Los Alamos National Laboratory

The Department of Energy’s Daniel Poneman recently sent Gov. Susana Martinez a letter regarding how the state would be affected by the sequestration order.

Was it just a bunch of hype? Or are their dire consequences ahead?

It’s hard to tell.

Poneman estimated that reductions to contractors are estimated at $67 million and contractors may be forced to furlough or lay off more than 8,200 employees in New Mexico.

As far as Los Alamos National Laboratory is concerned, Poneman wrote that DOE would decrease funding to the lab by approximately $61 million. He also said that could result in the furlough or layoffs of another 8,200 employees.

Poneman also said there would be decreased funding to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, which would decrease the number of radioactive waste shipments.

The Governor’s office, meanwhile, responded to the DOE letter Saturday.

“Governor (Susana) Martinez believes we, as New Mexicans, must put aside partisan differences and fight to protect ourselves from indiscriminate federal cuts,” the statement said.

Los Alamos National Laboratory has brought a third waste repackaging facility online to increase its capability to process nuclear waste for permanent disposal.

The “375 box line facility” enables Los Alamos to repackage transuranic waste stored in large boxes.

Built inside a dome once used to house containers of waste at the laboratory, the facility is the largest Perma-Con structure ever constructed. A Perma-Con is a modular structure typically used for radiological or hazardous containment.

Contaminated items such as equipment and protective clothing, used during past operations at Los Alamos, are removed from their containers inside the structure and then are repackaged for shipment to licensed, permanent disposal facilities.

The record-setting structure is 110-feet long by 48-feet wide.

“We needed to build a structure big enough to accommodate these waste boxes, some of which are 40 feet long,” said Jeff Mousseau, associate director of environmental programs at LANL. “These are the largest, most contaminated boxes of waste at Los Alamos, and this facility will give us the capability to repackage them safely.”

The Perma-Con structure was provided by Radiation Protection Systems, Inc.

The Department of Energy and Los Alamos National Laboratory have rolled out a long-term strategy for environmental stewardship and sustainability that provides a blueprint for safeguarding the environment while accomplishing the laboratory’s national security missions.

“This plan represents a significant amount of effort on the part of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos Field Office to set the standard for Environmental Stewardship in New Mexico,” said Juan Griego, acting manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos Field Office. “It is intended to ensure that all actions undertaken by our office to support the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s mission have first taken environmental protection and stewardship into full consideration.”

The Long-Term Strategy for Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability document presents the long-term environmental goals for the laboratory and gives managers a range of decision support tools to help them conduct their work in a way that protects the environment.

The Regional Coalition of LANL Communities announced this morning the endorsement and unanimous support of State Representative Stephanie Garcia Richard’s House Memorial 71 that recognizes the critical importance of New Mexico’s National Laboratories and DOE facilities to the state’s economic welfare and the negative effects that sequestration will have on New Mexico’s economy.
 Los Alamos National Laboratory alone has close to a $3 billion impact on the state’s economy each year and supports more than 24,000 jobs in Northern New Mexico.
“Sequestration would have a devastating effect on our local communities,” said Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, chair of the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities. “We fully understand the tremendous impact that LANL has on the economy of Northern New Mexico and the continued instability in our federal budget has a ripple effect that is felt from Taos to Espanola to Santa Fe.”
The Regional Coalition recognizes that Northern New Mexico is highly dependent on federal spending in the area of nuclear technology and sequestration may cause tens of thousands of New Mexicans to lose their jobs through direct and indirect job losses at Los Alamos National Laboratory.