The last remaining arms control treaty between the United States and Russia will

expire on Wednesday, February 4 th . Without this treaty, there will be nothing stopping a

new, dangerous and wasteful nuclear arms race. Now is the time to demand that both

countries agree to save New START.

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.

The Communities for Clean Water (CCW) coalition is calling on the Department

of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, Los Alamos National

Laboratory (LANL), and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) to

immediately release all data, monitoring results, and analytical records from the recent

tritium venting operation at LANL.

This month, the International Uranium Film Festival in Berlin honored uranium

weapons expert and activist Damacio A. Lopez with the festival's Honorary Lifetime

Achievement Award. For over thirty years, the US Air Force veteran from Socorro, New

Mexico has campaigned for an international ban on depleted uranium munitions and

weapons.

In an essay for NYU’s Democracy Project, David F. Levi, a former federal judge

and director emeritus of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law, reflected on the

negotiations he facilitated in New Mexico about the renewal of the hazardous waste

permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a deep geologic repository for

plutonium-contaminated waste generated in the fabrication of nuclear weapons. Judge

Levi’s essay is entitled “Participatory Democracy in Action.”

On September 26 th , 2025, during the United Nations General Assembly in New

York City, the Republic of Ghana ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear

Weapons (TPNW), and the Country of Kyrgyzstan signed on. With these actions, a

global majority of countries have signed onto the United Nations nuclear weapons ban

treaty. A total of 99 out of the 197 eligible states have taken legal action - 74 have

ratified and 25 have signed. Such action sends a strong message to the nuclear-armed

states and their allies that they are now the minority and irresponsible actors threatening

global security.

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is a small, independent federal

agency that serves as a watchdog for the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons

complex. It is supposed to have five members, but it currently has only two. And one

member’s term expires on October 18 th . If one or more board positions aren’t filled on or

before October 18 th , the Safety Board will no longer have a quorum to operate. The

public needs the Board to continue its vital nuclear safety mission at the DOE nuclear

weapons facilities.

The independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has been dwindling

from a five-member board to one member and may disappear if we, the People, do not

raise our voices to support its essential nuclear safety work. The Safety Board needs at

least two new members. And that needs to get done by October 16th. New Mexico U.S.

Senators Heinrich and Lujan have key roles to play to ensure the Safety Board’s work

continues unimpeded.

Following the 80 th year since the bombings of Trinity, Hiroshima and Nagasaki,

did you know that 2025 is also the 80 th year since the formation of the United Nations?

The General Assembly’s first resolution recognized nuclear disarmament as the

principal goal of the United Nations.

On Saturday, August 30 th , after a beautiful drive across the plains of Northeastern

New Mexico, members of the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition arrived in the Village of

Wagon Mound. With a population of less than 300, this rural community feels tight-knit,

with many friends and families gathering to celebrate the mighty Pinto Bean every Labor

Day. In addition to being next door to the beautiful Wagon Mound butte, this village is

also located right off Interstate 25. This stretch is one of the routes used by the

Department of Energy (DOE) to transport legacy plutonium-contaminated waste from

making the triggers, or pits, for nuclear weapons to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

(WIPP), near Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Given the recent data dumps by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) about

its proposed venting of large quantities of radioactive tritium from four Flanged Tritium

Waste Containers, the New Mexico Environment Department must reject LANL’s

August 22 nd regulatory request for temporary authorization to vent. This Update

describes some of the obstacles LANL put in place to obstruct public participation and

timely access to important documents.