Peace Week: Outer Space as a Global Commons

From Saturday, October 3 rd through Saturday, October 10 th , people around theworld are organizing local events to bring outer space to greater public attention byproclaiming “Keep Space for Peace.” However, on Monday, September 14 th , the Trumpadministration announced it had placed weapons in orbit around the Earth in a majoreffort to militarize space. U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink followed up by saying theUnited States, “now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the jointforce against hostile adversary action.” He refused to say what the weapons are, howmany there are or when they were launched.

On Monday, September 14 th , Veterans for Peace lit their new electronic billboardfeaturing Uncle Sam pointing his finger at the reader and saying, “I want you to refuseunlawful orders.” The billboard is located on the south side of the I-40 exit at WyomingBoulevard in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Last week residents of Ypsilanti Township expressed their anger over aproposed high-performance computing facility near the Huron River in a partnershipbetween the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).Residents are concerned that the proposed project would fuel research into the nucleararms race.

From 1946 to 1969, the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was used as the station fortop-secret nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean. It was also the place wheredecontamination was done on the ships used in hydrogen bomb tests. Radioactive andtoxic waste was disposed there.

Why does it matter whether plutonium pits are “aging” before their time? We allage. We get old and we die. But that’s not what the Department of Energy (DOE) andNational Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) want for their plutonium pits. Theywant to make sure that they will “live” forever.

After working for nearly five years, Los Alamos County and the Department ofEnergy updated their original 1985 Electric Coordination Agreement (ECA) for theinterconnected electric system that has powered homes, businesses and Los AlamosNational Laboratory (LANL) for over 40 years. After months of painstaking work, theECA was approved by the Los Alamos County Council on Tuesday, August 25th. DOEhas until Monday, August 31st to also sign.

Once again, the Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous NationalNuclear Security Administration has denied the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Boardaccess to nuclear weapons facilities, including at Los Alamos National Laboratory(LANL). At a time when LANL is ramping up production of plutonium pits, the triggersfor nuclear weapons, the DOE is restricting access to the Board and its residentinspectors preventing them from fulfilling critical oversight and public reportingresponsibilities. As a result, the public is no longer informed about potential issues ofadequate protection at defense nuclear facilities.

In compliance with the Trump administration Executive Orders 14300 and 14154,the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to scrap long-standingradiation exposure standards for the general public and nuclear workers. The proposedrulemaking is called “Reforming and Modernizing the NRC’s Radiation ProtectionFramework,” which will result in more radiation exposures, not less. With cuts tomedical assistance for so many in the U.S., the proposed changes will be even moreharmful. And people will die as a result.

Did you know that the nuclear bomb the United States of America dropped onNagasaki, Japan on August 9th, 1945 was fabricated at Los Alamos NationalLaboratory? Or that the radioactive waste from that fabrication remains buried atLANL? This is a circle that needs to be closed by removing the waste to a place where itcan do no harm.

Roger Kent Snodgrass passed peacefully in his sleep very early on Saturday,July 18th with his partner, Myra, at his side.Roger was a great friend and colleague of CCNS. We met Roger when he was areporter, then assistant editor and finally the editor of the Los Alamos Monitor. We hadmutual respect for the work we each did to inform the public about Los Alamos NationalLaboratory (LANL) operations and impacts on communities, land based peoples, andthe environment.