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| | | published Tuesday, August 28, 2012 | 3214 Views :: 4 Comments |
For Immediate Release: August 28, 2012 Memo Urges DOE to Remove Bechtel as the Design Authority, Warning Bechtel “is not competent to complete their role”
Seattle, WA: Hanford Challenge today released a high-ranking Director’s memorandum that urges termination of the key duties of government contractor, Bechtel National, Inc. (“Bechtel”; “BNI”). A litany of charges question whether Bechtel should continue its role at the Hanford nuclear site, including a long history of incompetence, misleading the government, overcharging, and unsafe designs.
The memo states, “[t]he number and significance of these issues indicate that Bechtel National Inc. is not competent to complete their role as the Design Authority for the WTP [Waste Treatment Plant], and it is questionable that BNI can provide a contract-compliant design as Design Agent.” The memo continues, noting that “[t]he behavior and performance of Bechtel Engineering places unnecessarily high risk that the WTP design will not be effectively completed...”
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| | | published Wednesday, August 15, 2012 | 1458 Views :: 0 Comments |
August, 15, 2012
In conjunction with the New Mexico Community Involvement Fund and the Social and Environmental Research Institute, we are excited to announce the completion of our Community Guide to Improving the Links Between Future Land-Use and Clean-Up Decisions.
The purpose of this Community Guide is to give residents living near DOE facilities a deeper understanding of how clean-up decisions and future use planning become interconnected and indeed entangled when pressures for site reuse and restricted clean-ups bring to the planning process a diverse set of interests.
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| | | published Monday, August 06, 2012 | 2339 Views :: 0 Comments |
Aug 5, 2012
By T.S. Last From the Journal North
 “I’m doing it because I’m not a corporation, I don’t have the funds,” he said. “This is the only way I know of.
“And it’s not just me,” he added. “There are 30 other people doing it around the country, and now even one in Europe. It’s growing into an international stage.”
About half the other strikers are from the Santa Fe area, and many are fasting only for a few days. A handful, including Balibrera, started their strike on July 16, the 67th anniversary of the first atomic bomb test at Trinity Site in Socorro County. They don’t plan to eat again until Aug. 6, the anniversary of the device’s first use in warfare – the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.
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| | | published Tuesday, July 31, 2012 | 738 Views :: 0 Comments |
July 26, 2012 By Staci Matlock From the Santa Fe New Mexican Tougher drinking water standards, especially for radioactive contaminants, are needed to protect fetuses and infants, according to a nuclear fusion expert speaking by Skype to a packed audience Thursday at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. An estimated 100 people listened to experts and clean-water advocates discuss the latest efforts in preventing natural and man-made radioactive waste and other contaminants from reaching drinking water supplies. The conference hosted by a coalition of groups called Communities for Clean Water, continues today at Northern New Mexico College in Española. The conference was specifically to address concerns raised about the impact of waste on water following last year’s Las Conchas fire that burned thousands of acres around Los Alamos and Santa Clara Pueblo.
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| | | published Wednesday, May 16, 2012 | 3387 Views :: 2 Comments |
For Immediate Release: May 16th, 2012 Contact: Katherine Fuchs , Alliance for Nuclear Accountability - kfuchs@ananuclear.org, 414-324-4228 Aaron Albright, Rep. George Miller’s office – aaron.albright@mail.house.gov, (202) 226-0853 This week, the full House will debate two important amendments to last week’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) related to nuclear safety: one offered by Representatives Miller (CA), Visclosky (IN), and Sanchez (CA) to strike NDAA provisions that would erode safety standards and weaken oversight, and another offered by Rep. Smith (WA) that would strike provisions removing nuclear weapons from the Secretary of Energy’s jurisdiction. The Miller et al. amendment would protect the “adequate protection standard” that has guided nuclear safety oversight for more than a quarter century, ensure that nuclear oversight agencies retain a “transactional” oversight model, and prevent new layers of bureaucracy from undermining technical experts. TheSmith amendment would preserve the authority of the Secretary of Energy over the National Nuclear Security Administration.
