Editor,
Public hearing on nuclear weapons in our back yard!
I am a director for Tri Valley Community Against Radioactive Environment (CARES). It is a citizen group that keeps watch on the activities of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and its extensive classified work on research and design for the US nuclear weapons stockpile.
Livermore Lab is requesting $3.2 billion for the budget year 2027. They plan to spend $2.86 billion on “Nuclear Weapons Activities.” The Lab’s funding for research on climate change, alternative renewable energy, and other peaceful research has virtually disappeared over the past 2 years.
Its Superfund cleanup at the main site in Livermore and at Site 300, which is south of Tracy on Corral Hollow Avenue, is also down over that time. There is no timeline for completion. Site 300 is still recovering from the Corral Fire a couple of years ago that wiped out much of the remedial cleanup infrastructure and set things back further.
Conversely, the Lab is ramping up activities to support new “plutonium pit production,” the core of nuclear weapons which will be produced at plants in New Mexico and South Carolina. These pits will go in Livermore’s newly designed nuclear warheads, and the Lab is heavily involved in the development of the production lines.
There will be a public hearing where members of the public can ask questions, and/or express opposition to this work on the record at the GARRE Winery in Livermore on Tuesday, May 12 from 5 to 7 p.m. Go to www.trivalleycares.org for more information or just show up. Go to www.pitpeis.com for background info and learn about how you can submit a written comment about new plutonium pit production.
Patricia Howell, Tracy