CCNS Update

Community members and Tribal advocates are standing together to say NO to

the proposed expansion of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). As part of a

growing movement for environmental justice and accountability, local community

organizations including Tewa Women United, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety,

Communities for Clean Water, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, and Three Sisters

Collective are launching the 2025 SovereignTea Community Conversations

series—beginning with two powerful sessions that will center public education,

Public comments for the draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for

Continued Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory are currently due on

Thursday, April 10th. Tewa Women United, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, CCNS,

Communities for Clean Water, and the Union of Concerned Scientists will host

workshops to assist you in the preparation and submission of your comments.

Comments may be submitted to [email protected]

Public comments for the draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for

Continued Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory are currently due on

Thursday, April 10th. CCNS, Tewa Women United, Three Sisters Collective,

Communities for Clean Water and others will host two workshops to assist you in

preparing your comments.

Did you know that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the U.S. and

Russia, known as the New START, expires on February 5, 2026? It’s time for the U.S.

and Russia to get back to the table to negotiate for a world without nuclear weapons!

Monday, March 3 rd begins the weeklong Third Meeting of States Parties to the

United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations in

New York City. Government representatives, civil society organizations, non-

governmental organizations, artists, health and justice workers and more from around

the world will gather to take stock of the progress achieved by the States Parties since

the last meeting in 2023.

On Wednesday, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) extended

the public comment period by 30 days for the draft Site Wide Environmental Impact

Statement (SWEIS) for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The comment period

was extended from March 11 th to Thursday, April 10 th , 2025.

On Thursday, February 20 th , Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Jr., the attorney for Honor Our

Pueblo Existence and CCNS, will argue before the New Mexico Court of Appeals that

the non-government organizations have standing to challenge the misregulation of the

Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility, a key facility at Los Alamos National

Laboratory (LANL). The RLWTF treats liquid radioactive and hazardous waste

generated at the Plutonium Facility from the fabrication of plutonium pits, or the cores,

of nuclear weapons. Those activities are ramping up under U.S. government plans to

spend over $1 trillion dollars for new design weapons for use in a post-Cold War nuclear

arms race.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), operated by the Department of Energy, plays a critical role in maintaining the safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear stockpile. Central to this mission is the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF), which was constructed in the early 1960s to treat, store, and dispose of radioactive and hazardous liquids

You are invited to participate in a virtual Nuclear Watch New Mexico workshop

about the draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for the Los Alamos

National Laboratory (LANL) on Thursday, February 6 th from 5:30 pm to 7 pm Mountain

Time. With LANL expanding its nuclear weapons programs—despite a long history of

environmental contamination and nuclear safety issues—the draft SWEIS represents a

vital opportunity for the public to demand transparency, accountability and

environmental justice.

This Update relates to historic and important resources that can be useful for

your participation in the public hearings about draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact

Statement for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and its proposed operations in

the next 15 years or so. Public hearings under the National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) will begin on Tuesday, February 11th in Santa Fe, followed by a wednesday,

February 12th hearing in Española, and a Thursday, February 13th hearing in Los

Alamos. The specifics are available at nuclearactive.org.