On January 22, 2024, the third anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Tri-Valley CAREs members braved the rain to bring attention to the treaty at the gates of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The event took place in front of the Lab’s West Gate as employees made their way to and from lunch. The Lab is presently developing a new warhead for a new ICBM (the W87-1), a new warhead for a new air-launched cruise missile (the W80-4), and a modification of it for small attack subs that do not currently carry nuclear warheads (the W80-4 ALT, SLCM-N). At Livermore Lab, more than 80% of its annual $2 billion budget is spent on nuclear weapons activities. All of which is contrary to the global humanitarian movement against nuclear weapons that resulted in the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2021.
Seventy countries have ratified the Treaty so far, with additional countries undertaking that process this year. The TPNW currently has ninety-two signatory countries. The Treaty’s rising membership reflects a growing consensus among most of the world’s countries that the extreme threat nuclear weapons pose to all humanity is intolerable.
Tri-Valley CAREs event was done in conjunction with dozens of groups across the country who marked this third TPNW “Baniversary” with actions at nuclear weapons labs and productions sites, military bases, congressional offices, and other locations to educate decision-makers and the public about the Treaty and hold the U.S. government accountable for being on the wrong side of history with its proliferation-provocative nuclear buildup. Events took place in CA, PA, ID, NM, TN, KC, WI, AZ, and VA to name just a few.
