nuclear-news

Abby Martin takes a look at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California, the nuclear testing that occurs at this site and the surrounding community’s unawareness of the potential danger it poses.

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USA’s nuclear workers – cancer from radiation exposure

U.S. ACKNOWLEDGES RADIATION KILLED WEAPONS WORKERS , By MATTHEW L. WALD Published: January 29, 2000   WASHINGTON, Jan. 28— After decades of denials, the government is conceding that since the dawn of the atomic age, workers making nuclear weapons have been exposed to radiation and chemicals that have produced cancer and early death.

https://nuclear-news.net/2012/03/17/usas-nuclear-workers-cancer-from-radiation-exposure/

Plutonium left Livermore – (but where did it go?)

High-Security Nuclear Material Leaves Livermore
http://www.kolotv.com/news/californianews/headlines/High-Security-Nuclear-Material-Leaves-Livermore-170905161.html  KOLO8 News 23 Sept 12, LIVERMORE, Calif. (AP) – Federal officials say Lawrence Livermore Laboratory is no longer home to some high-security, special nuclear weapons materials.

The National Nuclear Security Administration say the lab will still focus on the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, but just with a reduced amount of nuclear material that does not require as much as security as was needed in the past.

The agency says that decision will save about $40 million in taxpayer funds.

NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino says taking the materials out of Livermore is part of a national plan to consolidate special nuclear materials in as few places as possible.
The Oakland Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/OQD1PT) the materials were
removed from the lab’s Plutonium Facility, which is located in an area known as the “Superblock.”

Tri-Valley Care fights the good fight to save Livermore valley from plutonium wastes

by Around Dublin Team Tri-Valley CAREs  was founded in 1983 in Livermore, CA by concerned neighbors living around Lawrence Livermore National Lab , one of two locations where all US nuclear weapons are designed. This grassroots organization works to strengthen global security by stopping the development of new nuclear weapons in the US and by promoting the elimination of nuclear weapons globally.

It monitors nuclear weapons and environmental clean-up activities throughout the US nuclear
weapons complex, with a special focus on Lawrence Livermore National Lab and the surrounding Tri-Valley communities.

Tri-Valley CAREs has had many successes throughout the years. It stopped Lawrence Livermore National Lab from building a massive toxic and radioactive waste incinerator. Further, the group led a successful campaign to shut down Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s existing incinerator……….

https://nuclear-news.net/2012/07/07/tri-valley-care-fights-the-good-fight-to-save-livermore-valley-from-plutonium-wastes/

USA World’s most powerful laser becomes nuclear weapon project -now only half research for peaceful uses

….Unfortunately, the reality is that actually turning this technology into a sustainable and reliable energy source is something that will take decades, if it even happens at all.

[…]

The NIF will now only be able to spend 50% of its resources on ignition research. And, as a trade-off, it will now be mandated to spend more time with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

One project at the forefront is creating experiments that can simulate the conditions inside nuclear weapons. The goal is to assess the phase of nuclear weaponry where fission begins. This phase is comprised of the same chemical combination that was being manipulated in the energy research…..

Nov. 12, 2012 (6:45 pm) By: Mark Raby

https://nuclear-news.net/2012/11/13/usa-worlds-most-powerful-laser-becomes-nuclear-weapon-project-now-only-half-research-for-peaceful-uses/

Nuclear weapons lab security – like a fish, it rots from the head down

UFFINGTON POST,  Project on Government Oversight (POGO)  08/10/2012 By Peter Stockton and Lydia Dennett 

…….It should be clear by now that the current culture at DOE and its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is to take their orders from contractors and provide little or no oversight. As the previous head of contractor-operated laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Secretary Chu made clear his disdain for federal oversight, DOE insiders told the Project ON Government Oversight (POGO). In fact, he’s been successful in creating a culture of federal hands off the contractors in the weapons complex.

Some in Congress also were persuaded by the nuclear laboratories to weaken oversight. The House of Representives passed, H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 , which includes provisions that would make NNSA a more autonomous agency, taking important authority away from DOE, and severely undermining nuclear security and safety…….

https://nuclear-news.net/2012/08/11/nuclear-weapons-lab-security-like-a-fish-it-rots-from-the-head-down/#more-26747