New Mexico governor asked to stand up to more nuclear waste

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A coalition of environmentalists and nuclear watchdogs has delivered more than 1,100 petition signatures to Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Dozens of people gathered at the state Capitol on Tuesday to ask that the Lujan Grisham administration take all steps necessary to stop any expansion of the federal government’s nuclear waste repository in southeastern New Mexico. They are concerned about the potential for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant to be a disposal site for diluted plutonium. The underground repository currently takes in special boxes and barrels packed with low-level waste that consists of lab coats, rubber gloves, tools and debris contaminated with plutonium and other radioactive elements.