Tri-Valley CAREs
Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
Friday, December 28, 2012
From Executive Director, Marylia Kelley, with notes by legendary singer Bonnie Raitt, noted author Joanna Macy and Ploughshares Fund's Paul Carroll.
Dear friends,
I am thrilled to let you know that Tri-Valley CAREs will celebrate its 30th Anniversary in 2013!
And the two most important words I want to say to you are THANK YOU.
Click here to read more, including notes from Bonnie, Joanna and Paul.
We offer secure online donations through Network for Good. Tri-Valley CAREs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization; contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please contribute today!
To Donate Using Network for Good:
Click here to find other ways to donate to Tri-Valley CAREs
Click here to read more about this campaign and to see the list of who has donated...
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs is quoted prominently in an excellent article in Science Magazine on the overselling of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Livermore Lab, its failure to achieve ignition, and the case for cutting its budget.
Science Magazine is the publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS. For our part, we noted in particular that NIF should be held accountable for its failure and that its extravagant budget is potentially robbing money from more deserving science projects.
We are quoted also on NIF’s primary goal of keeping nuclear weapons designers busy at their deadly pursuits and how and why a giant laser is not needed to maintain the existing stockpile as long as the nation eschews making adventurous design changes and military “improvements” in its arsenal.
Click here to read the article in Science Magazine
Click here to read the NIF Program Executives Report to Congress
Monday, December 17, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Violence in our country, whether it is a horrendous school shooting, nuclear weapons development, or war fighting abroad, is all connected. We need to find alternative solutions that de-escalate this violence. Violence simply begets more violence. That is true for how we relate to one another here, and it is true for how our country relates to the rest of the world.
As an orgnization striving to stop nuclear weapons where they start, (Livermore Lab), Tri-Valley CAREs endorses the national "Jobs Not Wars" campaign. The campaign is circulating a petition urging the President and Congress to abandon austerity solutions to the deficit and instead end the war, cut military spending, tax the super-rich, and redirect resources to restore and protect the social safety net, create jobs, deal with climate change and meet other urgent social needs.
Click here to sign the PETITION
Wednesday, December 11, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
The San Francisco Chronicle and Nature magazine have both printed articles recently about the failings of Livermore Lab's National Ignition Facility. The Chronicle article was inspired by an article in Tri-Valley CAREs recent Newlsetter (see blog below). Both articles reference the new NIF Program Executives Report to Congress, in which the DOE speculates on the future of the NIF program.
Click here to read the Chronicle Story
Click here to read the DRAFT NIF Program Executives Report to Congress
Click here to read the recent article in Nature about the report and NIF's future
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
National Ignition Facility Fails Time for Congress to Demand Accountability
Dangerous Cargo Plutonium Bomb Cores on the Road to Livermore
Community Meeting Announced The State of Livermore Lab: Radiation, Public Policy & You
Budget Busting Bomb B61-12's Out of Control Costs
Print Bites All the News that Fits to Print
Holiday & Membership Appreciation Party You're Invited!
Alerts 4 U Upcoming Events with Tri-Valley CAREs
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
We would like to thank YOU for your support and all you do for peace, justice and the environment! So please join us on Thursday, December 6th between 5-8PM at the Tri-Valley CAREs office for some great food, music, company and maybe a game or two.
Click here for more information
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
The National Ignition Facility is and always has been funded as a nuclear weapons program. More recently, its managers shamelessly promoted it as an energy machine. Now that it has utterly failed to reach the thermonuclear ignition that is in its name, management is back to promoting it as a nuclear weapons tool.
But, don't be fooled, a big laser is not needed to maintain existing weapons until such time as they are dismantled. NIF is intended to train the next generation of nuclear bomb designers - exactly what we do NOT need. So, beware the new hype, just like the old hype.
Solution? for starters, Congress could stop giving it hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of our tax-dollars each year...
Click here to read the article in Nature magazine
Friday, November 2, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Forty-six respected organizations joined Tri-Valley CAREs in a letter to Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration officials to protest the government's plan to ship plutonium bomb cores from the Los Alamos Lab in New Mexico to the Livermore Lab in northern California, even though Livermore Lab lacks the security or authorization to handle them. After going through a diagnostic test at Livermore Lab, the plutonium bomb cores would be put on the road again - back to Los Alamos in NM. The 46 organizations were joined by several prominent individual signers.
