For immediate release, September 14, 2026
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board to Hold Public Meeting in Livermore Amid Access Concerns Stemming from Recent Dept. of Energy Actions; Local Watchdog Organization Supports Safety Board Mission and Activities
More information:
Tri-Valley CAREs, Scott Yundt, Executive Director, scott@trivalleycares.org, cell 415.990.2070
Note: Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board contact info is provided below
What: The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DBFSB) is an independent organization within the executive branch of the United States Government, chartered with the responsibility of providing recommendations and advice to the President and the Secretary of Energy regarding public health and safety issues at Department of Energy defense nuclear facilities, including at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Mission: The DNFSB was created by Congress in 1988. Its enabling legislation states that under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is charged with providing independent safety oversight of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) defense nuclear facilities complex. The act mandates that the DNFSB review the content and implementation of DOE standards, facility and system designs, and events and practices at DOE defense nuclear facilities to provide independent analysis, advice, and recommendations regarding issues of adequate protection of public health and safety at DOE defense nuclear facilities.
When and Where: The DNFSB Pubic Meeting will be Tuesday, September 15, 2026 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at the Livermore Public Library, 1188 South Livermore Avenue, Livermore.
DNFSB Presenters:
- Jonathan Plaue is the national Technical Director at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, headquartered in Washington, DC. Plaue was previously the DNFSB Site Representative at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and, before that, he served in the same role at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
- Kyle D. Johnson is the Chief of Staff at DNFSB Headquarters in Washington, DC. Johnson previously served DNFSB in the Office of Congressional and External Affairs. He can be reached at kyle.johnson@dnfsb.gov
Why: The DNFSB letter to Tri-Valley CAREs states: “This informal gathering is an opportunity to connect, exchange ideas, and learn more about the DNFSB’s role in protecting public health and safety through independent oversight of the Department of Energy’s defense nuclear facilities… There will be time for Q&A, and members of our team will remain afterwards for continued discussion… Please feel free to share this invite with your colleagues as well.”
Tri-Valley CAREs’ Perspective: We are a community-based, nonprofit organization formed in 1983 to monitor activities at Livermore Lab and throughout the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. Currently we represent more than 6,000 members. Since 1988, we have met numerous times with DNFSB staff and board members, including in June 2026 in Washington, DC. We have long appreciated the DNFSB’s technical expertise and dogged adherence to its overarching mission to protect defense nuclear workers and the public.
Tri-Valley CAREs founding Executive Director and current Senior Advisor, Marylia Kelley noted: “Tri-Valley CAREs staff and community members can point to many instances in which the Safety Board’s recommendations have caused positive changes that shielded us all from potential nuclear harms, including in the Livermore Lab’s main plutonium facility, where DNFSB inspectors on one occasion noted a nuclear criticality safety violation and on another tackled the fact that some filters in the plutonium facility were decades behind a reasonable replacement schedule and thus harboring unnecessary risks of airborne plutonium release. These risks were addressed due to DNFSB. Tri-Valley CAREs thanks and supports the Safety Board. We believe it is imperative that DNFSB is able to maintain the independence and access to information and facilities that has made it a successful entity in reducing nuclear risks for nearly forty years.”
Current Situation: Tri-Valley CAREs Executive Director, Scott Yundt, sounds the alarm: “The DNFSB mission is needed now, perhaps more than ever, as new nuclear activities ramp up at Livermore Lab and throughout the nuclear weapons complex, including industrial scale plutonium bomb core production. Yet, recently, the DNFSB is facing novel challenges to its access and mission. Due to presidential and congressional inaction, board members, whose nominations come from both sides of the political aisle, have cycled off after their terms without new nominations to replace them. The DBFSB has lost its quorum. Related, the DOE has begun denying the DNFSB the access it needs to accomplish its nuclear safety mission. In July 2026, the DNFSB ‘Report to Congress on Denials of Information’ detailed the ‘most significant’ challenges in the history of the DNFSB, including ‘not being provided access to large numbers of draft DOE safety directives and regulations that are currently being revised’.” Added Yundt, “This is not an abstract issue. Workers and the public are likely to suffer exposures to deadly plutonium and other nuclear materials directly related to freezing out DNFSB’s ability to analyze safety problems in advance and make recommendations to alleviate them. Returning to the bad old days when nuclear accidents happened frequently in the absence of an independent entity is insane. I want to stop the next accident before it happens. DNFSB is key to doing that.”
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