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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR:	Heaton		DATE TYPED:	03/05/03		HB	HM 9/HFl#1
SHORT TITLE:		Locate Modern Pit Facility New WIPP				SB
					ANALYST:		Valenzuela

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY03	FY04	FY03	FY04
	NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)

Department of Environment (NMED)

Department of Public Safety (DPS)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of House Floor Amendment

The House Floor amendment No. 1 to House Memorial 9 changes the word “safety” to “security” to correct the name of a federal agency from the “National Nuclear Safety Administration” to the “National Nuclear Security Administration”

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Memorial 9 would have the state House of Representatives resolve that the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) be requested to locate its proposed modern pit facility in southeastern New Mexico near the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) site near Carlsbad.

Significant Issues

Plutonium triggers, called pits, are a critical component of nuclear weapons. A Modern Pit Facility (MPF) is for the manufacture of plutonium pits, the portion of a nuclear weapon that generates the fission energy to drive modern thermonuclear weapons. Five DOE sites have been identified as potential MPF sites, two of which are in New Mexico (Los Alamos National Laboratory and WIPP).

NMED, DPS, and EMNRD all report that an MPF in New Mexico would have a tremendous economic impact, but would be extremely controversial. DPS points out that this type of facility would increase the potential terrorist acts in New Mexico. MFV/prr/njw