Activist Groups Ramp Up Opposition to NIF Plutonium Shots
NS&D Monitor
1/9/2015
Members of an anti-nuclear activist group met with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory officials this week about plans to use small amounts of plutonium in experiments at the National Ignition Facility after ramping up their opposition to the plans in a Jan. 6 protest. About a dozen members of Livermore-based Tri-Valley CAREs and the Catholic Worker Farm gathered at the lab to voice displeasure about the plans, assembling outside the lab’s East Gate with signs, placards and leaflets, according to Tri-Valley CAREs Director Marylia Kelley.
While the activist groups say they’re worried about the potential contamination from the shots involving plutonium—both to the public and to the facility’s target chamber—the lab and NNSA have downplayed the risks, comparing the potential exposure to much less than a dental X-ray. The shots will use about 10 milligrams of plutonium and fewer, about the size of a poppy seed. About a dozen shots per year are expected as the NNSA seeks to expand its understanding of plutonium properties, with the first shots expected later this month. No one was arrested during yesterday’s protest, but Kelley said the East Gate was closed and protesters were prevented from handing out leaflets on lab grounds by lab security officials and local police officers.
Kelley described the atmosphere of interactions with lab and police officials as “very cordial” and was optimistic about interactions with lab officials, where she said Tri-Valley CAREs will formally ask for an environmental review of the plans. “They are, at a minimum, receptive to hearing our questions and concerns, and I appreciate it,” Kelley said. “Time will tell, however, whether the lab is receptive to the idea of following the law and doing the needed environmental analysis and conducting a public (and worker) comment period before vaporizing plutonium with lasers in a heavily congested area, which LLNL is.”
