Los Alamos Lab Home To The Nation’s Largest Supply Of Nuclear Weapons Calls In Special Teams To Monitor Levels Of Plutonium And Uranium In The Air As A Precaution

‘Hoping for the best’: Firefighters battle blaze at edge of Los Alamos nuclear complex (MSNBC, June 28, 2011):

Flames licked at the boundary of the laboratory site, home to the nation’s largest supply of nuclear weapons.

The laboratory was shut down, and the town of Los Alamos, home to about 12,000 people, was placed under a mandatory evacuation Monday afternoon.

However, the facility called in special teams to track readings from a network of 60 monitoring stations that measure levels of substances such as plutonium and uranium in the air “as a precaution,” said lab director Charles McMillan.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico, who was visiting evacuees at the Santa Claran Hotel Casino in Espanola, said “there’s no doubt” the lab stores a variety of hazardous and radioactive materials that “you don’t want to escape in the atmosphere.” But he said he was confident lab and state environmental officials had monitoring systems in place to “evaluate exactly what we’re seeing here.”

Los Alamos Lab Officials Confirm Drums Of Plutonium-Contaminated Stored Above Ground

See also:

New Mexico Wildfires Force Evacuation At Los Alamos Nuclear Labratory:

Fires have burned as close as one mile from the government lab – threatening buildings, power lines and gas lines, officials said.


Los Alamos lab still under threat from blaze (CBS NEWS, June 28, 2011):

The anti-nuclear watchdog group Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety said the fire appeared to be about 3.5 miles from a dumpsite where as many as 30,000 55-gallon drums of plutonium-contaminated waste were stored in fabric tents above ground. The group said the drums were awaiting transport to a dump site in southern New Mexico.

Lab officials at first declined to confirm that such drums were on the property, but in a statement early Tuesday, lab spokeswoman Lisa Rosendorf said such drums are stored in a section of the complex known as Area G. She said the drums contain cleanup from Cold War-era waste that the lab sends away in weekly shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Read moreLos Alamos Lab Officials Confirm Drums Of Plutonium-Contaminated Stored Above Ground

Los Alamos National Laboratory: ‘World’s Largest Nuclear Weapons Arsenal Is Still Located There’

Los Alamos Evacuated; Fire Crews Concentrate on Nuclear Lab (Israel National News, June 28, 2011):

Los Alamos National Laboratory is indelibly etched in historical memory as the hatching site of the Manhattan Project, the effort which created the first atomic bomb. The world’s largest nuclear weapons arsenal is still located there. Now a raging wildfire has forced the evacuation of the surrounding town of Los Alamos (population 12,000)..

Given the recent Japanese disaster at Fukushima, the fear of course is that a natural disaster can morph into a nuclear one. Firefighters are therefore concentrating on keeping the blaze out of the laboratory. “If it spots on the lab, we’ll get really aggressive about putting it out,” Los Alamos Fire Chief Doug Tucker said.

Read moreLos Alamos National Laboratory: ‘World’s Largest Nuclear Weapons Arsenal Is Still Located There’

Website Of Anti-Nuclear Watchdog Hacked After Revealing That Plutonium Is Stored Above Ground At Los Alamos Lab

Related info:

Los Alamos Lab Home To The Nation’s Largest Supply Of Nuclear Weapons Calls In Special Teams To Monitor Levels Of Plutonium And Uranium In The Air As A Precaution

Los Alamos Lab Officials Confirm Drums Of Plutonium-Contaminated Stored Above Ground:

Lab officials at first declined to confirm that such drums were on the property, but in a statement early Tuesday, lab spokeswoman Lisa Rosendorf said such drums are stored in a section of the complex known as Area G.

Probably just a coincidence!!!


Los Alamos evacuated as wildfire nears (UPI, June 28, 2011):

The anti-nuclear watchdog group’s Web site appeared hacked early Tuesday morning, a United Press International check indicated. Its Facebook page had six messages from people alerting the group of the possible hacking, including a message commenting on the timing of the incident happening “just as the fires started.”

New Mexico Wildfires Force Evacuation At Los Alamos Nuclear Labratory


A wildfire looms in the hills above Los Alamos National Labs Sunday.

New Mexico wildfires force evacuation at Los Alamos nuclear labratory (NY Daily News, June 27, 2011):

Raging wildfires in New Mexico forced the evacuation of the famed nuclear lab at Los Alamos Monday, though officials insist that radioactive material is secure.

Fires have burned as close as one mile from the government lab – threatening buildings, power lines and gas lines, officials said.

“Lab emergency crews have been dispatched across the lab to protect key facilities and materials,” said lab spokesman Jeff Berger.

“Protected areas include all hazardous and radioactive facilities and our proton accelerator and super-computing centers.”

About 100 non-essential personnel were cleared from the area around the lab, where the first atomic bomb was built.

Read moreNew Mexico Wildfires Force Evacuation At Los Alamos Nuclear Labratory

New Mexico To End Food Stamp Supplement For ELDERLY and DISABLED Residents

Related info:

Time To Celebrate The Recovery: Food Stamp Usage Hits Fresh Record (ZeroHedge)


New Mexico to end food stamp supplement (New Mexico Independent, May 31, 2011):

New Mexico will end a food stamp supplement for elderly and disabled residents, according to the Associated Press. The cuts come just as Congress is considering cuts to the food stamp program even as a record-high amount of people are receiving the benefits.

