© 2024 KRWG
News that Matters.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New Mexico Senators Advocate For Nuclear Oversight Board

Senator Martin Heinrich (D) and Senator Tom Udall (D)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Members of New Mexico's congressional delegation are pushing to ensure a federal oversight panel will have the resources it needs to continue monitoring operations at national laboratories and other nuclear sites around the country.

Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich have proposed as part of a major defense spending bill that the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board report to Congress each year on what additional resources are needed to ensure that operations at Sandia and Los Alamos labs are safe.

The board is chartered by Congress, but questions about the panel's future were raised this week after the Center for Public Integrity published a letter by the board's chairman that suggested downsizing or abolishing the panel.

The board has documented safety concerns at Los Alamos as well as other shortcomings around the nation's nuclear complex.