Oversight Weakened For Nuke Facilities

Part of the disgraceful strategy of the Trump administration is to deregulate those entities that have proven in the past that they pose a risk to the public health -- which is why they were regulated in the first place. Some of the deregulation stems from unfit sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump's vindictive desire to tear down every accomplishment of President Obama, but much of it seems to stem from a warped right-wing laissez-faire ideology and from corporate greed. The most egregious examples can be found in the Rump gang's assault on the Environmental Protection Agency, with virtually each week bringing new attacks on clean air and clean water regulations. It doesn't stop there: reactionary policies affecting endangered species, climate monitoring, opening up national monuments to mining and timber interests, and more have altered or eliminated important regulations that the general public benefits from.

While it's not on many radar screens, the Rump gang has just issued orders to curb the independence of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which oversees safety issues for the nation's nuclear defense facilities. According to ProPublica and its partner The Santa Fe New Mexican, the Energy Department has quietly issued orders:

"....preventing the board from accessing sensitive information, imposing additional legal hurdles on board staff, and mandating that Energy Department officials speak “with one voice” when communicating with the board."

DOE's defense nuclear sites have a very checkered history at best regarding nuclear safety. For decades, the Rocky Flats site in Colorado was infamous for significant radiological contamination, as is the Hanford Nuclear facility in eastern Washington which is under environmental remediation. Most recently, New Mexico's Los Alamos National Laboratory was cited by the Board for "major deficiencies" in a building housing plutonium production facilities, given the seismic risks identified for the area.

We don't expect this thoroughly corrupt and cynical administration to do anything but continue to expose us to danger out of greed, ideology, vindictiveness or incompetence. That's another reason why the November elections -- and every election thereafter -- is vital to reining in those forces.