Photo: Cover of document obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by SRS Watch and other groups with so many pages blacked out so as to coverup need for research on pit aging. That decision by NNSA isn’t over yet. Meanwhile, NNSA has not presented evidence that plutonium “pits” – there are 20,000 in storage at Pantex in Texas – can’t be reused, as it wants new pit production facilities at SRS and Los Alamos, which will cost 10s of $billions, which is making contractors very happy.
DOE’s nuclear weapons division – the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) – claims that new plutonium pit for nuclear nuclear warheads are needed for “national security.” We would claim that national security is undermined by engaging in a nuclear arms race and not honoring federal environmental law designed designed to protect or collective security and well being.
Likewise, keeping U.S. nuclear forces on a footing to fight a full-scale nuclear war – see current and past “Nuclear Posture Reviews” – is harmful to national security in the most damaging way possible.
BTW, pursuit of the proposed SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant (SRSPBP) is not mandated by law and is an agency decision, a perfect example of unelected officials – dare we call them “the real deep state”?! – making decisions that means us citizens pay billions of dollars (mostly going to private contra tors) for something that threatens the environment and peace, via a new nuclear arms race with Russia and China.
Article in Santa Fe New Mexican, November 4, 2024:
“Delays, negotiations ongoing in environmental lawsuit over pit production”
Federal officials and nuclear watchdogs have been working toward an agreement on environmental law concerns regarding the nation’s plutonium pit production plan, but the process is taking longer than expected, a recent court filing says.
Both sides asked for a third extension of the deadline to complete the deal.
A federal judge ruled in September the National Nuclear Security Administration’s decision to produce the radioactive cores of nuclear warheads at both Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina violated the National Environmental Policy Act. She tasked the federal government and advocacy groups with finding potential remedies.
full article posted here: https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/delays-negotiations-ongoing-in-environmental-lawsuit-over-pit-production/article_30e603e8-9ab7-11ef-8927-878c911a55da.html