posted 04-20-2004 08:53 PM            

URGENT ACTION ALERT

**Public Hearings on Nuclear Weapons Development in the Bay Area**

This is your once in a decade chance to speak up for the environment and
stop new nuclear weapons.

What: The Department of Energy (DOE) is holding public hearings on past,
present and purposed impacts caused by the Livermore nuclear weapons lab
(LLNL). The Dept. of Energy has just released the draft site-wide
Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) on Livermore Lab's planned
operations for the next TEN YEARS. This draft SWEIS contains plans to
double the plutonium at Livermore Lab, boost its radioactive tritium
handling limit 10-fold, ramp up new nuclear weapon programs -- and more!

Livermore Lab has already caused:
* a million curries of low level radiation to be leaked into the Bay Area,
* elevated levels of plutonium in playgrounds,
* long term storage of thousands of pounds of nuclear waste and
materials, and
* further development of new and modified nuclear weapons of mass
destruction.

If you are concerned about any of these impacts of Livermore Lab -- come
to the public hearing.

Who: You are invited to speak at the hearings—YOUR PRESENCE WILL MAKE A
DIFFERENCE. The hearings are being held by the Dept. of Energy. Talking
points will be available at the event, or call (925)443-7148 for
advanced copies.

When and Where: Livermore, CA Public Hearings: Tuesday, April 27
hearings start at 1 PM and 6 PM. Come early at 12:30 PM or at 5:30 PM to
sign up and support the press briefings. You will not be able to sign up
in advance so get there early! Both Livermore hearings will be at the
Double Tree Club Hotel at 720 Las Flores Rd, Livermore (925) 443-4950.
(DIRECTIONS BELOW)

Tracy, CA Public Hearings: Wednesday, April 28 at 1 PM and 6:30 PM at
the Holiday Inn Express at 3751 N. Tracy Blvd. (209) 830-850(DIRECTIONS
BELOW)

Washington, DC Public Hearing: Friday, April 30 at 10 AM, DOE
Headquarters, 1000 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC (202) 586-3012.

Why: If we don't speak now, a whole new generation of nuclear weapons
could be developed in our name. We must demand an end to more
contamination in the Bay Area caused by nuclear weapons development--the
health of future generations is at stake.

ATTEND THE PUBLIC HEARINGS! If you can not make it, find someone else
who can. This is an URGENT appeal, every person counts and we need you
to be there.

U.S. Nuclear Policy Coming to Life in the Bay Area

The Bush Administration's "Nuclear Posture Review" prescribes preemptive
war wherein America may preemptively bomb any where, any time, with any
weapon (including nuclear) for any reason of its
own choosing.

But, where does nuclear policy become operationalized? The answer lies
right here in the Bay Area, at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
Livermore Laboratory. Every nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal was
developed at Livermore, 45 miles east of San Francisco, or at the Los
Alamos Lab in New Mexico. Both are managed by the University of California.

The dangerous escalation of nuclear weapons programs is heavily founded
on the explicitly offensive nuclear posture review. We see this plan
come to life in Livermore. Here is a summary of the NEW PLANS revealed
in the site wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for Livermore
Lab. They include:

1. More than DOUBLING the limit for PLUTONIUM at Livermore Lab from
1,540 pounds to 3,300 pounds. To give you some idea of what that means,
3,300 pounds of plutonium can make more than 300 nuclear bombs. And, one
microscopic particle of plutonium, if inhaled, can cause lung cancer or
other diseases.

2. A BOMB PRODUCTION PLANT!? This SWEIS plan makes Livermore Lab the
place to test new technologies for MANUFACTURING PLUTONIUM PITS for
nuclear weapons. (A pit is the softball-sized piece of plutonium that
sits inside a modern nuclear weapon and triggers its thermonuclear
explosion.).

3. Preparation for a return to FULL-SCALE, UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR TESTING:
This plan also calls for Livermore Lab to develop diagnostics to
"enhance" the nation's readiness to conduct full-scale underground
NUCLEAR TESTS. This is a dangerous step back to the days of unrestrained
nuclear testing.

4. REVIVAL of a project that was canceled more than 10 years ago because
it was dangerous and unnecessary. The project is called PLUTONIUM –
ATOMIC VAPOR LASER ISOTOPE SEPARATION. This is a scheme to heat and
vaporize plutonium and then shoot multiple laser beams through the vapor
to separate out plutonium isotopes. To do this, Livermore Lab plans to
increase how much plutonium can be used in a single room from 44 pounds
to 132 pounds - a 3-fold increase. Plutonium - Atomic Vapor Laser
Isotope Separation is both a health risk and a nuclear proliferation
nightmare.

5. Adding PLUTONIUM, highly-enriched uranium and lithium hydride to
experiments in NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY megalaser when it is completed
at Livermore Lab. Using these materials in the NIF will increase its
usefulness for nuclear weapons development. It will also make the NIF
more hazardous to workers and the environment. We must stop NIF - and
these dangerous, new experiments in it.

6. Allowing the MANUFACTURE of radioactive TRITIUM TARGETS for the NIF
megalaser on site at Livermore Lab. Making fusion targets will increase
the amount of tritium that is used in any one room at the Livermore Lab
from the current limit of just over 3 grams to 30 grams -- a nearly
10-fold increase.

THESE PUBLIC HEARINGS ARE A ONCE IN A DECADE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A VOICE
IN U.S. NUCLEAR WEAPONS POLICY-- AND TO CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF
LIVERMORE LAB.

DIRECTIONS TO THE PUBLIC HEARINGS
April 27 at Livermore's Double Tree Hotel: 720 Las Flores Rd. From
I-580, take the CA-84/FIRST STREET/SPRINGTOWN BLVD exit. Take the
SPRINGTOWN BLVD ramp. Turn LEFT onto SPRINGTOWN BLVD/1ST ST/CA-84.
Continue to follow SPRINGTOWN BLVD. Turn RIGHT onto BLUEBELL DR. Turn
RIGHT onto LAS FLORES RD.

April 28 in Tracy at the Holiday Inn Express, 3751 N. Tracy Blvd. From
I-580 Take I-205 E toward TRACY/STOCKTON. Take the TRACY BLVD exit- Turn
LEFT onto N TRACY BLVD. End at 3751 N TRACY BLVD TRACY CA.

MORE INFORMATION
You may also submit written comments to the DOE. Written comments may be
submitted before May 27, 2004 to: Tom Grim, Document Manager, U.S. DOE,
NNSA, L-293, Livermore Site Office, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA
94550. Or email to _tom.grim@oak.doe.gov_.

To volunteer, call us at (925) 443-7148. And, for more information
including a flier, fact sheet and PDF of the SWEIS summary document,
visit our web site at _www.trivalleycares.org_.

--
Tara Dorabji
Outreach Director
Tri-Valley CAREs
Livermore, CA 94551
(925) 443-7148
tara@trivalleycares.org