Click here to read the letter
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Recently, the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability and member groups met with the Senate Armed Services Committee Majority Council to discuss the proposed Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee. The delegation represented 67 organizations, including Tri-Valley CAREs, opposed to UPF construction, which is intended to enable the production of 50 to 80 new nuclear weapon secondaries (the H-bomb part) every year.
The 67 national, state and local organizations signed a letter asking that Senator Carl Levin, Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, not accelerate funding for the UPF. This ill-advised speed-up of UPF is part of the Fiscal Year 2013 budget request for nuclear weapons activities.
For more on the wrongheaded plan to build a new bomb production-oriented UPF, click here.
Click here to read the letter to Senator Levin.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Today has been declared by the United States Congress as a National Day of Remembrance for Nuclear Weapons Workers. There are gatherings across the country to acknowledge the sacrafice many of these workers made, specifically those whom were unknowingly exposed to radiation and toxic chemicals on the job and whom then suffered illness due to that on the job exposure. Tri-Valley CAREs takes this opportunity to acknowledge and remember the 1600+ individuals and their families who believe that they were made ill by on the job exposure at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. For nearly a decade, Tri-Valley CAREs has organized and facilitated a support group for these sick workers.
Click here to for more information from our LLNL Sick Worker Newsletter
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
The Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General issued a Special Report entitled "Management Challenges at the Department of Energy - Fiscal Year 2013" this week that, among other things, reiterates its call for the Agency to conduct a "BRAC- style assessment of the national labs." BRAC refers to the "Base Realignment and Closure" process conducted by the Department of Defense to identify military bases for closure. Tri-Valley CAREs supports a BRAC like process to eliminate waste and overlap at our national labs, including at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and to save taxpayer resources.
Click here to read the IG Special Report
Click here to read Tri-Valley CAREs factsheet about the BRAC process
Thursday, October 17, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
As part of an extensive public comment on the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for plutonium disposition, which touts a proposed mixed oxide fuel (MOX) facility, a coalition of more than 40 groups including Tri-Valley CAREs criticized the rising costs of the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility.
The groups noted that the Department failed to release its latest cost estimate for the project during the impact statement process. Internal NNSA estimates are believed to be in the neighborhood of $7 billion. The groups also highlighted the many additional uncertainties and dangers of pursuing MOX, and urged that the impact statement fully examine alternatives. The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability took the lead in preparing the comment document.
Click here to read the comment
Monday, October 15, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Huge thanks are due to the Muste Institute, which has awarded Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment a project grant for education and organizing in local communities to build public pressure against a National Nuclear Security Administration plan to transport plutonium bomb cores between facilities in Los Alamos, New Mexico and Livermore, California, and for related efforts to educate the public about the dangers of nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
Click here to find out more about the Muste Institute.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Today, the Ploughshares Fund released a new paper that calculates what the United States is currently planning to spend on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next decade. Using publicly available data and expert analysis, the report finds that, if nothing changes, the U.S. will spend somewhere between $620 billion and $661 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs.
Click here to see the blog post about the report
Click here to read the Ploughshares Fund Report
Click here to read new Time Magazine article about this Report
Monday, October 8, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
In order to coax the U.S. Congress into giving them more than $300 million a year for the National Ignition Facility, Livermore Lab promised to achieve ignition by the end of Fiscal Year 2012, which was September 30, 2012. This is after repeatedly postponing the same deadline. The end of the Fiscal Year came and went without the promised milestone being met at the facility, again.
A short article and a good editorial were printed in the New York Times on the National Ignition Facility's failure to achieve the "ignition" for which it is named. Here is one of our favorite lines: "Congress will need to look hard at whether the project should be continued, or scrapped or slowed to help reduce federal spending."
Click here to read the NYT Editorial
Click here to read the NYT Article
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
The Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently announced the removal of the last of Livermore Lab’s Security Category I/II special nuclear material. This means Livermore no longer has any weapons usable quantities of plutonium and highly enriched uranium on site, although lesser amounts of special nuclear material (called Category III/IV) will remain at the Lab.
Moreover, as of October 1, 2012, Livermore Lab will no longer be authorized to handle, use or store weapons usable quantities of plutonium and/or highly enriched uranium, calling into question its future role as a “full-service” nuclear bomb design facility.
This is cause for celebration.
Click here to read more...
