Regional Coalition Of LANL Communities Picks Up Some Good News In Washington, D.C.

At the Los Alamos County Council meeting Tuesday night, Santa Fe City Councilor Peter Ives discusses the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities’ recent trip to Washington, D.C. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

 

 

By KIRSTEN LASKEY

Los Alamos Daily Post

 

‘Folks were talking up to $1 billion coming to Los Alamos…’. –Santa Fe City Councilor Peter Ives

 

The Regional Coalition of LANL Communities got a bit of good news during the organization’s trip Feb. 20-24 to Washington, D.C.

 

Throughout various meetings, prospects for more funding seemed strong although the nominee for Department of Energy Secretary, Rick Perry, remained unconfirmed, which led to a lack of any affirmative answers on funding, direction or priorities.

 

During the Los Alamos County Council regular meeting Tuesday night in Council chambers, Santa Fe City Councilor Peter Ives and Los Alamos County Councilor Rick Reiss reported on the trip, which included the coalition’s advocacy meeting and a meeting with the Energy Community Alliance.

 

Ives said this was his second trip with the coalition to the nation’s capitol and “it was a cheerier atmosphere … in terms of funding.”

 

He added there seemed to be a greater appreciation for WIPP coming back as well as the nuclear waste depository in Las Vegas, Nev. Ives also stated, “Folks were talking up to $1 billion coming to Los Alamos all of which is a significant change from the prior year.”

 

Reiss said, “One thing that was positive was we heard infrastructure, infrastructure and infrastructure.” In his notes, Reiss said the emphasis was two-fold. First, the general infrastructure for facilities, including decontamination and decommissioning, new replacement facilities and continued work on the CMR, and second, nuclear modification to extend life cycle of the existing nuclear stockpile.

He added he also got the opportunity to present about the Manhattan Project National Historical Park during the Energy Community Alliance meeting. Reiss said he was impressed with the progress other sites in the park were making.

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