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Saturday, April 08, 2006  
Activists Pleased with Livermore Lab Plutonium Removal

By: CBS
Published In: CBS-N ews, Channel 5

LIVERMORE (BCN)



A Livermore anti-nuclear activist says she's pleased that the Department of Energy has announced plans to move plutonium from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory by 2014.

In a statement issued yesterday, Marylia Kelley of Tri-Valley CARES (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment), said, "We applaud the decision to remove plutonium from Livermore Lab even as we realize the devil will be in the details."

Kelley said her organization will closely monitor the removal effort.

She said, "We will press for both a more speedy removal plan and for appropriate packaging to safeguard workers and communities from the handling and transportation hazards posed by these deadly materials."

Thomas D'Agostino, deputy administrator for defense programs at the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, which is the DOE branch that oversees the Livermore weapons complex, announced the decision at a hearing of the House Services Committee in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

He said the plan to move plutonium from the Livermore Lab is part of a plan to consolidate all U.S. work involving plutonium at a single facility by 2022.

Federal officials say the move is intended to enhance security and is part of a larger plan to renovate the Livermore nuclear weapons complex by 2030.




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