CCNS Update

For over eighty years, the People of New Mexico have borne the burden of the

1943 establishment of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Through the

Congressional continuing resolution process, LANL may receive an additional $1 billion

dollars to support expansion of the number of plutonium triggers, or plutonium pits,

fabricated for nuclear weapons. The people of northern New Mexico are unaware of the

effects that this potentially may have on nearby communities. The effects of eight

decades of nuclear weapons development has had a cumulative impact on New

Mexico, especially in Rio Arriba County, which borders Los Alamos County to the north

and west.

Please allow us to state the obvious: 2025 has been a busy year in terms of

addressing proposals for MORE to support the growing nuclear weapons complex in

New Mexico. From Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to the Waste Isolation Pilot

Plant (WIPP), the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration

have big plans. Specifically, we’ll continue to oppose them.

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or the New START Agreement, is set

to expire on Thursday, February 5 th , 2026 – in less than 50 days. The New START

Agreement is the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States

and the Russian Federation.

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, is set to expire on

Thursday, February 5 th , 2026. In late September, President Putin proposed to extend

the treaty for one year. President Trump has yet to formerly respond. On October 5th,

he said, “[It] sounds like a good idea to me.”

In a Truth Social post that reverberated around the world, on October 29

President Donald Trump wrote: “Because of other countries’ testing programs,

I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons

on an equal basis.”

In a protective move, on Friday, November 18th, the New Mexico Environment

Department required the Department of Energy (DOE) to cease all injection operations

of treated waters back into the sole source regional drinking water aquifer shared by

Pueblo de San Ildefonso, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and others.

For over 25 years, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety (CCNS) has fought to

protect surface and groundwater from radioactive, toxic and hazardous contamination

from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). In 2004, that campaign expanded to

contain the co-located perchlorate and chromium plume – contamination that migrated

into the top of the 1,000 foot deep aquifer below LANL, Pueblo de San Ildefonso and

the Española Basin Sole Source Drinking Water Aquifer. Despite federal assurances

and repeated promises of a solution, the plume remains unresolved.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) continues to neglect its obligations to

safely operate its nuclear weapons facilities in a manner required by laws, orders,

guidance and common sense.

In 1963 John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev signed the ban on atmospheric

nuclear weapons testing, which was extended to a moratorium in 1992 and secured as

the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996. The Treaty has been signed by 187

states. On October 31 st , United Nations member states voted on a resolution in support

of the Treaty and the global nuclear test moratorium. The United States was the only

“no” vote.

In response to the president’s call to resume testing of nuclear weapons, contact

your two United States Senators to support Senate Resolution 323 that urges the

United States to lead a global effort to halt and reverse the nuclear arms race.