NNSA, Livermore Moving Forward With Pu Shots on NIF Despite Activist Objections
NS&D Monitor
1/30/2015
The National Nuclear Security Administration is not backing off a plan to use plutonium in shots at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility despite a last-minute appeal by activist groups to postpone the experiments. The first shots on the multi-billion-dollar laser involving plutonium could take place between Jan. 30 and Feb. 3, NS&D Monitor has learned. Livermore-based Tri-Valley CAREs and the Natural Resources Defense Council in a Jan. 27 letter called for the experiments involving plutonium to be halted until an environmental review of the lab’s plans are completed, but NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz gave no sign of postponing the shots in a Jan. 29 response. “The use of plutonium on the NIF has been an integral part of the experimental program envisioned for the facility since 2002,” Klotz said. “The experiments conducted on the NIF have already made significant contributions to science and our nation’s Stockpile Stewardship Program and will continue to do so.”
The activist groups have objected to the plans for plutonium shots on NIF over concerns about public safety and nonproliferation. Tri-Valley CAREs Executive Director Marylia Kelley said the plan to use plutonium in NIF experiments involves a “clear risk of contaminating the laser optics and target chamber, and potentially exposing workers and the public to plutonium. Before these controversial experiments begin, at a minimum, we believe the government must undertake a stringent environmental review and solicit public comment pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.”
Lab, NNSA Downplay Risks
The lab and NNSA, though, 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 or less, 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. The NNSA last analyzed using plutonium in NIF in a 2005 Sitewide Environmental Impact Statement, but the activist groups have argued that review focused on shots using an inner containment vessel, which is no longer the NNSA’s plan. Livermore spokeswoman Lynda Seaver said NIF’s target chamber was designed to contain radioactive materials and debris. “All materials will be contained primarily within the target assembly or associated diagnostic,” Seaver said in a statement to NS&D Monitor. “In the unlikely event any material escapes the target assembly, it would be contained within the target chamber.”
Klotz, too, emphasized safety. “Safety is always of the highest concern to NNSA,” he said. “The NIF was built with many safety features to prevent impacts to the workers, public and environment. All experiments are conducted within all federal, state and regional regulations. LLNL has extensive experience in management of the plutonium for experimental activities supporting the mission of the NNSA. Extensive reviews have been conducted to verify that the staff, procedures, and the safety systems are ready to proceed with the planned experiments.”
Livermore Age Discrimination Lawsuit Going to Mediation
NS&D Monitor
1/30/2015
After two trials, two appeals, dozens of motions and more than five years of litigation, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory officials and lawyers for 130 workers laid off from the lab in 2008 are headed to the negotiating table to try to reach a settlement. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman has delayed the start of a third trial involving a new subset of the employees—10 scientists and engineers that claim they were the victims of age discrimination and breach of contract—from May until October to give time for the sides to meet with a mediator. The sides will meet April 8 and April 10 in San Francisco with mediator David Rotman. “We intend to make a good faith effort to resolve this,” said Gary Gwilliam, a lawyer with Oakland, Calif.-based Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer.
Rotman oversaw unsuccessful talks between the sides three years ago, but that was before the first two trials. An Alameda County jury found in favor of a group of five former employees in a breach of contract case in early 2013, awarding the former employees $2.7 million, but a separate jury rejected the same employees’ claims of age discrimination in connection to their layoffs last year. Both sides have appealed the decisions. The employees are part of a group of 130 workers suing the lab over the 2008 layoff of a total of 440 lab employees. Gwilliam declined to specify how much the workers are seeking in the settlement negotiations and it’s unclear how much the lab would agree to. Based on the jury decision to award the first five plaintiffs $2.7 million for lost wages and economic loss, with interest the average award per employee could be about $600,000—or a total settlement of around $78 million.
Livermore appeared to welcome the mediation, according to a statement by lab spokeswoman Lynda Seaver. “Courts encourage mediation in every case, particularly in longstanding cases such as this one,” Seaver said. “The lawsuit has been pending for nearly six years, and it has been three years since the last mediation.”