Click here to read the NNSA press release announcing the de-inventory of Special Nuclear Material at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Click here to read the IG Report inquiring into the de-inventory of Special Nuclear Material at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
DOE’s and NNSA’s ineffective oversight of its contractors has contributed to many safety and security problems at sites around the country including Livermore Lab. As work carried out at NNSA’s sites involves dangerous nuclear materials such as plutonium and highly enriched uranium, stringent safety procedures and security requirements must be observed. In response to numerous serious safety incidents over several decades, DOE has taken steps to improve safety oversight. Recently, laboratory and other officials have raised concerns, however, that federal oversight has become excessive and overly burdensome. To address these concerns, DOE completed a safety and security reform effort to streamline or eliminate many DOE directives. However, GAO reported in April 2012 that the benefits of this reform effort are unclear because DOE did not determine if the original directives were, in fact, burdensome. In addition, the reform effort did not fully address safety concerns GAO and others identified in the areas of quality assurance, safety culture, and federal oversight
Click here to read the GAO's Report entitled: MODERNIZING THE NUCLEAR SECURITY ENTERPRISE- Observations on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Oversight of Safety, Security, and Project Management
Click here to read an article about the hearing in which the GAO Report and testimony were presented along with other information.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
At the end of August, I went to Washington, DC on Tri-Valley CAREs behalf to talk with Obama Administration officials and Congress about the nuclear weapons budget and related topics.
I spoke with officials about the necessity of delaying and/or canceling the new plutonium bomb core factory at the Los Alamos Lab. At the same time, I pointed out a major flaw in the draft “revised plutonium strategy”; a flaw that would send nuclear bomb cores regularly from Los Alamos in NM to Livermore Lab in CA and back again to Los Alamos on our highways.
The rationale for this dangerous scheme is that Livermore Lab has a diagnostic that Los Alamos Lab lacks. So, we investigated…
Click here to read more...
Click here to view the diagrams, and do contact us and join our growing campaign to get the government’s plutonium strategy CHANGED!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Following a visit to Livermore Lab earlier this summer, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board issued a report today that identified systemic deficiencies related to the adequacy of the development, review, and approval of safety control strategies for nuclear operations at Livermore Lab. Specifically, these inadequacies were noted in the Tritium and Plutonium Facilities and operations. This letter echoes similar concerns the DNFSB voiced last year and displays the Lab's inability to address inadequacies in its safety culture. The Lab is required to respond to the DNFSB's requests with a report and briefing within 60 days providing its perspective and plans to improve the development, review, approval, and oversight of safety control strategies.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Tri-Valley CAREs' board of directors, staff, and members, new and old, gathered on Saturday, August 18th to conduct our annual strategic planning retreat. A skilled facilitator led us through a number of successful exercises to help us focus and plan the program for the coming year.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
About 200 participants gathered at 4 PM this past Sunday in Livermore’s William Payne Park across from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. At 4:15 PM, Livermore time (8:15 AM August 6 Hiroshima time, the moment the first atomic bomb used in war exploded) sirens sounded and participants observed a moment of silence before Takashi Tanemori, a Hiroshima bomb survivor, spoke.
Click here to read the more...
Watch this terrific video made by Haleh Hatami at the Event
Click here to go to our Youtube page where you can view video of all of the speakers at the event...
Click here to see some pictures... and here for even more...
Click here to read the program...
Click here to read Tara Dorabji's talk from the event.
Click here to read Natalia Moronova's talk from the event.
Click here to see a webpage from Michael Eisenscher (who spoke at the event) page about the event
Click here to read Andy Lichterman's talk from the event.
Click here to read Umi Hagatani's statement from the event.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
As we prepared for the Hiroshima-Nagasaki commemoration in Livermore on August 5, our friends and allies in New Mexico invited our group’s executive director, Marylia Kelley, to participate also in a conference on August 4.
The daylong New Mexico conference, titled “Vision Without Fission,” was part of the Los Alamos/Santa Fe “Nuke Free Now” series of events, spanning four days (August 3-6). The conference and related events marked an upsurge in awareness and activism regarding the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and we were honored to help illuminate the links between the two nuclear weapons labs.
Marylia joined Jay Coghlan on a Saturday morning panel to “follow the money” and reveal the present-day weapons activities at the two principal warhead design labs, Livermore and Los Alamos. In the afternoon, Marylia joined Joni Arends and Scott Kovac on a panel to explore the pollution that stems from nuclear weapons activities and the role community members can play to safeguard their health and environment.
Click here to read more...
Click here to see video of Tri-Valley CARes Exectutive Director Marylia Kelley speaking at the event with Jay Coghlin from Nuke Watch New Mexico.
