Press Room

Key Defense Authorization Amendment Will Preserve Independent Oversight and Protect Lives at Livermore Lab and other Nuclear Weapons Sites across the Nation

LIVERMORE – Today, Bay Area Rep. George Miller (D-CA-07) introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to prevent a dangerous rollback of 25 years of safety standards at the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons facilities, including the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  Tri-Valley CAREs, a Livermore Lab watchdog for nearly 30 years, lauded Miller’s leadership.

“The Miller amendment is critical for worker and community safety,” said Marylia Kelley, a Livermore resident and Tri-Valley CAREs’ Executive Director. “Sweeping changes introduced into the National Defense Authorization Act in committee would overturn the ‘adequate protection standard’ that has governed safety for more than two decades.”

Group Will Distribute a Major New Report Proposing Cuts to Weapons Budget

Livermore- Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) will send a delegation to Washington, DC from March 17 through 21 to expose U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) “Nuclear Budget Busters.”  These seven nuclear weapons and nuclear energy projects, including the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will waste billions in taxpayer funds, damage the environment and undermine the nation’s non-proliferation goals.

In approximately 80 meetings, the Tri-Valley CAREs delegation will be working with colleagues from a dozen other states who are participating in the 24th annual Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) "DC Days." The activists expect to meet with Senators and Representatives from California, leaders of congressional committees that oversee nuclear issues, and key federal agency staffers.

The overriding issue for the Monday, Feb. 13 budget release is: "Will the
Obama Administration continue to increase funding for unnecessary nuclear
programs in light of current fiscal constraints?"

The Livermore, CA-based Tri-Valley CAREs noted that "We do expect the
budget request will reveal modest progress toward reducing profligate
spending on nuclear weapons. The Chemistry and Metallurgy Research
Replacement - Nuclear Facility, intended to increase U.S. capacity to
produce plutonium bomb cores four-fold, is rumored to take a major budget
hit in the FY13 request, coupled with a decade-long delay in construction."
The group also noted, however, that "other ill-conceived nuclear weapons
projects are rumored to move 'full steam ahead.'"

The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA), a national network of
communities downwind and downstream from U.S. nuclear facilities, is
likewise concerned that out of control spending on nuclear weapons and
nuclear facilities will divert resources from legally required

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's  Nuclear Future report released today received mixed reviews from groups that monitor sites where large quantities of radioactive waste are stored. The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) and the Livermore, CA-based Tri-Valley CAREs, said major flaws in the report include the Commission’s failure to advocate prompt removal of commercial spent fuel from reactor cooling pools with placement in hardened On-Site Storage (HOSS) to safeguard commercial spent fuel at nuclear power plants.  ANA and hundreds of community   groups had told the Commission that HOSS could protect the heavily reactive material for the decades needed to develop a scientifically sound and publicly acceptable waste disposal program.