Energy Department Gives Go-Ahead for More Plutonium Storage at Livermore Laboratory

The Energy Department yesterday gave Livermore National Laboratory in California permission to double the amount of plutonium kept at the facility to 3,080 pounds, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 11).

The department also expanded the types of research activities Livermore can engage in by increasing the maximum amount of plutonium that can be used in a specific operation from 44 pounds to 88 pounds.

An environmental review for the next decade showed no adverse environmental impacts associated with increased plutonium availability at the laboratory, the agency announced.

Local activists criticized the move.

“One microscopic particle of plutonium, if lodged in the lungs, can cause cancer and other diseases,” said Tri-Valley CAREs Executive Director Marylia Kelley (Josef Hebert, Associated Press/Monterey County Herald, Nov. 29).

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