Click here to see video of Tri-Valley CARes Exectutive Director Marylia Kelley speaking at the event with Scott Kovac from Nuke Watch New Mexico and Joni Arends from Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Join us for this year's commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki across the street from Livermore Laboratory. It has been 67 years since the United States unleashed its nuclear weapons on Japan and we are now moving forward with a whole new generation of nuclear weapons. We can't afford to waste money on these unnecessary weapons, which is why our theme this year is "Foreclose on the Bomb - Not the People.
This year's event takes place on Sunday, August 5th at William Payne Park at the corner of Patterson Pass Rd. and Vasco Rd. in Livermore. The park is "kitty-corner" from Livermore Lab. A great line up of speakers and activities is in the works so be sure to not to miss it.
Click here to read more...
Click here to listen to a recent radio interview about the event...
Click here to read an article about the event from the Oakland Tribune.
Updated: Friday, August 3, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Livermore Lab is a Superfund site. Contaminated groundwater emanating from Livermore Lab underlies local homes, apartments, city streets, a community pool and city park to the west of the nuclear weapons lab.
To reach the pollution in the “leading edge” of the plume and bring the toxic water back on-site for treatment, the Livermore Lab must construct a pipeline, moving westward along Susan Lane, turning north at Charlotte Way and then crossing to the edge of Big Trees Park.
But the toxic contamination in the aquifer is not the only problem. The soils in Big Trees Park and along the pipeline route have been previously tested and found to contain elevated levels of plutonium-239, the core radioactive element in nuclear bombs.
Click here to read more...
Click here to see community-based monitoring logs from 8-6 to 8-16, what appeared to be the final day of the project.
Click here to see community-based monitoring logs from 8-2 to 8-3. On Friday, August 3rd during our monitoring at the construction site there was an alarming spike in radiation detected by our device.
Click here to see community-based monitoring logs from 7-25 to 7-31.
Click here to see community-based monitoring logs from 7-18 to 7-24.
Click here to see community-based monitoring logs from 7-11 to 7-17.
Click here to see community-based monitoring logs from 6-11 to 7-10. Click the following for the community members' letters to the editor and other media. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine.
Click here to read a memorandum prepared by Tri-Valley CAREs regarding Livermore Lab Main Site Pipeline Extension Work Plan
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Our California Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water, vocally questioned huge cost increases for the so-called "life extension program" for the B-61 Nuclear Weapon in a hearing about the Nuclear Weapons Complex. The "modernization" of the B-61, whose total price tag, which was originally estimated at $4 billion, is now estimated to be as high as $10 billion.
Kudos to Senator Feinstein for asking the right questions and requiring the NNSA to report to Congress on a monthly basis regarding these costs.
Click hereand here to read more...
Click here to see video of the hearing...
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Plutonium Coming The Proposed Revised Plutonium Strategy
Community-Based Radiation Monitoring LLNL Refuses to Protect Neighbors
Foreclose on the Bomb 2012 Livermore Commemoration of the Bombing of Hiroshima. Click here to read the flier...
Print Bites All the News that Fits to Print
We are Appealing Help Tri-Valley CAREs Create a More Peaceful World
Alerts 4 U Upcoming Events with Tri-Valley CAREs
"Fewer Warheads, More Spending" Tri-Valley CAREs New Report
Questioning Obama's Nuclear Agenda An Op-Ed By Marylia Kelley
We Go To Washington To Expose The High Risk DOE Nuclear Weapons Projects
Community Meeting In Tracy Site 300 Raises Community Concerns
Alerts 4 U Upcoming Events With Tri-Valley CAREs
Tri-Valley CAREs and two-dozen other groups sent a joint letter yesterday (July 18) urging support for the Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) - Barney Frank (D-MA) defense appropriations amendment to, essentially, “Freeze the Pentagon” and save more than $1 billion in the coming year.
The letter was organized by our friends at the Project on Government Oversight and sports a broad set of signatories, including the Tea Party WDC, United for Peace and Justice. Peace Action and the National Taxpayers Union. The groups note that the House defense appropriations bill is $17.1 billion over the baseline spending caps, and that the letter’s co-signers endorse deeper cuts as well as the Mulvaney-Frank amendment.
On July 19, the House voted to adopt Mulvaney-Frank by a wide margin, with 247 voting aye 167 voting no. The vote and the letter that preceded it demonstrate bi-partisan support for reining in Pentagon spending.
