近距离内射合集

James Kenney, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham鈥檚 environment secretary, flew to the nation鈥檚 capital for a July 7 meeting with top U.S. Department of Energy officials.

It was Kenney鈥檚 latest attempt to remind D.C. that radioactive and hazardous waste has been festering in Los Alamos since the 1940s Manhattan Project.

It was one of roughly six trips Kenney has made to Washington during President Donald Trump鈥檚 second term, he said in a wide-ranging interview before his latest visit.

Kenney met last week with Timothy Walsh, assistant secretary for the Office of Environmental Management in the U.S. Department of Energy.

The two discussed New Mexico鈥檚 April request to revise DOE鈥檚 10-year permit to store radioactive debris in the underground caverns of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, in Carlsbad.

In a 2023 settlement with New Mexico, the DOE agreed to prioritize shipments of radioactive waste from LANL over out-of-state U.S. nuclear facilities.

鈥淭he Department of Energy鈥檚 Carlsbad office is favoring cleanup everywhere else in the country except New Mexico鈥檚 backyard,鈥� Kenney said.

A spokesperson for Kenney鈥檚 agency said it received 859 public comments on the permit modification. Roughly half supported New Mexico鈥檚 revisions and the other half opposed them.

DOE runs the WIPP site with Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, or SIMCO. WIPP disposes of waste materials from sites across the U.S. Kenney expects a resolution on the permit by this fall.

Kenney said Walsh 鈥渟eems very level-headed and very interested in solving problems.鈥�

鈥淚f everybody鈥檚 rowing in the same direction at the same time, between our Congressional delegation, the Department of Energy, the state of New Mexico, the community, this actually could be a good moment,鈥� he said.

Before Congress is an appropriations package that would slash the office鈥檚 budget and hike funding for accelerated production of plutonium pits, the inside nuclear weapons at LANL. The package passed a House Appropriations Committee. Kenney visited the Hill in April to meet with U.S. lawmakers and staff to request more cleanup funds.

But Kenney has found that not everyone, in New Mexico and D.C., is rowing in his direction.

鈥淭hey want it to be over 50% of the shipments,鈥� Jack Voltato, a pharmacist and GOP politician who has held several local offices in Carlsbad, said of LANL waste. 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 no way they can ever get to that number. They don鈥檛 have the capacity. They don鈥檛 have the characterization teams. They don鈥檛 have the real estate basically.鈥�

鈥楧ifficult tradeoffs鈥�

In late May, U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, introduced the bill. A on the bill follows Trump鈥檚 prior recommendation that the DOE cut cleanup spending while hiking funds for new nuclear weapons.

The committee report justified cuts to the Office of Environmental Management, saying the office has $507 million in unspent funds.

鈥淕iven resource constraints, the Committee must make difficult tradeoffs to prioritize the greatest needs in a fiscally responsible manner,鈥� the report said, adding that it expects DOE to make progress on nuclear waste cleanup with $275 million of those unspent funds.

Among other criticisms of the bill, Democratic lawmakers said cuts to the Office of Environmental Management budget by $863 million, or 10%, would leave 鈥渃ommunities vulnerable to radioactive waste leftover from our nation鈥檚 atomic weapons program.鈥�

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee took a different posture on defense spending, saying in their report that NNSA鈥檚 national defense programs should be the DOE鈥檚 鈥渢op priority鈥� amid rising global threats.

It recommended $22 billion for those programs. That includes money to support the production of 80 plutonium pits annually by 2030 at LANL and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The bill specifically allocates $2 billion for pit production at LANL 鈥� $755 million over last year鈥檚 budget.

A public comment period on NNSA鈥檚 proposal to expand plutonium production at LANL and the Savannah River Site closes July 16.

Asked about cleanup funds, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, a member of the Senate鈥檚 Appropriations and Intelligence committees, told the Journal in a statement that the 鈥渇ederal government has a responsibility to support the communities that safely manage our nation鈥檚 nuclear materials and waste, including maintaining the roads used to transport that waste.鈥�

Heinrich referenced Kenney鈥檚 longstanding request for money to improve the roads in Carlsbad where heavy trucks carry the waste.

Chromium plume

Thom Mason, director of LANL, was asked during a June town hall how long it would take to remove the legacy waste.

鈥淚 probably shouldn鈥檛 talk too directly about the legacy waste,鈥� he said, pointing to the DOE鈥檚 Environmental Management Office as responsible for the cleanup.

He faced another question about a plume of hexavalent chromium 鈥� a dangerous pollutant that is encroaching on San Ildefonso Pueblo.

鈥淪ome of the things that are concerns of the community (like) the chromium plume 鈥� those are things that we鈥檙e not responsible for,鈥� Mason said, describing the relationships between different agencies and contractors.

鈥淲hat we are responsible for is the waste generated as a part of our current operations,鈥� Mason said, adding later that the lab does not cut corners on safety.

Kenney noted hexavalent chromium is not in San Ildefonso鈥檚 drinking water today. Roughly one mile long and half as wide, the plume is beneath Mortandad Canyon and at the edge of the Sandia Canyon at LANL, according to DOE, which says there is 鈥渘o immediate threat to human health or the environment.鈥�

Republicans control the Senate and House in Washington. Kenney said members from both parties are on the same page in funding cleanup alongside weapons programs, even if Republicans have not been as vocal about it.

鈥淲hen you dump hexavalent chromium in the 1950s, and it is still threatening people鈥檚 drinking water in 2026, you have to ask yourself what meaningful effort the Department of Energy has achieved to mitigate that risk,鈥� Kenney said.

Justin Horwath covers tech and energy for the Journal. You can reach him at jhorwath@abqjournal.com.