REMINDER: Join the Fight Against New Nuke Weapons

From Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping:
Stop the nuclear industry's use and abuse of New Mexico! From north to south, New Mexico is being used and abused by the nuclear industry to fulfill its useless and dangerous aims. There are important hearings this week where you can voice your opposition to new nuclear weapons and the participation of Sandia and Los Alamos National Labs in plutonium pit manufacturing and other aspects of the proposed program.

In Albuquerque: Speak Out - Stop the Bombplex
Tuesday, December 5th, 11 AM - 3 PM and 6 - 10 PM
Albuquerque Convention Center
401 2nd St, SW / Cochiti Taos Room
Contact: Shrayas Jatkar, 266-2663, admin@cardnm.org

(Editor's Note: See my earlier post for locations in other parts of NM, as well as more detailed information about what is at stake.)

The Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) are rolling through New Mexico this week to push their new plan called Complex 2030. It should really be called Bombplex 2030, because the main idea is to design and produce whole new generations of nuclear weapons.

We can't afford to sit in silence and let Bombplex 2030 get underway.  Instead we must raise our voices in opposition and proclaim a vision of a peaceful and sustainable future. Join us Tuesday at the public hearings hosted by the DOE and NNSA at the Albuquerque Convention Center.  This is our right to speak out and tell the DOE and NNSA.

If you can't make it to one of the scheduled hearings, you can submit written comments about Complex 30. The Energy Department is also accepting public comments on this proposal. If you are unable to attend the public meetings, you still have an opportunity to share your concerns about the Complex 2030 plans:

Send your comments to the Energy Department by email to: Complex2030@nnsa.doe.gov

Or in writing to:
Theodore A. Wyka, Complex 2030
Department of Energy, NA10.1
1000 Independence Ave., S.W.,
Washington, DC 20585.
***When you send this letter, please make sure to copy your two senators, your representative and local newspapers.***

Top 5 Reasons to Oppose Bombplex 2030...

1. It is unnecessary, because the 14,000 plutonium pits (the triggers of a nuclear weapon) stored at the Pantex Plant in Texas are good for a minimum of 90 years; the average age of these pits is just 21 years.
2. The U.S. would waste tens of billions of dollars on Complex 2030, which could be better spent on education, health care, and other social needs.
3. More radioactive waste would be generated and disposed in New Mexico, threatening people and the environment for thousands of years.
4. Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs are essential to Complex 2030 and would therefore continue to produce nuclear weapons. Instead, they should clean up their sites, and become centers of renewable energy research and development.
5. By making new nuclear weapons, the U.S. will violate its pledges to nuclear disarmament under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  Others will do the same, making the world less safe and secure.

More information on this issue from Physicians for Social Responsibility:

"In the early 1990s PSR played a key role in shutting down the production of nuclear weapons in the United States. The PSR publication Dead Reckoning revealed that tens of thousands of Americans had been killed or made sick with diseases such as cancer because of their work building America's bombs. Health and safety violations were so flagrant that the Rocky Flats plant in Colorado was shut down by the FBI. Now, the Bush Administration has put out a plan, Complex 2030, to get the U.S. back into the nuclear bomb-making business.

The Bush Administration has selected your state as a possible site for a new $5 billion to $10 billion facility to build the next generation of nuclear weapons. Some local leaders in your area are already arguing that this new plant will create jobs and spur economic development. But the U.S. can create jobs without building the next generation of nuclear weapons that would escalate the arms race and pose a greater threat to our planet.

Current and retired nuclear workers have suffered from cancers, beryllium disease and many others conditions. We all suffer psychological harm from living in the shadow of the mushroom cloud.  If these dangerous weapons were ever used, it would be the ultimate medical catastrophe. The U.S. government has moral and legal obligations to eliminate its nuclear weapons, not build new ones.
Over the next week, the Energy Department will hold public hearings in your state to discuss plans for this new bomb plant, assess public reaction, and build political support for these proposals. PSR physicians believe this new nuclear weapons plant, a key component of the administration's Complex 2030 plan, is a dangerous step in the wrong direction.