http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net feed-30723940 Pam Rutter and Michael Smallberg 2008 Convio Content Management System Module en-us pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net-371751852 http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/alerts/nuclear-security-safety/20121026-security-failure-at-lanl.html The Nuclear Weapons and Materials Monitor and the Albuquerque Journal are reporting that a new and expensive security system at the Los Alamos National Laboratory simply does not work. In response, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is demanding that the contractor at the New Mexico lab fully disclose all of the project’s problems and show that the nuclear materials stored at the facility are safe. Fri, 26 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0500 pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net-359287120 http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/letters/nuclear-security-safety/20120830-congressional-attempts-fund-unnecessary-nuclear-weapons-facility.html Experts throughout the government say the proposed nuclear facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory is is neither affordable nor necessary. However, some Senators are still trying to fund this nuclear boondoggle. The Project On Government Oversight is speaking out to Energy Secretary Steven Chu against the Senators who are trying to undermine his decision to halt this wasteful, $6-billion project. Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0500 pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net-321716880 http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/letters/nuclear-security-safety/nss-nwc-20120418-nuclear-weapons-labs.html Since the end of the Cold War, the Department of Energy (DOE) has ignored calls to downsize its sprawling nuclear weapons laboratories to a scale that reflects the realities of the twenty-first century. POGO has now obtained a leaked Department of Defense memo that details waste and redundancies within the DOE’s privately operated lab system, and compiles evidence of how a new interagency council could support DOE’s ongoing efforts to circumvent the congressional appropriations process. Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500 pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net-321018889 http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/letters/nuclear-security-safety/nss-np-20120319-congress-mox-plutonium-fuel.html Costs for the Department of Energy’s MOX program are increasing at an alarming rate. The estimated cost of MOX plant construction at the Savannah River Site has increased from $1.6 billion in FY2004 to the current $4.9 billion. The DOE’s FY2013 overall request for MOX and associated plutonium disposition programs is $887 million and the budget indicates a funding request of $3.6 billion from FY2014 to FY2017. Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0500 pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net-308399300 http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/letters/nuclear-security-safety/nss-dod-20110201-pogo-panetta-taxpayers-shouldnt-bear-cost-of-b61-bombs-europe.html The cost for extending the lives of the 200 B61 nuclear bombs deployed and stored in Europe has increased from $1.6 billion to $2.1 billion in less than a year. In light of the program’s cost, the questionable military efficacy of the deployment of these bombs, and the security vulnerabilities at a number of the NATO bases where the bombs are kept, POGO proposes that those European countries where the B61s are deployed share the increasing costs of keeping these weapons in Europe. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600 pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net-304409656 http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/alerts/nuclear-security-safety/nss-lanl-20110118-cmrr-multi-billion-dollar-nuclear-weapons-facility.html The Obama Administration and Congress should eliminate funding for a multi-billion dollar nuclear research facility that has ballooned in cost and is unnecessary in a time that the U.S. is reducing its nuclear weapons arsenal, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) recommended in a report issued today. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600 pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net-297289582 http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/letters/public-health/ph-iis-20111215.html In fiscal year (FY) 2011, $10.2 billion was appropriated, and nearly $13 billion was requested for FY 2012, for DOE research and development and related programs at 17 national laboratories and for extramural research elsewhere. In fact, DOE funds most of its science through contracts or financial assistance agreements. Yet, with this amount of taxpayer dollars going to contractors and grantees, and DOE’s tremendous reliance on non-federal institutions for scientific research, there is far too little oversight by DOE. Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600 pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net-285185443 http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/letters/nuclear-security-safety/nss-pp-20111101.html In 1977, the Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into Virginia Electric and Power Co, the owner of the North Anna power plant. The investigation revealed that the company covered up its knowledge of a seismic fault line that runs beneath the plant. Over 30 years later, in August 2011, an earthquake hit only 11 miles from the plant, causing damage at North Anna and the shutdown of two of its reactors. Key documents from the 1977 case could shed light on possible safety concerns, but they remain locked away in a Virginia university, as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission considers whether to put the North Anna reactors back online. Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500 pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net-218788041 http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/letters/nuclear-security-safety/nss-pp-20110308.html As organizations and experts that are deeply concerned about the risks of nuclear proliferation, we strongly support the American Physical Society (APS) petition to require proliferation assessments as part of the NRC licensing process (Docket ID NRC-2010-0372).s. Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0600 pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net-212610070 http://pogoarchive.pub30.convio.net/pogo-files/letters/nuclear-security-safety/nss-nwc-20110211.html We strongly urge you to make every effort to ensure that threat reduction and nonproliferation programs are funded at your requested FY 2011 levels in the next continuing resolution (CR) or omnibus appropriations bill. Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0600