11, 2008 - 11 a.m.—3 p.m AND 6 p.m.—10 p.m.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque Convention Center, 401 2nd Street, NW

March 12, 2008 - 6 p.m.—10 p.m.
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Hilltop House, 400 Trinity Drive at Central

March 13, 2008 - 11 a.m.—3 p.m.
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Hilltop House, 400 Trinity Drive at Central

March 13, 2008 - 6 p.m.—10 p.m.
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Genoveva Chavez Community Center, 3221 Rodeo Road

More background

The full DOE report, which is somewhat unwieldy, is available online. It appears the report is intended to overwhelm most members of the general public, the majority of whom will have neither the time, the desire, nor the expertise to wade through the whole thing. Besides the important negative international relations aspects to producing new nuclear weapons, many point to the serious environmental disasters that have occurred in previous locations where such production has been performed, such as Rocky Flats, in Colorado, which was the subject of an FBI raid, eventually had to be closed down, resulted in a large (12,000 member) class-action lawsuit, and is still ongoing decontamination and cleanup at taxpayer expense.

Extremely important political note

This comment is excerpted from an email from Greg Mello, president of the Los Alamos Study Group:

NNSA is by no means the most important audience for citizen views, both at these “hearings” and at other times.

All available evidence suggests that public “participation” in this process, required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), neither has nor will change agency actions.

The effectiveness of citizen participation – not just in these particular “hearings” but really in all venues – largely depends on how well citizens succeed in making the actions and inactions of our congressional delegation the focus of thoughtful attention on the part of the public, news media, and political donors.

The biggest danger embodied in these hearings is that they could distract citizen attention away from representative democracy and toward its tawdry imitation – that they could direct the deep hopes and longings of citizens toward bureaucrats who cannot, by the nature of their legal responsibilities and job limitations, fulfill those hopes. Such misdirection would serve well the interests of the nuclear establishment.