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| | | published Tuesday, October 02, 2012 | 1970 Views :: 0 Comments |
October 2, 2012
By John Fleck From the Albuquerque Journal
Efforts to refurbish the U.S. stockpile of aging W76 nuclear warheads are falling behind schedule and threatening to bust the project’s budget, according to an internal Department of Energy investigation.
The problem “could have national security implications” as the federal budget crunch collides with the need to upgrade the nation’s aging arsenal, according to a report from the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General.
Built in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the warheads are carried aboard U.S. missile submarines. An estimated 768 are deployed, according to nuclear weapons analyst Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists. That number is more than any other nuclear weapon type in the U.S. arsenal.
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| | | published Tuesday, August 14, 2012 | 2620 Views :: 2 Comments |
Kansas City Peace Planters August 14, 2012 Contact: Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D., Petition Coordinator, 816.753.2057 or Ann Suellentrop, 913.271.7925
Web page: foolish-investment.com
Citizens plan to offer expert details on how the new Botts-road plant is actually a job loser because the same resources spent on alternative products would provide more jobs than the declining market in nuclear weapons will.
Hearings for the citizen-initiated ballot measure, “Prevention of City’s Future Financial Involvement in Nuclear Weapons Production,” are scheduled for Wednesday, August 15, 2012, at 1:30 PM. These are to be held by the Planning, Zoning & Economic Development Committee chaired by Councilmember Ed Ford, on the 26th Floor of City Hall. They are not considering the ordinance itself, but an ordinance to place it on this year’s November 6 ballot.
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| | | published Wednesday, April 18, 2012 | 2430 Views :: 0 Comments |
For Immediate release: April 18, 2012 Contact: Jay Coghlan, Nuclear Watch NM, 505.989.7342, c. 505.920.7118, jay@nukewatch.org Santa Fe, NM – Our colleagues and friends at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) have released an explosive report based on a leaked Department of Defense memo concluding that “The Department of Energy’s network of privately-operated nuclear weapons laboratories are riddled with waste, redundancies and lackluster scientific standards.” POGO also found that “that seven of the top 15 officials at the three DOE nuclear labs make more than $700,000 per year, with one earning $1.7 million—more than the president of the United States and many government executives.” Coincidentally, Nuclear Watch New Mexico had been independently compiling data on the salaries of the three laboratory directors, as presented in the table below. It shows that the salary of the Los Alamos Director has nearly tripled since for-profit management began in June 2006, even as the Lab is cutting some 600 jobs. As seen below, privatization of the nuclear weapons labs’ management contracts has resulted in directors’ salaries far above average in both the federal government and the private sector.
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| | | published Thursday, April 12, 2012 | 1709 Views :: 0 Comments |
April 12, 2012
In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by ANA member group Nuclear Watch New Mexico on March 28, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has released the Performance Evaluation Reports for its eight nuclear weapons sites. These reports are the government's scorecard for awarding tens of millions of dollars to nuclear weapons contractors, and were available to the public until 2009. But since that time NNSA has withheld them in a general move toward less contractor accountability.
Click the links below to download the Performance Evaluation Reports for each nuclear weapons site (PDFs) Note: the Sandia National Laboratory report is still undergoing review by the NNSA before it is released.
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| | | published Monday, April 09, 2012 | 1873 Views :: 1 Comments |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 4, 2012
Santa Fe, NM - In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Nuclear Watch New Mexico on March 28, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has released the Performance Evaluation Reports for its eight nuclear weapons sites.* These reports are the government’s scorecard for awarding tens of millions of dollars to nuclear weapons contractors, and were previously available to the public until 2009. However, since that time the NNSA has withheld them in a general move toward less contractor accountability. We sought to help reverse that wrong direction through our litigation.
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| | | published Monday, November 14, 2011 | 2315 Views :: 3 Comments |
November 14, 2011 Contact: Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D., Petition Coordinator (816)753-2057 or Ann Suellentrop(913)271-7925 Having once again collected in the range of 5,000 signatures from Kansas City Missouri residents, this time on two separate initiative petitions, KC Peace Planters turn in both sets of petitions to the City Clerk at 10 am on Monday, November 14, 2011.
Below is a short summary of each initiative, and below that is the precise legal language. We listened carefully to objections raised by councilmembers in our previous effort, and we believe these are strengthened and will more clearly stand up in litigation if necessary.
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| | | published Monday, September 05, 2011 | 924 Views :: 0 Comments |
By Lawrence S. Wittner From the History News Network
Dr. Wittner is Professor of History at the State University of New York/Albany. His latest book is Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement (Stanford University Press).
Should the U.S. government be building more nuclear weapons? Residents of Kansas City, Missouri don't appear to think so, for they are engaged in a bitter fight against the construction of a new nuclear weapons plant in their community.
The massive plant, 1.5 million square feet in size, is designed to replace an earlier version, also located in the city and run by the same contractor: Honeywell. The cost of building the new plant-which, like its predecessor, will provide 85 percent of the components of America's nuclear weapons-is estimated to run $673 million.
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| | | published Monday, August 29, 2011 | 2748 Views :: 1 Comments |
August 26, 2011 (after 4:30 PM)
Press Release Kansas City Peace Planters Contact: Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D. (Plaintiff in the lawsuit), Phone: (816)753-2057 Ann Suellentrop, (913)271-7925 On the petition for “Production of Nuclear Weapons Components Prohibited,” Judge Edith Messina has granted us an order to put our measure on the ballot -- a “Preliminary Writ of Mandamus.” Being preliminary means that the hearing already scheduled for next Monday will determine whether it will become permanent, but it also means that the City Council has to defend its actions because the default position is with the petitioners. It is not simply a two-sided matter where each side presents its case and gets equal consideration.
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| | | published Monday, August 29, 2011 | 2334 Views :: 0 Comments |
Press Release Kansas City Peace Planters August 26, 2011
Contact: Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D. (Plaintiff in the lawsuit), Phone: (816)753-2057 Ann Suellentrop, (913)271-7925 At its regular legislative session August 25, the City Council voted (with only one dissenter) to keep the initiative petition entitled "Production of Nuclear Weapons Components Prohibited" off the ballot. Accordingly, we are filing today with the court for a Writ of Mandamus to safeguard our rights as citizens according to the City Charter to have it put on the November 8 ballot. All legal requirements were met:
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| | | published Friday, August 26, 2011 | 1277 Views :: 0 Comments |
Aug. 25, 2011
By Lynn Horsley
From The Kansas City Star
The Kansas City Council declined today to place on the November ballot a measure challenging a new weapons plant in Kansas City.
The Council’s 12-1 vote against the ballot measure sets the stage for a lawsuit by a citizens group seeking the November vote.
The group calling itself KC Peace Planters gathered enough petition signatures for a ballot measure that would prohibit the production of nuclear weapons components at a billion-dollar plant under construction at 14500 Botts Road.
They recommended that the plant be converted into a “green technology” facility.
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