Check the links below, and stay tuned as both the Energy and Water Appropriations bill (with the Dept. of Energy nuclear weapons activities) and the Defense Appropriations bill (with the Dept. of Defense activities) are wending their way through Congress.
Click here to read the joint letter.
Click here to see the House final vote roll-call.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Monday, July 9, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
We need your support! We monitor, confront and stop nuclear weapons at their source. We hold the government accountable. You may already know that our advocacy is unique and effective. But, did you realize it is needed now more than ever?
Click here to read more about our upcoming work that needs your support...
We offer a secure online donations through Network for Good. Tri-Valley CAREs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization; contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please contribute today!
To Donate Using Network for Good:
Other Ways to Donate to Tri-Valley CAREs
Click here to read more...
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
On June 27th, twelve Tri-Valley CAREs members participated in a tour of Livermore Lab's Site 300 High Explosives Testing Range located in the foothills near Tracy, Ca.
Click here to read more facts about Site 300.
Click here to see more information about the tour.
Click here to see a map of the contamination at Site 300.
Click here to read the impressions of Environmental Science Intern Alison Forrest.
Click here to read the impressions of Legal Intern Annie Batanides.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Posted by Annie Batanides
Late last year, the Department of Energy Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a report advocating that the Department of Energy (DOE) establish an independent panel to evaluate consolidating and/or realigning the DOE’s lab system (which includes Livermore lab). Specifically, OIG recommended a ‘BRAC-style” system of consolidating and/or realigning the DOE’s lab complex. For more information on “BRAC,” the OIG’s recommendations, and other expert recommendations to consolidate the DOE’s lab system, click here to see our new factsheet.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
There are lots of summertime events around the bay area that support a nuclear free future.
Click here to learn about events you can attend to get involved.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Over the weekend, Tri-Valley CAREs particpated in the 2012 Livermore Rodeo Parade, as we have almost every year since 1983. Our float this year focused on our hope of shifting the lab away from nuclear weapons toward clean renewable energy and science pursuits.
We are proud to say that we won 1st place in our category for the second year in a row! We are really thankful to all of our members who helped to make our float great.
Click here to see pictures from the event...
Click here to read our entry description and statement
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
All in all, June 6, 2012 proved to be a good day for those of us who want to see needed cuts to the bloated U.S. nuclear weapons budget. The Republican-majority House of Representatives debated and passed its Fiscal Year 2013 spending bill, and...
First, it is good news that no amendment was offered in the House appropriations process to fund a new Dept. of Energy (DOE) plutonium bomb core plant at the Los Alamos Lab in NM. The President's budget request had zero funding for this wrongheaded facility, but Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) had worked in the House Armed Services Committee to "authorize" money for it anyway. This decision not to include any money for it during the House appropriations process makes funding for this new bomb plant unlikely. And, if the Senate appropriators follow suit, and we hope they will, then this bomb plant will NOT be funded this year. Period.
And, second, an amendment by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-IN) to further clip the federal budget for the DOE's plutonium mixed-oxide fuel program passed overwhelmingly. Here is a joint Tri-Valley CAREs-Alliance for Nuclear Accountability Press Release with details on the MOX funding cut. Click here to read more...
Friday, June 1, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Join us on Wednesday, June 27 for a special Community Tour we set up to visit Superfund cleanup areas at the LLNL Site 300 High Explosives Testing Range
Badging will be at 8:45 AM sharp, tour will be from 9 AM-Noon
RSVP is absolutely required: Call us at (925) 443-7148 before COB Friday, June 15
Join us for this special community tour of Site 300, including the B-812 “firing table” where depleted uranium bomb test contaminated the soil and groundwater, a high explosives process area and other locations where contamination is being addressed under the federal Superfund law. Tri-Valley CAREs’ environmental scientist, Peter Strauss, will be on-hand along with top technical experts from Livermore Lab and the U.S. Dept. of Energy.
Tri-Valley CAREs began working with Livermore Lab to set up this tour following our February 2012 community meeting in Tracy. Participants at that event told Tri-Valley CAREs they wanted opportunities to learn more about activities at Site 300 and their impacts on the environment. Folks who attended that meeting are invited to contact us to reserve a space on the tour. Additionally, all other Tri-Valley CAREs supporters, friends and interested members of the public are very welcome to join us for the tour. RSVP is required. Space is limited and will be allocated “first come, first served.”
