IPPNW Co-President Carlos Umaña Explores Making Nuclear Weapons Taboo

The title of the new film may make you think it is about Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) located in northern New Mexico. But you would be wrong. “Half-Life of Memory: America’s Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory,” a film by Jeff Gipe, is about the dangerous legacy of the Rocky Flats atomic bomb factory, located near Denver, Colorado. The world premiere will take place in early November at the Denver Film Festival. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support

This week Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, individuals and NGOs submitted comments opposing the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to approve a Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) proposal to install a companion electric transmission line through the heart of the Caja del Rio traditional cultural landscape, an area sacred to Pueblos. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support

You are invited to participate in a transformative walk in downtown Santa Fe beginning at noon on Friday, October 25th. Organized by the Caja del Rio Coalition, the walk will begin at the Santa Fe County Administration Building, located at 240 Grant Avenue, and go to the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support

The U.S. Forest Service is accepting public objections to the draft Decision Notice, Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Electric Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) Project and Associated Land Management Plan (Forest Plan) Amendment. Only those who submitted comments during the scoping period that occurred between April 19, 2021 and May 21, 2021 and during the two comment periods for the draft EA beginning December 19, 2023 and ending January 17, 2024 and beginning January 22, 2024 and ending February 20, 2024 are eligible to submit objections. As evidence of public concern, over 22,000 public comments were submitted during these comment periods. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support

On Monday, September 30th, United States District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis ruled that the Department of Energy (DOE) and its National Nuclear Secrurity Administration (NNSA) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because the federal agencies failed to take a “hard look” at the alternatives to fabricate plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons at two of its sites. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was created to design and fabricate the atomic bombs used during World War II. The Savannah River Site in South Carolina has never fabricated pits for nuclear weapons --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support

The Three Sisters Collective is painting a new and colorful “I am Life (Creator of Worlds)” mural on the Lena Wall in O’Ga P’ogeh Owingeh, the White Shell Water Place, or Santa Fe. You are invited to make your mark on the wall on Thursday, October 3rd through Saturday, October 5th during the community paint hours. The new mural is adjacent to the mural by artist Chip Thomas about stopping expanded production of plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support

The Mixed Waste Landfill at Sandia National Laboratories is a 2.6-acre dump that is leaking radioactive, hazardous and toxic wastes from unlined pits and trenches that threaten Albuquerque’s drinking water aquifer. The public has been asking the New Mexico Environment Department for nearly 25 years to order Sandia to excavate the dump. Evidence of migrating contamination, such as the detection of volatile organic compounds 400 feet below the dump in 2015, verifies the public’s concern. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support

Local, regional, national and international non-governmental organizations are coming together for a week of raising public awareness about the fossil fuel corporations doing business in New Mexico. Under the banner of Warheads to Windmills.org, the week begins on Monday, September 23rd and extends through Sunday, September 29 th . This is a second week of action. The first week focused on nuclear weapons. Both present existential threats to life on Planet Earth – one that kills in an instant; the other painfully over time. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support

Local, regional, national and international non-governmental organizations are coming together for a week of raising public awareness about the nuclear weapons corporations doing business in New Mexico. The week of action begins on Monday, September 16 th and extends through Sunday, September 22 nd . New Mexicans will challenge two nuclear weapons profiteers who operate here. They are Honeywell and HII, or Huntington Ingalls Industries. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support

Many local, regional and international non-governmental organizations are organizing live and virtual actions in recognition of the International Day of Peace on Saturday, September 21 st and you can join in these efforts. From the “No Money for Nuclear Weapons” Week of Action headed by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons to the Warhead to Windmills Coalition (the Coalition), small and large actions will be taking place around the world. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support