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| | | published Wednesday, May 16, 2012 | 2047 Views :: 0 Comments |
In the following op-ed, ANA Director Susan Gordon argues that Rep. Martin Heinrich is not acting in New Mexico's best interest when advocating for funding a new plutonium facility at Los Alamos. Gordon states that what New Mexico really needs is funding to clean up Los Alamos' legacy of radioactive and toxic waste.
May 16, 2012
By Susan Gordon
From the Albuquerque Journal
More than a decade late and 10 times more expensive than originally forecast, the new Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement mega-building at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is a textbook example of how Congress misspends the taxpayers’ dollars.
The main mission for the facility originally would have been to support expanded production of plutonium pits – the fissile cores of nuclear weapons. Today, however, the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nuclear weapons complex, has determined that it does not need the new CMRR.
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| | | published Tuesday, May 01, 2012 | 2208 Views :: 1 Comments |
Hanford Challenge Decries Appalling Lack of Oversight, demands
Immediate Stand Down and Complete Investigation
Immediate Release - April 30, 2012 Contact: Tom Carpenter (206) 419-5829 Richland, WA: The Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General released a report today that revealed a disturbing breakdown in Hanford’s quality program that allowed radioactive waste processing vessels to be installed without required documentation proving their integrity. This means that the Department of Energy is unable to prove the safety of the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP). The IG also found a critical lack of oversight on the DOE’s part, and a failure to collect the repayment of a $15 million assessment against Bechtel, the contractor, when DOE discovered a defective vessel.
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| | | published Monday, April 02, 2012 | 1754 Views :: 4 Comments |
The following article quotes Tom Clements, ANA's Nonproliferation Policy Director, discussing cleaning up nuclear waste in South Carolina.
March 29, 2012
By Sammy Fretwell From The State
Two Savannah River Site storage tanks that contained deadly high-level waste have been cleaned out after decades of work, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday.
The cleanup marks the first of underground storage tanks at SRS in 15 years and the first nationally since 2007, said Thomas D’Agostino, a deputy undersecretary with the DOE.
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| | | published Tuesday, January 31, 2012 | 1769 Views :: 2 Comments |
Press Conference Advisory: Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 9:15 am Rotunda, Roundhouse at the corner of Old Santa Fe Trail and Paseo de Peralta Topic: Map Documenting Community Water Concerns to be Released as Part of Legislative Day for People of Faith Concerned about Clean Air, Water and Earth Contact: Joan Brown, Partnership for Earth Spirituality 505-266-6966 (Albuquerque), joankansas@swcp.com Joni Arends, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety 505-986-1973 (Santa Fe), jarends@nuclearactive.org A map documenting community and people of faith concerns for water will be released Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 9:15 in the Rotunda of the State Capitol. The document release is part of a Legislative Day for People of Faith Concerned for Water, Land, Air and People. The project was initiated by people of faith and communities concerned about water and funded by the Catholic Sisters of Mercy – Northeast Community.
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| | | published Monday, January 23, 2012 | 1714 Views :: 0 Comments |
The following feature explores problems at the Washington State nuclear Waste Treatment Plant and quotes ANA member Tom Carpenter. ANA has been tracking progress at the Waste Treatment Plant or decades and recognized whistleblower Walt Tamosaitis at our 2011 DC Days awards reception.
January 17, 2012
By H. Darr Beiser
From the USA TODAY
HANFORD SITE, Wash. – Seven decades after scientists came here during World War II to create plutonium for the first atomic bomb, a new generation is struggling with an even more daunting task: cleaning up the radioactive mess.
The U.S. government is building a treatment plant to stabilize and contain 56 million gallons of waste left from a half-century of nuclear weapons production. The radioactive sludge is so dangerous that a few hours of exposure could be fatal. A major leak could contaminate water supplies serving millions across the Northwest. The cleanup is the most complex and costly environmental restoration ever attempted.
And the project is not going well.
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