When you RSVP, we will need your full name, driver’s license or U.S. passport #, date and place of birth, and social security # to obtain a badge for the tour. The sign up deadline is close of business on Friday, June 15th.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Saturday, June 9, 2012 -- LIVERMORE PARADE
Tri-Valley CAREs’ entry is float # 77
Our line up time is 10:30 AM at 4th St. near M St. (look for #77).
More people are wanted, call us at (925) 443-7148 for details
Each year, we create a peace and environment-themed entry for the Livermore Parade, which takes place in downtown Livermore prior to the afternoon rodeo event. This is a unique event, and a huge opportunity to get our message out to the general public. Our entry is appropriate for all ages, from stroller tots with balloons to youth with banners to elderly folks who wish to ride on the float rather than walk the parade route. All are welcome – and needed.
Our entry this year is titled, “Tri-Valley CAREs Says: Green Science Not Nuclear Weapons.” Our float and the fliers we will hand out highlight the fact that 88% of the funds at Livermore Lab go to nuclear weapons activities, with less than 1% of the funds going toward energy efficiency and renewables. Our float challenges the status quo and invites the onlooker to consider a different future, free of nuclear weapons. We will have a bright orange truck for those who wish to ride, and lots of balloons, signs and banners. While our message is serious, our float is FUN and appropriate for ALL AGES. Last year, we won First Place in our amateur float category. Help us repeat that success. Call Marylia or Scott for details at (925) 443-7148. We hope you and yours can join us.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Tri-Valley CAREs' Staff Attorney Scott Yundt was published in today's Times-Herald (the local edition of the San Jose Mercury News) expressing his objections to the National Defense Authorization Act and the action necessary from the United States Senate to fix it.
On May 18, the House of Representatives passed a defense bill for fiscal year 2013 that is out of step with 21st century political and financial realities.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) increases spending on weapons systems that, according to Pentagon and Energy Department testimony, are unneeded. Further, it is marred by an undemocratic process that eliminated key amendments designed to fix its flaws. Unless altered by the Senate, this NDAA will have dangerous consequences locally, nationally and internationally...
Click here to read more...
Monday, May 28, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Representatives of more than 25 anti-nuclear activist and energy sustainability organizations, including Tri-Valley CAREs, gathered in San Clemente, California on Sunday, May 27, to discuss strategy and plan actions against nuclear power operations in California and to promote renewable energy sources and energy efficiency solutions.
The coalition, meeting for the fifth time since Fukushima, is determined to continue the fight to stop San Onofre from operating this summer and beyond, with the understanding that excess energy already exists in the state to cover our needs.
Click here to read more...
Click here to learn more about California Nuclear Free...
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
When the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) finished “marking up” the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with a series of “party line” votes, the result was a mess. In fact, the NDAA was so controversial that it quickly attracted some 237 amendments.
The Republican majority pledged an open and free debate, but that is not what we see happening. Instead, procedural sleight of hand is being employed to narrow the choices available to members of Congress and to forestall needed debate.
Prospective amendments were submitted to the Committee on Rules. This committee determines which amendments can be voted upon. Unfortunately the Rules Committee prevented key amendments to the House NDAA from reaching the floor, preemptively barring members of Congress from voting on them.
Click here to read more...
Click here to read Tri-Valley CAREs Press Release from today
Click here for George Miller's press release with a link to his floor statement
Click here to read the Administration's Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 4310 – National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has passed through the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) with many onerous and controversial provisions. (So controversial that 237 floor amendments have been offered on the NDAA.)
1. When viewing the NDAA on the whole, perhaps the most striking overall impression is that in this era of "austerity" the Republican controlled HASC added hundreds of millions of dollars to nuclear weapons programs OVER the already too generous funding the administration requested. To address this, Representative Jared Polis (D-Colorado) has introduced Amendment #165 that would strike funding for nuclear weapons activities beyond the administration's budget request.
2. Several provisions in the NDAA would gut oversight and safety at nuclear weapons sites, including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. One NDAA provision puts the defense contractors in charge of safety and another weakens oversight by the independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Thankfully, an amendment has been offered to undo the damage. Sponsored by local Representative George Miller (D-Martinez), Amendment #167 would remove the bad language and delete the weakening provisions, thus maintaining the existing safety protections for workers and the public.
3. Additionally, the NDAA adds $100,000,000 to the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility at Los Alamos, depite the administration's request that the facility be put on a 5-year delay. Amendment #67 offered by Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.) would eliminate funding for the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility in the authorization bill.
