State officials push for Los Alamos, WIPP funding

A group of New Mexicans, led by state Environment Secretary David Martin, is just back from a trip to DC to lobby for more money for operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Martin’s staff sent out a statement last night outlining what the state is asking for (“TRU” waste is “transuranic” – stuff contaminated with plutonium):

During their discussions, Secretary Martin stressed the need for LANL and WIPP to be fully funded in order meet the goals and milestones in the newly developed Framework Agreement. That new agreement calls for the complete removal of above ground TRU waste currently stored at Area G at LANL by June of 2014. In order for that deadline to be met, funding to bulk up operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad needs to be increased. Secretary Martin urged DOE and the Delegation to push for a cleanup budget of $255 million for LANL and $229 million for WIPP.