Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety

CCNS advocates for nuclear disarmament as it claims the existence of nuclear weapons presents the potential for a “nuclear winter.” To support its existence for the abolition of nuclear weapons, CCNS advocates the dissolution of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to prevent conflict amongst nuclear powers. ¹

Background

Founded in 1988, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety conducts research on nuclear waste produced by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the oldest U.S. nuclear weapons production facility, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a permanent nuclear weapons waste repository. It uses its research to pursue litigation and advocacy campaigns to oppose nuclear weapons and energy production. ²

In 1998, CCNS, alongside 38 other environmental organizations, won a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy after accusing it of failing to ensure “adequate environmental cleanup” over 50 years of nuclear weapons research, testing, and production. As a result of the lawsuit, CCNS and the other plaintiffs were awarded rights to a $6.25 million Citizens’ Monitoring and Technical Assessment Fund. The funding was disbursed to the groups through grants issued by RESOLVE between 2001 and 2007 to fund research on potential technical, ecological, and health issues related to nuclear weapons testing and production in the United States. ³

Opposition to Nuclear Weapons

Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety campaigns in opposition to nuclear weapons testing and production, and it advocates in favor of nuclear disarmament. CCNS campaigns for the abolition of nuclear weapons, arguing that abolition is necessary to address what it perceives as a potential for the “catastrophic annihilation” of earth because of climate change or a nuclear winter. ¹

CCNS advocates for the United States to accept Russian and Chinese proposals to ban weapons in space and cyberwar; for the reinstatement of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia, requiring the U.S. to remove missiles from Romania and Poland; for the U.S. to remove nuclear weapons from five NATO states in exchange for Russia removing nuclear weapons from Belarus; for the United States and China to agree to separate warheads from delivery systems; for all nuclear powers to “completely disarm”; and for the dissolution of NATO. CCNS is specifically critical of the United States for not committing to disarmament and credits Russia and China for making attempts towards disarmament. ¹

Opposition to Nuclear Enegy

Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety was a cosigner on an April 2021 letter to President Joe Biden that asked the administration to promote weather dependent wind and solar power systems and “end the fossil fuel era.” The letter also advised the president to “Phase out nuclear energy as an inherently dirty, dangerous and costly energy source.” ⁴

Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and from 1990 until 2021 accounted for 20 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. ⁵ An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ⁶ A 2020 analysis from Our World in Data reported that nuclear energy “results in 99.9% fewer deaths than brown coal; 99.8% fewer than coal; 99.7% fewer than oil; and 97.6% fewer than gas,” making it “just as safe” as wind and solar power production. ⁷ The U.S. Department of Energy has concluded that “nuclear energy produces more electricity on less land than any other clean-air source” and that it would require “more than 3 million solar panels to produce the same amount of power as a typical commercial reactor or more than 430 wind turbines.” ⁸

Communities for Clean Water

Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety is a founding member of the Communities for Clean Water coalition, formerly known as LANL Water Watch, that consists of Amigos Bravos, Breath of My Heart Birthplace, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, New Mexico Acequia Association, Partnership for Earth Spirituality, and Tewa Women United. ² Communities for Clean Water advocates for water quality issues affecting waterways in the watershed surrounding the Los Alamos National Laboratory. ⁹

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other regulatory agencies have consulted Communities for Clean Water to negotiate terms of stormwater and wastewater permits and to create regulatory processes for stormwater permitting. ¹⁰

Leadership

Joni Arends is Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety’s executive director and is one of its co-founders. ¹¹ Arends also served as the executive director for the 2010 film Forgotten Bomb, which included interviews of people from areas the United States has bombed since World War Two. ¹²

Financials

In 2023, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety reported $170,883 in total revenue and $46,362 in total expenses. ¹³ It also reported $197,500 in total liabilities, resulting in it having -$58,811 in net assets, according to its tax returns. ¹⁴ CCNS reported that its liabilities consisted of a loan from CCNS co-founder and executive director Joni Arends, totaling $197,500 at the end of 2023. ¹⁵