The AP reports that the Human Services Department will stop the supplement on July 1 because there is no money in the state budget for the program. The program cost half a million dollars last fiscal year.

Read moreNew Mexico To End Food Stamp Supplement For ELDERLY and DISABLED Residents

Worldwide Global Earthquake And Volcano Update And Overview (05/09/2011) – Pressure Buildup On The North American Plate, Yellowstone & Pacific Northwest Earthquake Activity & Magma Movement



Pressure is building on the north American plate beyond the rocky mountain continental divide. As far north as the Cascadia range in the Pacific Northwest, south east to Yellowstone, then further south east to Georgia, up north to Montreal / New York …

The threat of a new madrid earthquake , in my opinion, goes up ANOTHER notch, with the signs of more activity in the north east, extending along the faults down to Arkansas.

Read moreWorldwide Global Earthquake And Volcano Update And Overview (05/09/2011) – Pressure Buildup On The North American Plate, Yellowstone & Pacific Northwest Earthquake Activity & Magma Movement

New Mexico Declares State of Emergency: Tens of Thousands of People Without Natural Gas Service Due Statewide Shortages


New Mexican Governor Susana Martinez makes announcements regarding gas shortages from the Emergency Operating Center on the National Guard Base just south of Santa Fe, N.M., on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011. Secretary of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Michael Duvall, left, and Major General Kenny C. Montoya, right, look on. Martinez has declared a state of emergency as thousands of New Mexico residents lost natural gas service due to the bitter cold. Martinez sent all nonessential state workers home for the day Thursday, and urged all residents to turn down their thermostats, bundle up and shut off appliances they don’t need for the next 24 hours. (AP Photo/The New Mexican, Natalie Guillén)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—With tens of thousands of people across New Mexico without natural gas service, Gov. Susana Martinez on Thursday declared a state of emergency, ordered all government offices be shut down Friday and urged schools to “strongly consider” remaining closed for the day.

Demand has soared because of extremely cold weather across the state since Tuesday. New Mexico Gas Company said rolling blackouts in West Texas also impeded the delivery of natural gas into New Mexico.

Martinez declared a state of emergency for all of New Mexico, urging residents to turn down their thermostats, bundle up and shut off appliances they don’t need for the next 24 hours.

She later announced all state operations not providing critical services would be closed Friday to decrease the strain on energy resources throughout the state.

“Due to statewide natural gas shortages, I have ordered all government agencies that do not provide essential services to shut down and all nonessential employees to stay home” on Friday, Martinez said after meeting with public safety personnel in Albuquerque.

“I have also encouraged all schools that have not already announced closures to strongly consider doing so,” she said.

Read moreNew Mexico Declares State of Emergency: Tens of Thousands of People Without Natural Gas Service Due Statewide Shortages

Chertoff keen on Israeli airport security technology

Chertoff has recently cleared the way for the completion of nearly 500 miles of a planned barrier fence in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
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JERUSALEM, May 29 (Reuters) – U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Thursday he will seek to adopt novel Israeli methods, like behaviour-detection technologies, to better secure America’s airports.

“That’s a scenario where Israel has a lot of experience,” Chertoff said in an interview with Reuters. “I think that it is of interest to us to see if there is any adaptation there.”

Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport, known for its strict security measures, relies heavily on techniques that detect suspicious behaviour among travellers.

Chertoff said such methods, as well as Israeli technologies that detect explosives, are some of the things that may help protect U.S. airports and other public places against attacks.

Chertoff, at a conference in Jerusalem for public and homeland security ministers from around the world, signed an agreement with Israel to share technology and information on methods to improve homeland security.

One of the new systems presented at the conference, developed by the Israeli technology company WeCU, uses behavioural science, together with biometric sensors, to detect sinister intentions among travellers.

The U.S. homeland security chief said that not all methods developed and used in Israel, such as questioning every passenger, are practical in larger U.S. airports.

Israel’s Ben Gurion handles about 9 million travellers a year while major U.S. hubs, like Chicago O’Hare, see some 76 million passengers.

“Not every technological approach here (in Israel) is necessarily applicable, but we are always open to look for technology from whatever source,” Chertoff said.

Chertoff also said that the U.S. could not adopt border security methods used in Israel, which prevent Palestinian militants from entering its territory, for U.S. efforts to stop illegal immigrants from crossing its frontier with Mexico.

“(It’s) a vastly longer border. It’s not an area where there is much useful experience,” he said.

Chertoff has recently cleared the way for the completion of nearly 500 miles of a planned barrier fence in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

“The challenge will be to keep moving forward. We need to continue to implement the measures we have in place and continue to look for additional things to match what the enemies are doing because they are constantly retooling themselves,” he said.

Chertoff is expected to leave his post when President George W. Bush finishes his term in January 2009. (Editing by Jon Boyle)

Thu May 29, 2008 4:03pm EDT

Source: Reuters