4. Our local Representative, John Garamendi (D-Livermore), has offered Amendment #130 to require that Congress receive further studies and analyses regarding the costs associated with building a third U.S. Ground-based Midcourse Missile Defense site to be located on the East Coast. His amendment would halt the reckless forward momentum and funding in the NDAA for an East Coast Missile Defense site.
Out of the 237 amendments being offered, these four are key to addressing the dangerous effects that the NDAA would otherwise have on nuclear weapons policy, facilities and communities across the country. A vote is expected beginning tomorrow.
So, what can you do to support these efforts? If one of these brave members of Congress represents you, call or email him/her ASAP with a thank you for offering an amendment, and urge them to support the others listed here. Otherwise, call or email your member of Congress ASAP urging him/her to support Amendments #165, #167, #67 and #130 to the National Defense Authorization Act.
To find your Representative's phone number, you may use this searchable online congressional directory or call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202)224-3121 and ask for your Representative's office.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
The Department of Labor administers the Energy Employee Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) that provides benefits and compensation for workers made ill by on the job exposures to radiation and toxic chemicals and atomic and nuclear weapons facilities including the Lawrence Livermore National Lab and Sandia, California. Every year the EEOICPA Ombudsman (the office tasked with providing oversight over the Department of Labor's EEOICPA performance) releases a review of the program. The 2011 review, finally released on Tuesday, May 1st, revealed that Livermore Lab employees have filed more complaints about how the program is administered than any other site in the country.
Tri-Valley CAREs facilitates a sick worker support group for former workers of the Livermore Lab, Sandia (CA) and Berkeley Lab. We also can provide authorized representation to workers who want help filing thier claims. For more information on these programs, call Scott Yundt, Tri-Valley CAREs Staff Attorney at (925) 443 7148.
Click here to read the Department of Labor's Annual Report on the Status of EEOICPA
Monday, May 1, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Tri-Valley CAREs will be facilitating a Sick Worker Support Group Meeting for former workers of Lawrence Livermore Lab, Sandia (CA) and Lawrence Berkeley Labs. Family members and survivors are also welcome. This meeting will touch on new developments in the Energy Employee Occupational Illness Compensation Act (EEOICPA). Refreshments and snacks will be provided.
Where: Livermore Main Public Library, Commuity Room A, 1188 S. Livermore Ave
When: Wednesday, May 2nd - 12:30 pm - 2 pm
Click here to read the Department of Labor's Annual Report on the Status of EEOICPA
Friday, April 27, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Today, The Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General released an Audit Report about The Joint Actinide Shock Physics Experimental Research (JASPER) Facility at the Nevada National Security Site (Foremerly known as Nevada Test Site). Livermore Lab, a primary user of the facility, is responsible for specifying experiment parameters and executing experiments to meet programmatic milestones at the JASPER facility.
In February 2009, JASPER was shut down when "an abnormal amount" of radioactive plutonium contamination escaped a result of an alpha plutonium experiment. It was determined that Livermore did not have policies and procedures in place to ensure that deteriorated plutonium targets were not used in JASPER experiments. The IG Audit Report noted that an abnormal amount of contamination was released during a 2009 experiment at JASPER (using such targets) that led to discontinued operations because the alpha phase plutonium target had advanced surface deterioration.
Click here to read the IG Audit Report
Click here to read an article about the Report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Our colleagues at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) recently uncovered a Department of Defense memo concluding that “The Department of Energy’s network of privately-operated nuclear weapons laboratories (which includes Livermore Lab) is riddled with waste, redundancies and lackluster scientific standards.”
POGO brought the memo to the attention of the U.S. Senate and added its finding "that that seven of the top 15 officials at the three DOE nuclear labs make more than $700,000 per year, with one earning $1.7 million—more than the president of the United States and many government executives.” This list includes a Livermore Lab officer.
The memo reflects the Department of Energy’s refusal to downsize its labs, despite the end of the Cold War, unlike the Department of Defense which went through five rounds of Base Realignment and Closure, known as the BRAC process, and eliminated 21 labs. The memo presents the arguments of a number of experts who have said DOE’s laboratories should downsize, rather than expand their mission. It also compiles evidence of DOE’s ongoing efforts to circumvent the congressional appropriations process.
The release of the memo coincides with the April 18, 2012 statement of Gregory H. Friedman, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Energy, before the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight in which Friedman strongly recommended “consolidation of (DOE's) laboratory functions through the establishment of a 'BRAC-style' commission.”
