Scott Lopez makes his opening remarks at Tuesday’s Los Alamos Nuclear Forum. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
“Built in New Mexico. Deploying for the Nation,” was the theme of Scott Lopez’s welcoming address at Tuesday’s Los Alamos Nuclear Forum at SALA Event Center in Los Alamos. Lopez is the founder and CEO of the New Mexico Nuclear Alliance as well as the founder of the Nuclear Forum.
The event was attended by people from across New Mexico and the country, with participants joining the forum virtually from around the world. Lopez welcomed scientists and engineers, folks from National Laboratories, industry, entrepreneurs, utilities including Los Alamos Public Utilities, universities, Tribal and community leaders, investors, federal partners and policymakers. New Mexico legislators and legislative aides also joined the more then 200 in-person attendees.
“Before I talk about why we’re here, I want to tell you why this is personal to me. I was raised in Northern New Mexico and graduated from Pojoaque High School, right down the hill, in 1985. My grandmother, Ercilia Roybal Mollohan, was recruited by the U.S. Army in Santa Fe during World War II as Los Alamos was being established for the Manhattan Project. They nicknamed her ‘Molly'”. Lopez said. “Her career continued through the Atomic Energy Commission era, and she ultimately completed an extraordinary 54 years of service at Los Alamos.”
He noted that other members of his family continued in that path and that members of his family continue working at Los Alamos National Laboratory today.
“But out story isn’t unique. For generations, thousands of Northern New Mexico families have made that same drive up ‘the Hill’ and served a mission larger than themselves. That generation helped change the world. And more than 80 years later, another generation has an opportunity to help build what comes next,” Lopez said.
He noted that to lead America’s next nuclear era, the whole story also has to be told.
“Our nuclear history includes extraordinary achievement. It also includes sacrifice – uranium minors and workers, Tribal communities and families still dealing with abandoned uranium mines and contamination. And New Mexico Downwinders who waited generations for federal recognition and compensation,” Lopez said.
This year, he had the opportunity to work with State Sen. Jeff Steinborn and others on Senate Memorial 27, supporting outreach following the expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act—RECA, which was passed 34-0 in the state Senate.
“That work matters because I don’t believe we have to choose between honoring our nuclear past and building our nuclear future. We have to do both. We can support advanced nuclear and support Downwinders. We can recognize the strategic importance of uranium while demanding responsible resource development. And we can advocate for nuclear energy while insisting upon environmental responsibility, cleanup, waste management and long-term stewardship,” Lopez said. :Those ideas are not in conflict. That is responsible nuclear leadership.”
Lopez noted what’s happening in New Mexico right now.
“Here at LANL, the ZiaCore microreactor reached criticality. This morning, Pacific Fusion is breaking ground on a major new research and manufacturing campus in Los Lunas. URENCO USA is expanding one of America’s most important domestic uranium enrichment facilities. Eden Radioisotopes reached a major NRC regulatory milestone,” he said. ” At Kairos Power’s Albuquerque campus, advanced manufacturing, fuel development and reactor testing are supporting the Hermes reactor program. Disa Uranium is collaborating with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Navajo Nation EPA to explore innovative solutions for cleaning up abandoned uranium mines at Church Rock.”
He said that at Sandia National Labs, extraordinary work is advancing the understanding of nuclear energy and the electric grid.
“We have the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad and decades of experience in nuclear waste management and long-term stewardship. We’ll hear about Offsite Source Recovery Program and an important national-security and public-safety mission most Americans never have an opportunity to see,” Lopez said. “And Space Nuclear Corporation—Space Nukes—is taking technology with Los Alamos origins into space and beyond.”
Beyond New Mexico, he said Antares and Oklo have also reached criticality.
“Think about what is represented here. Advanced reactors. Fusion. Fuel. Nuclear medicine. Space. Grid integration. Uranium remediation. Waste management. National security. These aren’t pieces of some nuclear ecosystem we hope New Mexico might have someday. They’re here. They’re happening right now,” Lopez said. “New Mexico has been part of the nuclear lifecycle for more than 80 years. But having the pieces isn’t enough. We have to connect them.”
This is why the Los Alamos Nuclear Forum was created, said.
“Not because we have all the answers, but because we can bring together people of finding them,” Lopez said, adding that with him in the room were representatives of national laboratories, industry, government, universities, communities, tribes, capital, entrepreneurs, scientists and policymakers.
“These groups don’t always sit at the same table but today they do,” he said.
Lopez encouraged attendees to really participate in the forum – to meet someone they don’t know, ask a difficult question, challenge an assumption, make an introduction, and listen to the communities that ultimately live with the decisions that are made.
“Because ecosystems are built through relationships. One conversation. One introduction. One partnership. One project. One by one by one!” he said. “And as we build this next chapter, we need to make sure New Mexicans participate in it—our young people, our universities, our skilled trades, our rural and Tribal communities, and the families that have supported America’s nuclear mission for generations. Economic development cannot simply mean bringing companies into New Mexico. It has to mean creating opportunities for New Mexicans.”
Lopez noted that a generation came to Los Alamos to work on a mission that changed the world. He said his grandmother was one of the New Mexicans who answered that call and that thousands of New Mexican families answered it with her.
“Today, our mission is different. But once again, what happens here can have implications far beyond New Mexico. Our responsibility is to take everything we’ve learned—the science, the innovation, the sacrifice, the legacy, the stewardship, and the people who built this ecosystem—and use it to build what comes next,” he said. “We honor the past. We take responsibility for the present. And we build the future. New Mexico isn’t simply part of America’s nuclear history. New Mexico is building America’s nuclear future. Built in New Mexico. Deploying for the nation