Mixing Bugs and Bombs

Tri-Valley CAREs is one of the nation's premier nuclear "watchdog" organizations. For 25 years, the group has monitored activities in the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons complex with a special focus on the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of two locations where all U.S. nuclear weapons are designed. In 2001, the organization expanded its activities to include research, technical analysis, public education and advocacy on biodefense policy when the DOE unveiled plans to collocate advanced bio-warfare agent research facilities with nuclear weapons programs at its Lawrence Livermore (CA) and Los Alamos (NM) labs.

This presentation will offer analysis of the government's proposal to "mix bugs and bombs" at the Dept. of Energy's Livermore and Los Alamos nuclear weapons labs. Tri-Valley CAREs' Executive Director, Marylia Kelley, will cover the international implications of this course of action for the future of the Biological Weapons Convention, the international treaty banning bioweapons. She will also detail some of the local and regional hazards, from "routine" accidents to the potential for catastrophic release in an earthquake or terrorist attack. There will also be an update on her group's landmark federal case challenging the adequacy of the DOE's environmental review of its bio-warfare agent research facility at Livermore Lab and will offer recommendations on the public's role in decision-making on biodefense policy.