Click here to read the DoD Memo
Click here to read the Letter to the Senate Armed Forces Committee and Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development about the Memo
Click here to read Gregory H. Friedman Inspector General, U.S. Department of Energy, April 18th statement
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs joined other groups from around the United States in an open letter to biodefense decision makers, expressing concerns about the proliferation of high containment biodefense laboratories and making clear our united conviction that the spread of these labs makes us all less safe. The purpose of the letter is to urge federal and state decision makers to heed the call of those most affected and to place a moratorium on the opening of new biodefense facilities until there has been a serious and transparent reevaluation of the entire program.
Click here to read the Open Letter to Biodefense Decision Makers
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Tri-Valley CAREs joined other bay area peace groups, and groups around the world, calling on the governements to change their priorities, specifically by spending less on war and weapons to free up more money for other programs. Tri-Valley CAREs volunteers spent the morning distributing informational pamphlets (see below) at our local BART station and talked to commuters about the huge expense of our weapons, military and war.
Click here to read the pamphlet about where our tax dollars will go in the coming Fiscal Year
Click here to see a chart of how Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory plans to spend our tax dollars in the coming Fiscal Year
Monday, April 9, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
After filing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, our friends at Nuclear Watch New Mexico finally received Performance Evaluations Reports for all of the National Nuclear Security Administration sites, including Livermore Lab. Despite numerous performance concerns, especially at the National Ignition Facility, Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (the Lab management company) received $26 Million in bonuses for 2011.
Click here to read our press release about the PERs report
Click here to read the Fiscal Year 2011 Performance Evaluation Review of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Wednesday, April 4, 2012, Updated Monday, April 9, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
On Friday, April 6th, we joined the Ecumenical Peace Institute and Livermore Conversion Project for the annual Good Friday march and demonstration at the gates of Livermore Lab to call for an end to violence and nuclear weapons. 34 were arrested for non-violently blocking the lab entrance in protest.
Click here to read a local news article about the event.
To hear more, click the link below for KPFA evening news coverage of the event, between minute 32:52 and 37:26.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Our team recently spent a four days in Washington D.C. for the annual “DC Days” gathering of activists from 36 similar groups around the country. Together we met with Congressmen, their staff, committee staff and agency officials to discuss cuts to the nuclear weapons budget, clean up of contamination at DOE sites, and increased funding for important nonproliferation programs. Our team will be reporting back on DC Days at the next Tri-Valley CAREs meeting and look for an article in the next Citizen’s Watch newsletter.
What: DC Days Report Out at the next Tri-Valley CAREs Monthly Meeting
When: Thursday, April 19, 2012 7:30-9:00
Location: Livermore Public Library 1188 South Livermore Ave. Community Room A
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Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Congratulations! Together with the Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World and our colleague groups around the country, we have officially passed our goal, with 52,939 signatures on the petition asking President Obama to dramatically reduce our reliance on nuclear weapons and move us closer to a nuclear weapons free world. And we are still counting the final signatures as they roll in.
Negotiations are underway for a meeting at the White House very soon, where all of these signatures will be delivered.
Thank you for being part of this successful national effort.
Click here for more information about the petition.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
TVC's executive director, Marylia Kelley on CBS Sunday Morning speaking truth about the National Ignition Facility. CBS did not include the part of her interview that explained that NIF is funded as a nuclear weapons activity, but did include other key facts...
Click here to watch the segment
Monday, March 26, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Dr. Robert Civiak, physicist and former Budget Examiner for DOE nuclear security activities at the White House Office of Management and Budget, has prepared a detailed report of the Fiscal Year 2013 budget request for nuclear weapons activities. His analysis debunks the myths put forth by NNSA to justify the rise in recent and projected spending on nuclear weapons and identifies $1.540 billion in potential savings in the nuclear weapons budget request.
Click here to read the report
Click here to see the graph comparing number of warheads to budget expenditures
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Posted by Scott Yundt
Tri-Valley CAREs will send a delegation to Washington, DC from March 17th through 21st to hold over 80 meetings with members of Congress, committee staffers, and agency officials with responsibility for U. S. nuclear policies to press for new funding priorities. We will be joined by colleagues from nuclear weapons sites across the country for the 24th annual Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) "DC Days." Together, we will expose high-risk U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons and nuclear energy projects, which will waste billions in taxpayer funds, damage the environment and undermine the nation’s non-proliferation goals.
Click here to read the 2012 DC Days policy recomendations
Click here to read our fundraising letter
